The Munster Junior B Club Hurling Championship 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 Killeedy GAA Club in

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 ...

since 2005 for the champion junior B hurling teams in the province of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

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 ...

. The series of games are played during the winter months with the Munster final currently being played in January. The prize for the winning team is the Michael Fitzmaurice Memorial Cup. The championship has always been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship. The Munster Championship is an integral part of the wider

All-Ireland Junior B Club Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior B Club Hurling Championship is an annual inter-county club hurling competition organised by Killeedy GAA club since 2006 for eligible hurling clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their count ...

. The winners and runners-up of the Munster final join the winners and runners-up of the

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 ...

in the semi-final stages of the All-Ireland Championship.

Bruff Bruff () is a town in east County Limerick, in the midwest of Ireland, located on the old Limerick–Cork road ( R512). The town lies on the Morning Star river, with two bridges in the town itself. The horseshoe lake of Lough Gur is nearby ...

are the title-holders after defeating

Thurles Sarsfields Thurles Sarsfields is a Tipperary GAA club which is located in County Tipperary, Ireland. Both hurling and Gaelic football are played in the "Mid-Tipperary" divisional competitions. The club is centred in the town of Thurles at Semple Stadium ...

by 0–10 to 1–06 in the 2022 Munster final.

History

A Munster Club Championship for respective junior B champions was the idea of the Killeedy GAA Club who, after winning the Limerick JBHC title in 2005, realised there was no provincial competition in that grade of

. A senior championship had been running side

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, while intermediate and

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

competitions had been recently introduced by GAA President Seán Kelly. Members of the Killeedy club approached a supportive Kelly, however, their proposal was rejected by Central Council. In spite of this setback, Killeedy organised their own unofficial provincial competition for Junior B championship winners before eventually securing the official support of the Munster Council.

The championship

Overview

The Munster 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 there are penalties. Only the final, if both teams are still level after a period of extra time, goes to a replay.

Competition format

Quarter-finals: Four teams contest this round. The two winning teams advance directly to the semi-final stage. The two 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.

Qualification

Trophy

At the end of the Munster final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The cup, named the Michael Fitzmaurice Memorial Cup in honour of a former Killeedy hurler, is held by the winning team until the following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made by a high-ranking official from the Munster Council. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to lift the cup.

Roll of honour

List of finals

Notes: * 2008 - The first match ended in a draw: Bruree 1–11, Moyne-Templetuohy 0–14. * 2008 - The first match ended in a draw: Templeglantine 2–13, Holycross-Ballycahill, 2–13. * 2015 - The first match ended in a draw: Shanballymore 1–12, Éire Óg Annacarty 2-09.

References

{{All-Ireland Junior B Club Hurling Championship Junior B