The 2005 National Hurling League, known for sponsorship reasons as the

Allianz Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...

National Hurling League, was the 74th edition of the

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

(NHL), an annual

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

competition for the

GAA county teams A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland has ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

won the league, beating

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

in the final. An experimental rule was trialled in the 2005 NHL, with two points being awarded for a point scored directly from a sideline cut.

Structure

Division 1

There are 12 teams in Division 1, divided into 1A and 1B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The top three in 1A and 1B advance to Division 1 Section 1. *The bottom three in 1A and 1B go into the Division 1 Section 2. Each team in Section 1 plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first five games. The top two teams go into the NHL final – only points earned in these last three games count. Each team in Section 2 plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first five games. The bottom team is relegated – only points earned in these last three games count.

Division 2

There are 10 teams in Division 2, divided into 2A and 2B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The top three in 2A and 2B advance to the Division 2 Section 1. *The bottom two in 2A and 2B go into the Division 2 Section 2. Each team in Section 1 plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first four games. The top two teams go into the Division 2 final – only points earned in these last three games count. Final winners are promoted. Each team in Section 2 plays the other two teams that it did not play in the first four games. The bottom team is relegated – only points earned in these last two games count.

Division 3

There are 10 teams in Division 3, divided into 3A and 3B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The top three in 3A and 3B advance to the Division 3 Section 1. *The bottom two in 3A and 3B go into the Division 3 Section 2. Each team in Section 1 plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first four games. The top two teams go into the Division 3 final – only points earned in these last three games count. Final winners are promoted. Each team in Section 2 plays the other two teams that it did not play in the first four games. The top two play the Division 3 Shield Final.

Overview

Division 1

Brian Cody Brian Cody (born 12 July 1954) is an Irish former hurling manager and player and retired schoolmaster. He managed the senior Kilkenny county team between 1998 and 2022, becoming the county's longest-serving manager and most successful in term ...

won his third league title in four seasons with

, as 'the Cats' recorded just a single defeat in the entire league.

, who were league runners-up, also suffered just one defeat in the group stages, however, they fell to Kilkenny in the final. Down at the other end of the table, Dublin and

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

went through the group stages without a single victory. A relegation group of six teams meant that 'the Dubs' ended up at the bottom and faced relegation for the following season.

Division 2

Offaly won the Division 2 title after recording just one defeat throughout the group stages, thus returning to the top flight having been relegated the previous year. Runners-up

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

also faced only one defeat throughout the group stages until the last day of the league when they were defeated in the final by Offaly. Going down were

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

who only had a draw with Wicklow to show for their entire campaign.

Division 3

Mayo and

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

qualified for the league final in this division with Mayo winning promotion.

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

, having failed to win a single game in the group stage, finished bottom of Division 3B and could thus be regarded as the worst team of all the divisions.

Division 1

Galway came into the season as defending champions of the 2004 season.

entered Division 1 as the promoted team. On 2 May 2005,

won the title following a 3-20 to 0-15 win over

in the final. It was their first league title since

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and their 12th National League title overall. Dublin, who lost all of their group stage matches, were relegated from Division 1 after losing all of their matches in the relegation group. Offaly won Division 2 and secured promotion to the top tier. Galway's Ger Farragher was the Division 1 top scorer with 2-54.

Division 1A table

Group stage

Division 1B table

Group stage

Group 1 table

Group 1 results

Group 2 table

Group 2 results

Knock-out stage

Final

Scoring statistics

;Top scorers overall ;Top scorers in a single game

Miscellaneous

* Wexford record their first victory over Tipperary at Semple Stadium since 1984.

Division 2

Division 2A table

Division 2B table

Group 1 table

Group 2 table

Knock-out stage

Final

Division 3

Division 3A table

Division 3B table

Group 1 table

Group 2 table

Knock-out stage

Shield Final Final

References

External links

All National Hurling League division results from 2005
{{GAA 2005 League National Hurling League seasons