The 2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment by the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

in 1887. The draw for the 2011 fixtures took place on 7 October 2010. The championship began on 14 May and ended on 4 September 2011.

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

were the defending champions. Kilkenny secured the title with a 2-17 to 1-16 defeat of Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. This was their 33rd All-Ireland title, their eighth in twelve championship seasons.

Teams

A total of fourteen teams will contest the championship, including thirteen teams from the 2010 championship and one promoted team from the 2010 Christy Ring Cup.

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

, Carlow and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

were the first teams to exit the 2010 championship; however, there was no relegation play-off. They would all contest the 2011 championship. 2010 Christy Ring Cup champions

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

secured direct promotion to the championship. The team made their top flight return after being relegated at the end of the 2006 championship.

Team summaries

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

The Championship

Format

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2011 will be run on a provincial basis as usual. It will be a

knockout tournament A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces - there will be no seeds. Each match will be played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there will be a replay. If that match ends in a draw a period of extra time will be played, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time another replay will take place. Munster Championship ''Quarter-final:'' (1 match) This will be a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster. The losing team enters the All-Ireland qualifiers while the winners advance to the semi-finals. ''Semi-finals:'' (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joins the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advance to the final while the two losing teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers. ''Final:'' (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The winning team advances to the All-Ireland semi-final while the losing team advances to the All-Ireland quarter-final. Leinster Championship ''Preliminary Round:'' (2 matches) These will be two matches between four of the 'weaker' teams from the province. The two winning teams advance to the quarter-finals while the two losing teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers. ''Quarter-finals:'' (3 matches) The winners of the two preliminary round games join the other four Leinster teams to make up three quarter-final pairings. The three winning teams advance to the semi-finals while the three losing teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers. ''Semi-finals:'' (2 matches) The three winners of the quarter-finals join Kilkenny (who will receive a bye to this stage) to make up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advance to the final while the two losing teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers. ''Final:'' (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The winning team advances to the All-Ireland semi-final while the losing team advances to the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 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 the highest inter-county hurl ...

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

---- ---- ----

All-Ireland Qualifiers

Preliminary round

----

Phase 1

----

Phase 2

----

Phase 3

----

All-Ireland Senior hurling Championship

Quarter-finals

----

Semi-finals

----

Final

Statistics

Scoring

*First goal of the championship:

Simon McCrory Simon McCrory (born 1987 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Ireland, Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club St. John's GAA (Belfast), St. John's and has been a member of the Antrim GAA, Antrim senior inter-county hurling team ...

for Antrim against

(''Leinster preliminary round, 14 May 2011'') *Fastest goal of the season: 20 seconds –

Paudie O'Sullivan Paudie O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1988) is an Irish hurler who plays for Cork Premier Championship club Cloyne and Cork Senior Championship division Imokilly. He usually plays as a full-forward. O'Sullivan is a former member of the Cork ...

for

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

against

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

(''All-Ireland qualifiers phase 3, 9 July 2011'') *Widest winning margin: 34 points **Cork 10-20 : Laois 1-13 (''All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round, 18 June 2011'') *Most goals in a match: 11 **Cork 10-20 : Laois 1-13 (''All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round, 18 June 2011'') *Most points in a match: 45 **Tipperary 3-22 : Cork 0-23 (''Munster quarter-final, 29 May 2011'') **Galway 4-25 : Clare 0-20 (''All-Ireland qualifiers phase 2, 2 July 2011'') *Most goals by one team in a match: 10 **Cork 10-20 : Laois 1-13 (''All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round, 18 June 2011'') *Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 **Waterford 3-15 : Limerick 3-14 (''Munster semi-final, 12 June 2011'') **Antrim 1-21 : Laois 3-12 (''Leinster quarter-final, 14 May 2011'') *Most points scored by a losing team: 23 **Tipperary 3-22 : Cork 0-23 (''Munster quarter-final, 29 May 2011'')

Top scorers

;Overall ;Single game

Hat-tricks

Four goals in a game

Discipline

* First yellow card of the championship: John A. Delaney for

against Antrim, 39 minutes (14 May 2011) * First red card of the championship: Neil McAuley for Antrim against

, 40 minutes (14 May 2011)

Miscellaneous

* Antrim's defeat of

in the preliminary round of the Leinster championship is the team's first ever victory in the provincial series of games. * The Munster quarter-final meeting of

and

sets a new record as the eighth consecutive year that the sides have met in championship hurling. Previous consecutive meetings stretched from 1949 (draw and replay) to 1954 – a total of seven games in six years. Earlier, eight games were played in the seven-year period 1907 to 1913, however, two of those games were played in the calendar year of 1908. * The Leinster semi-final meeting between

and Kilkenny at

Wexford Park Chadwicks Wexford Park is a GAA stadium in Wexford, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland. It is the home of Wexford GAA's Gaelic football and hurling teams. After a recent development the ground has a capacity of about 18,000. It is located in t ...

is the first championship meeting between the two sides at that venue since the 1944 Leinster semi-final. * The All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round meeting between Antrim and

is the first ever championship meeting between the two sides. * The All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round meeting between Laois and Cork is the first championship meeting between the two sides since the 1915 All-Ireland final. Laois are the only team that Cork have played but never beaten in the championship. * Cork's total of 10-20 against Laois in the preliminary round of the qualifiers is the first time that a side has scored ten goals in the championship since

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in h ...

defeated

by 10-9 to 2-6 in the 1966 Leinster first round. * The Leinster semi-final meeting of

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

is not only both sides first meeting in the provincial championship but is also the first meeting of the two sides since the 1941 All-Ireland semi-final. * Dublin preserve their 100% championship record over Galway with a victory in the Leinster semi-final. Previous victories came in the 1924 All-Ireland final and the 1941 All-Ireland semi-final *

Lar Corbett Laurence Corbett (born 16 March 1981) is an Irish former hurler who played for Tipperary Championship club Thurles Sarsfields. He played for the Tipperary senior hurling team for 15 years, during which time he usually lined out as a left corn ...

becomes Tipperary's all-time leading championship goalscorer when he scores his 21st goal against Clare in the Munster semi-final. * For the first time in history Dublin qualify for the provincial minor, under-21 and senior finals in the same year. * Kilkenny's defeat of Dublin in the Leinster final is their seventh consecutive provincial title and sets a new record. Kilkenny also held the previous record of six-in-a-row between 1998 and 2003. *

Henry Shefflin Henry Shefflin (born 11 January 1979) is an Irish hurling manager and former player who is the current manager of the Galway senior hurling team. In his playing career he was nicknamed "King Henry" because of his directive style, dominance, c ...

's goal in the Leinster final made him the only player in history to score a goal in thirteen consecutive championship seasons. * Tipperary's 7-19 to 0-19 defeat of Waterford is the biggest margin of victory in a Munster final since Cork beat Waterford by 5-31 to 3-6 in the 1982 provincial decider. The 21-point winning margin is joint ninth in the top ten biggest Munster final victories. * The last time a team scored seven or more goals in a Munster final was in 1936 when Limerick defeated Tipperary by 8-5 to 4-6. Mick Mackey scored 5-3 of their total. * Brendan Cummins equalled

Christy Ring Nicholas Christopher Michael Ring (30 October 1920 – 2 March 1979) was an Irish hurler whose league and championship career at senior level with the Cork county team spanned twenty-four years from 1939 to 1963. He established many champions ...

's all-time championship appearances record, joining Ring on 65 appearances for Tipperary in the Munster Final. *

Tony Browne Tony Browne (born 1 July 1973) is an Irish hurler who played as a right wing-back for the Waterford senior team from 1991 until his retirement from inter-county hurling in 2014. Browne made his first appearance for the team during the 1991 ...

of Waterford becomes the fourth player to achieve at least 60 championship appearances with his appearance against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final. * Dublin's defeat of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in the All-Ireland quarter-final is their first ever championship victory over the Munster team. As a result of this, Dublin reach the All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 1948. * Waterford preserve their 100% championship record over Galway with a victory in the All-Ireland quarter-final. They have now beaten the westerners on ten occasions on the championship. * The All-Ireland semi-final between Kilkenny and Waterford is delayed by fifteen minutes due to the playing of extra time in the All-Ireland minor semi-final between Clare and Galway. * Kilkenny become the first team ever to reach six consecutive All-Ireland finals. * Tipperary's Brendan Cummins lines out for the 65th time in championship hurling to become the most "capped" player of all-time in the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin. After equalling

's long-held record in the Munster final he betters it in this game. * The All-Ireland final between Kilkenny and Tipperary is the third year in-a-row that the sides meet in the championship decider. This is the first time that this has happened since

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having bee ...

, when Cork and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

met in the All-Ireland final for the third consecutive year. * As a result of Kilkenny's All-Ireland final defeat of Tipperary, Henry Shefflin and

Eddie Brennan Edward Joseph Brennan (born 2 October 1978) is an Irish hurling manager and former player. His league and championship career with the Kilkenny senior team lasted twelve seasons from 2000 until 2011. Brennan was the manager of the Laois seni ...

join

and John Doyle as holders of a record eight All-Ireland medals.

Player facts

;Debutantes ''The following players made their début in the 2011 championship:'' ;Retirees ''The following players played their last game in the 2011 championship:''

Media coverage

The 2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was covered extensively in Ireland by

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division of the Irish national broadcasting organisation Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Radio broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels nationwide. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, the first broadcaster in t ...

and

RTÉ.ie RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)'s online activities, located at the URL https://www.rte.ie/. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely com ...

, with coverage of 31 live games across both the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships, with

Michael Lyster Michael Lyster (born 11 April 1954) is an Irish radio and television broadcaster who works for RTÉ. He mainly covers sporting events, such as Gaelic games and Olympic Games. He is best known for presenting '' The Sunday Game Live'', which he h ...

presenting the live coverage. ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'' presented by

Des Cahill Desmond Cahill (born 10 March 1959) is an Irish sports presenter and commentator with national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Cahill presents RTÉ television's GAA programme ''The Sunday Game'' and RTÉ's flagship weekend sports radi ...

covered extended highlights and analysis of the day's games on a Sunday night. Live games, on demand re-runs and match highlights were also carried on the RTÉ website. TV3 also broadcast a selection of All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship matches, as well as a weekly preview show called ''The GAA Show'' which aired on a Friday evening during the championship.

References

{{All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2011 in hurling