The championship was won by Cork who secured the title following a 5-11 to 0-6 defeat of Dublin in the All-Ireland final.[1] This was their 12th All-Ireland title, their first in ten championship seasons.
There was major disruption to the format of the 1941 championship due to a serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease[2] in many parts of Munster and south Leinster. The championship was run on a knockout provincial basis as usual, however, there was a certain amount of tweaking required to cope with the situation.
In the Munster championshipLimerick defeated Waterford in the semi-final of the competition and qualified for the Munster final. Cork were drawn to meet Tipperary in the second semi-final, however, this game was cancelled by the Munster Council at the behest of the Department of Agriculture. As a result of this it was decided that Cork would play Limerick and the winners would represent Munster in the All-Ireland series. The delayed Cork-Tipperary game took place after the All-Ireland series, however, since Cork had already beaten Limerick this was now deemed to be the Munster decider. Tipperary won that game.
It was a similar story in the Leinster championship as foot-and-mouth disease ravaged southern parts of the province. Kilkenny were drawn to play Laois in one of the earlier stages of the provincial competition, however, the match could not take place and Kilkenny were given a bye into the Leinster final. The Department of Agriculture subsequently brought out an order that Kilkenny could not play in the Leinster final until the county was three weeks clear of the disease. The result was that Dublin were nominated to represent Leinster in the All-Ireland series. A delayed Leinster final was played after the completion of the All-Ireland final with Dublin defeating Kilkenny.
Six teams contested the Leinster championship while five teams contested the Munster championship. Galway, who faced no competition in their own province, entered the championship at the All-Ireland semi-final stage. No team from Ulster participated in the senior championship.
Cork win their 12th All-Ireland title to draw level with Kilkenny and Tipperary at the top of the all-time roll of honour. It is the second time that "the big three" share the title of roll of honour leaders.
Cork's defeat by Tipperary in the delayed Munster final left the team with the unusual distinction of being the first All-Ireland champions and provincial runners-up.
