Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Updated on Oct 01, 2024

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Irish Craobh Iomána Laighin Trophy Bob O'Keeffe Cup Title holders Kilkenny (71st title)		Region Leinster (GAA) No. of teams 9

Founded 1888; 129 years ago (1888)

The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is one of the most prestigious hurling tournaments in Ireland and the most prestigious inter-county hurling competition in the province of Leinster. The championship has been awarded every year since 1888.

The final, usually held on the first Sunday in July, serves as the culmination of a series of games played during the early summer months, and the results determine which county's team receives the Bob O'Keeffe Cup. Originally played on a straight knockout basis, in the current format the four weaker teams play in an initial qualifier group. The top two teams in the qualifier group and the seeded teams complete the championship on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated.

The Leinster Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship. The winners of the Leinster final, like their counterparts in the Munster Championship, are rewarded by advancing directly to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games. The losers of the Leinster final enter the All-Ireland series at the quarter-final stage.

Nine teams currently participate in the Leinster Championship, including Galway from Connacht and Kerry from Munster. The most successful team in hurling, namely Kilkenny, play their provincial hurling in the Leinster Championship. They have won the provincial title on 71 occasions during their history while also claiming 36 All-Ireland titles; both of these are all-time records.

The title has been won at least once by six counties, all but one of which (Galway) have won the title more than once. Kilkenny are the current champions.

Format

The Leinster Championship begins with an initial qualifier group and then becomes a straight knock-out competition. The draw is usually made in October of the previous year. The competition has become more competitive since the emergence of Dublin as a hurling power.

Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a replay. Drawn replays are now settled with extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a second replay takes place and so on until a winner is found. If the quarter-finals end in draws, extra time is played immediately as replays are only permitted for provincial semi-finals and finals.

The format had remained virtually the same since the very first Leinster Championship in 1888. The biggest change to the championship format took place in 2009. Galway had no opposition in the Connacht Championship since 2004 and it was decided at a special meeting of the GAA's congress that Galway would join the Leinster Championship for a three-year trial period, starting with the 2009 championship. Antrim GAA, being the only Tier 1 team in the Ulster Championship, would also participate in the Leinster Championship on a three-year trial period. Antrim, however, will also still compete in the Ulster Championship which will be run as a separate tournament to the All-Ireland Hurling Championship. In 2014 the five weaker counties in the Leinster championship played in a qualifier group before the main championship. This was reduced to four in 2015.

Nine counties currently participate in the Leinster Championship — Carlow, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Wexford.

Qualifier Group Stage

The four weaker counties in the championship play a round robin group stage. Every team plays the other three teams once. The top two teams from this group advance to the quarter finals of the championship. The bottom team is automatically relegated.

Quarter-finals

A draw is made to determine the pairings for the Leinster quarter-finals. Six teams – whichever four of Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois and Wexford who haven't won the title the previous year, and the top two from the qualifier group will be included in the draw. The winners of these three games advance to the Leinster semi-final stages. The three defeated teams are eliminated from the provincial championship.

Semi-finals & Final

A draw is made to determine the pairings for the two Leinster semi-finals. The current title holders receive a bye to one of these semi-finals. They are joined by the three winners from the quarter-final stages. The winners of these two semi-finals advance to the Leinster final. The two defeated teams are eliminated from the provincial championship.

All-Ireland

The Leinster Championship Is part of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship. The teams that are defeated in the Leinster quarter-finals advance to round one of the All-Ireland qualifiers. The two teams that are defeated in the Leinster semi-finals advance to round two of the All-Ireland qualifiers. The winners of the Leinster final automatically qualify for the semi-finals of the All-Ireland while the runners-up qualify for the quarter-finals.

Venues

The following stadia are frequently used during the Leinster Championship:

Leinster Championship matches were traditionally played at neutral venues or at a location that was deemed to be halfway between the two participants, however, counties eventually came to home and away agreements depending on the size of their stadia. The Leinster final has, in recent times, always been played at the GAA's headquarters in Croke Park in Dublin. Some criticism has been leveled against the Leinster Council for continuing to play the provincial decider in Croke Park, as Kilkenny's dominance over the last decade has led to a downturn in attendances, leading to the match effectively being played in a stadium that isn't even half full.

Trophies and medals

At the end of the Leinster final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The Bob O'Keeffe Cup is held by the winning team until the following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made at a special rostrum in the stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match.

The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup.

The cup is named after Bob O'Keeffe, a native of Kilkenny who later won an All-Ireland medal with Laois and served as President of the GAA in the 1930s. The cup was donated by the Leinster Council in 1950 to commemorate O'Keeffe. The cup is the biggest to be presented in Gaelic Games, standing 3 feet 8 inches, weighing 564 ounces and with a capacity of 6 gallons. The Celtic chase work has been taken from the Book of Kells. The hurler depicted on the top of the cup is barefooted, which is significant in view of the fact that O'Keeffe originally played in that manner. The original Bob O'Keeffe Cup was donated to the GAA museum at Croke Park in 2005. It was replaced by a replica also named the Bob O'Keeffe Cup.

A 2012 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship winners' medal was later sold on eBay for €570.

Sponsorship

Since 1995, the Leinster Championship has been sponsored. The sponsor has usually been able to determine the championship's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:

1995–2007: Guinness (Guinness Leinster Championship)

2008–2009: RTÉ Sport, Etihad Airways, Guinness (GAA Leinster Hurling Championship)

2010–present: Centra, Etihad Airways, Guinness (GAA Leinster Hurling Championship)

Leinster Championship moments

Dublin 3-5 : 2-2 Kilkenny (26 August 1934 at O'Moore Park) – In a replay characterised by close hurling, Dublin showed "a collective excellence". The game began with Kilkenny scooping the sliotar from the throw-in, and drove towards their forwards. J.A. Walsh intercepted, and set the ball flying wide from 80 yards out to Daniels, who drove to Muldowney, who passed to Hegarty. Hegarty flashed in a goal. Barely a minute later, Treacy pointed from 70 feet, and Hegarty scored another point. Excellent hurling ensued, the outstanding feature being the terrier tackling of Daniels and Wade. A free to Kilkenny gave Lowry Meagher his chance, but Forde saved miraculously. The danger to Dublin ensued, but it was averted by Bannon, Murphy, Walsh and McMahon. Larkin was the outstanding Kilkenny man. Tom Treacy pointed from a free for Dublin, this time scoring a major. Just before the interval O’Connell scored a point, leaving the score at Dublin 3-3 : Kilkenny Nil. Within five minutes of resuming play, Duggan scored a goal and Power a point. Dublin fought back and Wade and Muldowney each scored points. "Then a rare achievement was witnessed, when Lory Meagher scored a goal from a 70 yards puck". The scoring finished with a point by Meagher. Dublin showed superior speed, pertinacious tackling and a will-to-win spirit. The teams were: Dublin C. Forde, A. Murphy, J. Bannon, C. McMahon, James Andrew Walsh (hurler), D. Canniffe, P. Roche, E. Wade, Mick Daniels, S. Hegarty, T. Treacy, S. Muldowney, C. Boland, D. O'Neill, J. O’Connell. Kilkenny Jim Dermody, Paddy Larkin, P. O’Reilly, P. Kealy, Paddy Phelan, P. Byrne, T. Leahy, Lory Meagher, J. Duggan, Jimmy Walsh (Kilkenny hurler), Locky Byrne, M. Power, J. Fitzpatrick, M. Dunne, Matty Power. Referee Sean Robbins.

Wexford 5–6 : 3–9 Kilkenny (31 July 1955 at Croke Park) – After a 2–7 apiece draw a fortnight earlier, both sides met in an historic replay. Wexford, the reigning provincial champions, were the favourites for both games, however, they had never beaten Kilkenny in a Leinster final. At half-time both sides were still level, however, immediately after the restart the key score came. Nicky Rackard gained possession sixty yards out and sent a speculative shot goalwards. The sliotar bounced on the hard Croke Park surface, hopped again, deceived the Kilkenny 'keeper and ended up just inside the white goal-line. Wexford later emerged victorious and broke the Kilkenny hoodoo.

Offaly 3–17 : 5–10 Kilkenny (13 July 1980 at Croke Park) – Undoubtedley regarded as one of the most significant days in the history of Offaly hurling. Offaly were only appearing in their sixth Leinster final ever and were looking for their first success, while Kilkenny were looking for a third consecutive provincial title. After a high-scoring first-half, Kilkenny only had a 3–6 to 1–10 lead. The game really heated up in the final ten minutes as both sides swapped the lead several times. In the end, the Leinster final roll of honour had a new name as Offaly won the game by a point.

Offaly 2–16 : 3–9 Kilkenny (26 June 1994 at Croke Park) – Regarded as one of the greatest games in the long history of the Leinster Championship. This provincial semi-final saw Kilkenny on the road to a fourth successive Leinster title, as well as a third consecutive All-Ireland title. The day belonged to Offaly, with Brian Whelahan putting in a great performance at right half-back which would later see him being named Hurler of the Year. The three Dooley brothers – Billy, Joe and Johnny – combined to score 2–10 of Offaly's total, giving 'the Faithful County' to impetus to go on and challenge for the Leinster title.

Wexford 2–15 : 1–16 Kilkenny (13 June 2004 at Croke Park) – Kilkenny were the red-hot favourites coming into this provincial semi-final. They were on the trail of a record-breaking seventh consecutive Leinster title and a third consecutive All-Ireland title. The game was going Kilkenny's way until the very last puck of the game. Wexford had tested the champions but with time nearly up 'the Cats' still had a one-point lead. A Kilkenny clearance fell straight to Michael Jacob who made no mistake in sending the sliotar into the net. With that the referee sounded the long whistle and Kilkenny's great run was at an end.

Galway 2-21 : 2-11 Kilkenny (8 July 2012 at Croke Park) – Galway kept Kilkenny scoreless for twenty minutes in this Leinster Final. The half-time score was Galway 2-12 Kilkenny 0-4. Kilkenny rallied in the second half but were never able to come close to Galway who won their first ever Leinster title in the most unexpected of circumstances.

List of finals

A. ^ A goal outweighed any number of points until 1892. Points were only taken into consideration when the teams finished level on goals.
B. ^ Dublin received a walkover from Laois in the final. Louth were the only other team to participate.
C. ^ Goals were revalued to five points each. Dublin were unopposed in the championship.
D. ^ Dublin were unopposed in the championship.
E. ^ Goals were revalued to three points each. The final was replayed after Kilkenny launched an objection following the original match.
F. ^ Kilkenny were awarded the title as the Dublin goal was disputed.
G. ^ Dublin won the final; however, Kilkenny were awarded the title after launching an objection.
H. ^ The final was declared void after both teams were disqualified for being late on the field.
I. ^ All inter-county games were increased from sixty to eighty minutes.
J. ^ All inter-county games were reduced from eighty to seventy minutes.

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Leinster Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:

1890s: 4 for Kilkenny (1893-95-97-98)

1900s: 6 for Kilkenny (1900-03-04-05-07-09)

1910s: 4 for Kilkenny (1911-12-13-16)

1920s: 5 for Dublin (1920-21-24-27-28)

1930s: 7 for Kilkenny (1931-32-33-35-36-37-39)

1940s: 5 for Kilkenny (1940-43-45-46-47)

1950s: 5 for Kilkenny (1950-53-57-58-59)

1960s: 5 for Kilkenny (1963-64-66-67-69)

1970s: 7 for Kilkenny (1971-72-73-74-75-78-79)

1980s: 6 for Offaly (1980-81-84-85-88-89)

1990s: 5 for Kilkenny (1991-92-93-98-99)

2000s: 9 for Kilkenny (2000-01-02-03-05-06-07-08-09)

2010s: 5 for Kilkenny (2010-11-14-15-16)

Gaps

Top four longest gaps between successive Leinster titles:

52 years: Dublin (1961-2013)

34 years: Laois (1915-1949)

33 years: Wexford (1918-1951)

19 years: Wexford (1977-1996)

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 15 games held by Kilkenny. It began with a 6-28 to 0-15 win against Offaly in the semi-final of the 2005 championship and finished with a 2-21 to 0-9 defeat of Dublin in the Leinster semi-final of the 2012 championship. The 15 game unbeaten streak, which included no drawn game, ended with a 2-21 to 2-11 loss to Galway in 2012 Leinster final.

References

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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