The Antrim Junior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Casement Social Club Junior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Antrim JHC) is 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 organised by the Antrim County Board of the

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

and contested by the junior-graded clubs in the

county of Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population of ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It is the third tier overall in the entire Antrim hurling championship system. In its current format, the Antrim Junior Championship begins in August. The 8 participating club teams are draw into two groups of four teams and play each other in a round-robin system. The first and second-placed teams in both groups proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final. The winner of the Antrim Junior Championship qualifies for the subsequent Ulster Club Championship. Shane O'Neill's are the title holders after defeating St. Mary's, Rasharkin by 1–21 to 0–16 in the 2022 final.

Format

Group stage

The 8 teams are divided into two groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage.

Knockout stage

Semi-finals: The first and second-placed teams from both groups contest this round. The two winners from these games advance to the final. Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Promotion

At the end of the championship, the winning team is automatically promoted to the Antrim Intermediate Championship for the following season.

2023 teams

Sponsorship

Casement Social Club have been the title sponsor of the Antrim Junior Hurling Championship since 2019.

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Antrim Junior Championship winners qualify for the subsequent

Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition played between the best junior hurling clubs in the province of Ulster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played dur ...

Trophy and medals

The Kevin Grieve Cup is the current prize for winning the championship. In accordance with GAA rules, the County Board awards a set of gold medals to the championship winners.

List of finals

References

{{Antrim GAA

Hurling competitions in County Antrim Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, 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 ...

Junior hurling county championships