The All Ireland Poc Fada Championships began over 50 years ago as a celebration of one of Ireland's oldest and most famous legends, the Táin Bó Cuailgne known in english as the Brown Bull of Cooley. A local priest in the nearby town of Dundalk organised a Poc Fada competition across the mountain range for 6 youths from the local youth club, from this first reenactment of Setanta's trek (Setanta is the boy Cú Chulainn - the hero of the legend) the idea evolved for a national competition for the country's best Hurlers. The first national final which was held in 1961 was an invitational attracting many of the top Hurling Goalkeepers from the county teams. The competition continued in this format until 1969, there followed a hiatus of 12 years with the Poc Fada Finals resuming in 1981 with a more structured format which included Provincial qualifiers, this format has continued with the further addition of County qualifiers, a Boys Under 16 competition and Camogie (Women's) championship.