The Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the St Canice's Credit Union Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Kilkenny SHC) 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 Kilkenny 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 top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Kilkenny in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is the most prestigious competition in Kilkenny hurling. Introduced in

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

as the Kilkenny Hurling Championship, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to senior-ranking club teams. The championship has gone through a number of changes throughout the years, including the use of a round robin, before reverting to a straight knockout format. In its current format, the Kilkenny Senior Championship begins in September with a first round series of games comprising eight teams, while the four remaining teams receive byes to the quarter-final stage. A team's finishing position in the

Kilkenny Senior Hurling League The Kilkenny Senior Hurling League (known for sponsorship reasons as the St. Canice's Credit Union Senior Hurling League) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1992 fo ...

determines at what stage they enter the championship. Four rounds of games are played, culminating with the final match at

Nowlan Park UPMC Nowlan Park (; ) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland. Named after James Nowlan (the longest serving President of the GAA), the stadium hosts major hurling matches and is home to the Kilkenny hurling te ...

in October. The winner of the Kilkenny Senior Championship, as well as being presented with the Tom Walsh Cup, qualifies for the subsequent Leinster Club Championship. The competition has been won by 26 teams, 18 of which have won it more than once.

Tullaroan Tullaroan () is a village in the western part of County Kilkenny in the Slieveardagh Hills near the County Tipperary, Tipperary border. Tullaroan is also the name of the local civil parish. Sport Tullaroan GAA are the most successful Gaelic Ath ...

and

Ballyhale Shamrocks Ballyhale Shamrocks is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the parish of Ballyhale in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. The club was founded in 1972 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. Ballyhale Shamrocks are the ...

are the most successful teams in the tournament's history, having won it 20 times each.

are the reigning champions, having beaten James Stephens by 1–21 to 2–11 in the 2022 final.

History

Beginnings

Following the foundation of the

in 1884, new rules for

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

and

were drawn up and published in the ''

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

'' newspaper. County committees were established over the next few years, with the Kilkenny County Board affiliating on 30 January 1887. The inaugural championship was contested by just four clubs, with

winning the title after a defeat of

Mooncoin Mooncoin () is a census town in County Kilkenny, in Ireland. The population was 1,175 in 2016. Historically part of the Gaelic kingdom of Osraige, today it is in the far south of the county of Kilkenny, located in the valley of the River Suir. I ...

. Since then the championship title has been awarded every year except on a handful of occasions. No championships took place in 1891, 1892 and 1912, while several championships between 1916 and 1922 were either cancelled or unfinished due to the

Irish revolutionary period The revolutionary period in Irish history was the period in the 1910s and early 1920s when Irish nationalist opinion shifted from the Home Rule-supporting Irish Parliamentary Party to the republican Sinn Féin movement. There were several wa ...

. The 1916 championship began in October 1916, however, because of

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

it wasn't completed until June 1919. It was decreed that the winner of the match would be declared champions for all three years.

Team dominance

The first fifty years of the championship were dominated by Tullaroan and Mooncoin who built up an intense rivalry. Both clubs shared 28 championship titles between 1887 and 1936, however, since then they have won just four titles between them. Other clubs who enjoyed limited periods of dominance during this time include city-based club

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, who won three titles between 1893 and 1896, and Dicksboro who won two titles from four final appearances during the 1920s. Carrickshock's dominance saw the club play in ten finals between 1938 and 1948, becoming the first team to win four successive championships from 1940 to 1943. Éire Óg also claimed four titles during this period. After a sixty-year hiatus

Bennettsbridge Bennettsbridge () is a village in County Kilkenny in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the River Nore south of Kilkenny city, in the centre of the county. Bennettsbridge is a census town, and has population of 745 as of the 2016 ...

returned to winning ways and claimed ten championship titles between 1952 and 1967. Fenians added their name to roll of honour in 1970 before claiming four more championships before the end of the decade. In 1978

became the latest first-time champions and ushered in a new era of dominance by winning 10 more championship titles by 1991. As Ballyhale went into decline, Glenmore dominated the nineties by winning five championships between 1987 and 1999. The first decade of the new century saw

O'Loughlin Gaels O'Loughlin Gaels is a Gaelic Athletic Association club situated in the St. John’s parish of Kilkenny city, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History The club was founded in 1969, replacing the St. John’s Hurling Club that started back in 1887. O ...

and James Stephens win two titles apiece, while Ballyhale Shamrocks ended the decade with four successive championships before winning four more in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019.

The championship

Overview

The Kilkenny County Championship is a

single elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. Each team is afforded just one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random, however, there is a certain level of seeding based on league performance. The league begins with two groups of six teams. The top two teams in each group receive a bye into the quarter-finals, while third placed team plays the fourth placed team, and the fifth placed team plays the sixth placed team in the first round. The losers of the latter games enter a relegation play-off. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a replay. If both sides are still level at the end of the replay there is a period of extra time and so on until a winner is found.

Format

First round: 8 teams contest this round. The 4 winning teams advance directly to the quarter-final stage. The 4 losing teams are eliminated from the championship. Quarter-finals: Eight teams contest this round. The four winning teams advance directly to the semi-final stage. The four losing teams are eliminated from the championship. Semi-finals: Four teams contest this round. The two winning teams advance directly to the final. The two losing teams are eliminated from the championship. Final: The final is contested by the two semi-final winners.

Participating teams

The following 12 teams participated in the 2021 championship:

Sponsorship

Since 1991 the Kilkenny County Championship has been sponsored by the St Canice's Credit Union.

Managers

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

s in the Kilkenny Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players. Their influence varies from club-to-club and is related to the individual club committees. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and a backroom team consisting of various coaches.

List of finals

* 1979 - The first match ended in a draw: Ballyhale Shamrocks, 0–14, Erin's Own 0–14. * 1980 - The first match ended in a draw: Ballyhale Shamrocks, 3–10, Muckalee/Ballyfoyle Rovers 2–13. * 1993 - The first match ended in a draw: Dicksboro 0–12, Fenians 0–12. * 1996 - The first match ended in a draw: Young Irelands 2–10, James Stephens 0–16. * 2003 - The first match ended in a draw: O'Loughlin Gaels 3-09, Young Irelands 2–12. * 2011 - The first match ended in a draw: James Stephens 1-08, Ballyhale Shamrocks 0–11.

Finals listed by year

Notes: * 1887 - Goal outweighed any number of points. * 1906 - Mooncoin awarded title. * 1917-18 - Combined with 1916 Championship. * 1919 - Tullaroan and Mooncoin failed to agree on a venue, declared null and void. * 1927 (First game) - Late goal scored after final whistle. Replay agreed. * 1927 (Replay) - Objection, replay agreed. * 1927 (Second Replay) - Unfinished due to conditions. * 1979 - Game unfinished. Ballyhale awarded the title.

Top winners

Records

Teams

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows: * 1880s: 2 for

(1887–89) * 1890s: 3 each for

(1895-97-99) and

(1893-94-96) * 1900s: 4 for

(1901-02-04-07) * 1910s: 3 for

(1910-11-15) * 1920s: 3 for

(1927-28-29) * 1930s: 3 for

(1930-33-34) * 1940s: 4 for Carrickshock (1940-41-42-43) * 1950s: 5 for

(1952-53-55-56-59) * 1960s: 5 for

(1960-62-64-66-67) * 1970s: 5 for Fenians (1970-72-73-74-77) * 1980s: 6 for

(1980-82-83-85-88-89) * 1990s: 4 for Glenmore (1990-92-95-99) * 2000s: 4 for

(2006-07-08-09) * 2010s: 4 for

(2012-14-18-19) * 2020s: 3 for

(2020-21-22)

Most consecutive wins

Most consecutive appearances

Gaps/wins

Top ten longest gaps between championship titles: * 62 years:

(1890-1952) * 43 years: Dicksboro (1950-1993) * 36 years:

(1958-1994) * 32 years: James Stephens (1937-1969) * 29 years:

(1936-1965) * 27 years:

Clara Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...

(1986-2013) * 24 years: Dicksboro (1993-2017) * 24 years: Dicksboro (1926-1950) * 23 years: James Stephens (1981-2004) * 15 years:

(1991-2006)

Gaps/appearances

Top ten longest gaps between appearances in a final (bold denotes a win): * 67 years: John Lockes (1890-1957) * 62 years:

(1890-1952) * 59 years: Carrickshock (1951-2010) * 44 years:

(1974-2018) * 43 years: Dicksboro (1950-1993) * 34 years:

(1958-1992) * 32 years: James Stephens (1937-1969) * 23 years:

(1990-2013) * 21 years: Glenmore (1964-1985) * 21 years:

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

(1946-1967) * 21 years:

(1967-1988)

Most appearances in final

Most regular pairing in finals

Biggest wins

* The most one sided Kilkenny finals since 1896 when goals were made equal to three points: ** 24 points – 1902:

3-16 (25) – 0-01 (1)

** 23 points – 1904:

6-14 (32) – 1-6 (9)

Piltown Piltown (), historically known as Ballypoyle, is a village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It lies on the R698 regional road, which was the N24 national primary road before the locality was bypassed in 2002. Approaching Piltown from Carrick-on- ...

** 21 points – 2020:

5-19 (34) – 1-10 (13) Dicksboro ** 18 points – 1908:

5-17 (32) – 3-05 (14) Threecastles ** 17 points – 1955: Benettsbridge 6-06 (24) – 1-04 (7)

** 17 points – 1988:

2-15 (21) – 0-04 (4)

** 16 points – 1934:

6-06 (24) – 1-04 (7) Carrickshock ** 16 points – 1969: James Stephens 8-05 (29) – 2-07 (13) Fenians ** 15 points – 1915:

7-02 (23) – 2-02 (8) Dicksboro ** 15 points – 1923: Dicksboro 7-04 (25) – 3-01 (10)

** 14 points – 1944: Eire Og 7-09 (30) – 4.04 (16) Carrickshock ** 14 points – 1964:

4-09 (21) - 1-04 (7) Glenmore ** 14 points – 1991:

3-16 (25) – 1-08 (11) St. Martin's

Top scorers/team

Final

NOTES: *1950 - Drawn match *''1973'' - Highest score by a losing team

Top scorers

FINALS from 1995 to 2019

By year

Finals

References

External links

Official Kilkenny GAA WebsiteKilkenny Club Forum
*YouTube
--> {{Kilkenny GAA, state=expanded Hurling competitions in Leinster Kilkenny GAA club championships Hurling competitions in County Kilkenny Senior hurling county championships