The 1993–94 National Hurling League was the 63rd edition of the

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

, which ran from 17 October 1993 until 8 May 1994. Thirty-two teams participated in the league, comprising four divisions of eight teams. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a drawn game. The knock-out phase featured the top four teams from division one and the top two teams from division two. Tipperary won the league, beating

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

by 2–14 to 0–12 in the final.

Overview

Division 1

The National Hurling League's top division featured eight teams. Galway, the 1993

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

runners-up, suffered just one defeat, topped the group and guaranteed themselves a place in the National League semi-final. Reigning league champions

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

finished second and booked their place in the second semi-final. Third placed Tipperary and fourth placed Antrim secured their places in the league quarter-finals. In spite of finished third, Tipperary defeated Galway in the National League final to secure their 16th title. It was the team's last silverware under the management of Michael "Babs" Keating. Down at the other end of the table,

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, with five defeats, and

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

, with six defeats, were relegated to Division 2 for the following season.

Division 2

In Division 2,

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

and reigning All-Ireland champions

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

finished first and second respectively, thus securing automatic promotion to Division 1 for the following season. They also earned a place in the National League quarter-finals.

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, who only managed one draw during the group stage, were automatically relegated to Division 3.

Division 3

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

finished the group stage without defeat, topping the group with 14 points. Their success ensured automatic promotion to Division 2. Mayo lost all seven of their group games, finishing with a points difference of -100, and were relegated to Division 4.

Division 4

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

were the standard bearers in Division 4. They recorded six wins from seven games, thus ensuring their promotion to Division 3 for the 1994-95 National Hurling League.

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

lost all seven of their group games, finishing with a points difference of -116. They had the dubious honour of being the worst hurling team in Ireland.

Division 1

For the second time in three years, the league saw a major restructuring. The twelve-team Division 1 which was split into two groups of six was abolished in favour of a single eight-team division.

came into the season as defending champions of the 1992-93 season. On 8 May 1994, Tipperary won the title after a 2–14 to 0–12 win over

in the final. It was their 16th league title overall and their first since 1987-88.

and

were relegated from Division 1. Waterford's Paul Flynn was the Division 1 top scorer with 0-39.

Table

Group stage

Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Scoring statistics

;Top scorers overall ;Top scorers in a single game

Division 2

In spite of a major restructuring of the league, Division 2 remained as a single unit consisting of eight teams.

Laois County Laois ( ; ) 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 medieval kingdom. Hist ...

came into the season as defending champions of the 1992-93 season. On 20 March 1994,

secured the title after an 0–11 to 0–9 win over

in the final round of the group stage. Westmeath were relegated from Division 2. Dublin's Aonghus O'Grady was the Division 2 top scorer with 2-38.

Table

Group stage

Scoring statistics

;Top scorers overall ;Top scorers in a single game

Division 3

Table

Division 4

Table

External links

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1993-94 National Hurling League National Hurling League seasons

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