The Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the

Leinster Council The Leinster Council is a provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, rounders and handball in the province of Leinster. The Leinster Council has been partnered with the European County ...

of 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 ...

and contested by the champion senior clubs in the province of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

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 club competition in Leinster hurling. Introduced in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open to all 12 county senior champions from the 1970 championship season. The competition is currently limited to the eight champion club teams from the strongest hurling counties in Leinster. In its current format, the Leinster Club Championship begins in November following the completion of the individual county championships. The eight participating teams compete in 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 ...

which culminates with the final match on the first Sunday in December. The winner of the Leinster Club Championship, as well as being presented with the O'Neill Cup, qualifies for the subsequent All-Ireland Club Championship. The competition has been won by 18 teams, 10 of which have won it more than once.

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 ...

clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories with 23 wins.

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 ...

is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 12 times.

are the reigning champions, having beaten

Kilmacud Crokes Kilmacud Crokes ( ir, Cill Mochuda Na Crócaigh) is a large Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Stillorgan, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Background Kilmacud GAA club was formed in 1959 following a historic public meeting in Saint ...

by 2-22 to2-19 in the 2022 final.

Format

Overview

The Leinster 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 only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is no

seeding The term seeding and related terms such as seeded are used in several different contexts: *Sowing, planting seeds in a place or on an object *Cloud seeding, manipulating cloud formations *Seeding (computing), a concept in computing and peer-to-pee ...

. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Format

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: 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.

Teams

Qualification

Managers

Managers 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 ...

in the Leinster 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.

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship winners qualify for the subsequent

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-coun ...

. The winners contest the All-Ireland semi-finals with the other three provincial representatives.

Titles listed by club

Titles listed by county

List of Finals

Records and statistics

Team

*Most wins: 12: **

(1978, 1980, 1983, 1989, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) *Most consecutive wins: 4: **

(2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) *Most appearances in a final: 14: **

(1978, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) *Most appearances in a final without ever winning: 3 **

Kinnitty Kinnitty () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is located 13 km east of Birr on the R440 and R421 regional roads. Name and location The village derives its name from the myth that the head of an ancient princess is buried beneath ...

(1983, 1984, 1985) ** Castletown (1997, 1999, 2001) **

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(2000, 2004, 2005) *Most appearances in a final without losing (streak): 8 **

(2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) *Most defeats: 6 ** Oulart–The Ballagh (1994, 1995, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)

Teams

County representatives

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Leinster Championship titles, is as follows: * 1970s: 3 for

Rathnure Rathnure () is a small village on the R731 regional road about from the town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. The village is located at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountain, which borders County Carlow on the opposite side. Place ...

(1971-73-77) * 1980s: 3 for

(1980-3-89) * 1990s: 4 for Birr (1991-94-97-99) * 2000s: 3 each for Birr (2001-02-07) and

(2006-08-09) * 2010s: 3 for

(2014-18-19)

Successful defending

Only 5 teams of the 14 who have won the championship have ever successfully defended the title. These are: *

on 3 attempts out of 10 (2009, 2019, 2021) * Birr in 1 attempts out of 7 (2002) *

in 1 attempt out of 6 (1987) * James Stephens in 1 attempt out of 4 (2005) *

Cuala Cuala GAA club (or ''Cuala GAC'', ) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Dalkey in the south of County Dublin, Ireland. It fields teams in Dublin GAA competitions. Cuala is primarily based in a sports and social centre in Dalkey, a ...

on 1 attempt out of 1 (2017)

Gaps

Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles: * 23 years: James Stephens (1981–2004) * 20 years:

Camross Camross GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association Hurling and Gaelic football club in County Laois, Ireland, located near to Coolrain. History Founded in 1903, the club is the most successful hurling club in County Laois and the club colours are fa ...

Format

Overview

Format

Teams

Qualification

Managers

Qualification for subsequent competitions

Titles listed by club

Titles listed by county

List of Finals

Records and statistics

Team

Teams

County representatives

By decade

Successful defending

Gaps

Top scorer

Overall

Single game

Finals

See also

References

Sources