Region Ireland (GAA) Title holders Waterford (2nd title) | Trophy The James Nowlan Cup | |
Irish Craobh Iomána Fé-21 na hÉireann Founded 1964; 53 years ago (1964) Most titles Cork and Kilkenny (11 titles) | ||
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Under-21 Championship is an annual championship of hurling for male players under the age of 21 and is organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The championship has been awarded every year since the first tournament in 1964.
Contents
The games are played in the summer months with the final normally being played in September. The championship has always been played on a straight knockout basis. In the present format, it begins in May with provincial championships held in Leinster, Munster and Ulster, with the three respective champions contesting the subsequent All-Ireland semi-finals with Galway.
Cork and Kilkenny are the most successful teams with eleven titles each, followed by Galway with ten titles and Tipperary with nine. The title has been won by eight different teams, six of which have won the title more than once.
Waterford are the current holders.
Format
Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial under-21 championship. Connacht do not organise a provincial championship and are represented by Galway. The three provincial champions and Galway enter the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Trophy
In September 2016 the GAA established a new trophy named The James Nowlan Cup to be presented to the All-Ireland under-21 hurling champions.
The old trophy, the Cross of Cashel, was retired after the 2015 final having been introduced in 1967.
History
The All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship began in 1964 in response to a Congress motion put forward by the Kerry County Board for the introduction of a new championship grade. It was the fifth All-Ireland championship to be created after the senior, junior, minor and intermediate grades.
In 2008 a radical motion was brought before a special Congress in an effort to combat player burnout. It was proposed to merge the existing under-21 and minor championships to create a new All-Ireland Under-19 Hurling Championship. This motion was defeated by 115 votes to 58.
A similar motion was later introduced in an effort to lower the age and create a new All-Ireland Under-20 Championship, however, this motion was also defeated.
Performances by province
A representative of each of the four provinces of Ireland have made an appearance in the final match of the All-Ireland.
To date, Munster leads with 30 titles, followed by Leinster with 12 titles and Connacht with 10 titles. A team from Ulster has made the championship final just once, but was defeated by a Munster side.
By decade
The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:
Gaps
Longest gaps between successive All-Ireland titles: