Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Michael Collins speaking to the Kilkenny team before the 1921 Leinster final at Croke Park

Following the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, new rules for Gaelic football and hurling were drawn up and published in the United Irishman newspaper. In 1886, county committees began to be established, with several counties affiliating over the next few years. The GAA ran its inaugural All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1887. The decision to establish that first championship was influenced by several factors. Firstly, inter-club contests in 1885 and 1886 were wildly popular and began to draw huge crowds. Clubs started to travel across the country to play against each other and these matches generated intense interest as the newspapers began to speculate which teams might be considered the best in the country. Secondly, although the number of clubs was growing, many were slow to affiliate to the Association, leaving it short of money. Establishing a central championship held the prospect of enticing GAA clubs to process their affiliations, just as the establishment of the FA Cup had done much in the 1870s to promote the development of the Football Association in England. The championships were open to all affiliated clubs who would first compete in county-based competitions, to be run by local county committees. The winners of each county championship would then proceed to represent that county in the All-Ireland series.[1] For the first and only time in its history the All-Ireland Championship used an open draw format. Six teams entered the first championship, however, this number increased to nine in 1888. Because of this, and in an effort to reduce travelling costs, the GAA decided to introduce provincial championships in Munster and Leinster.

Kilkenny hurling team c. 1923

The inaugural Leinster Championship featured Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny and Laois. Dublin and Kildare contested the very first match on Sunday 3 June 1888. Postponements, disqualifications, objections, withdrawals and walkovers were regular occurrences during the initial years of the championship. No championship took place in 1892 as Dublin were the only team to enter and were deemed the Leinster representatives in the subsequent All-Ireland series. Kilkenny rejoined the championship, however, the finals of 1893 and 1894 ended in walkovers.

The "old" Bob O'Keeffe Cup, retired in 2005

Between 1888 and 2017 the Leinster Championship was a knockout tournament whereby once a team was defeated they were eliminated from the championship. In the early years the pairings were drawn at random and there was no seeding. Each match was played as a single leg. If a match ended in a draw there was a replay. Drawn replays were settled with extra time; however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time a second replay took place and so on until a winner was found. Extra-time was eventually adopted in the event of a draw for all championship games except the final.

The dominance of Kilkenny and Wexford throughout the 1960s and 1970s lead to both these teams being placed on opposite sides of the championship draw, however, this seeding system was later abolished.

The Leinster Council expanded the championship with the introduction of a group stage for the four "weakest" teams in 2000. Carlow, Dublin, Laois and Westmeath contested this group stage, with the winning team advancing to the semi-final stage of the championship proper with Kilkenny, Offaly and Wexford. This group stage system was abolished after only one year in favour of a preliminary stage knock-out championship for the "weakest" teams. Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Meath, Wicklow and Westmeath played three knock-out rounds, with the one remaining team qualifying for the quarter-final stage of the championship proper. This system remained in place, albeit with some minor adjustments, until 2005 when the "weakest" teams moved to the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup.

By 2014 the number of teams participating in the Leinster Championship had risen to ten. A number of one-sided games in recent years saw the return of a group stage for the five designated "weakest" teams. Antrim, Carlow, Laois, London and Westmeath contested the group stage with each team playing each other once. The top two teams in the league advanced to the quarter-finals of the championship proper. The team placed fourth played the Christy Ring Cup winner in a promotion play-off, while the bottom-placed was relegated to the Christy Ring Cup for the following year. This format ended in 2017.

The Leinster Championship was an integral part of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Between 1888 and 1996 the Leinster final winners automatically qualified for either the All-Ireland semi-final or final. The introduction of the "back door" system in 1997 allowed the defeated Leinster finalists access to the All-Ireland quarter-final, while the Leinster champions received a bye to the All-Ireland semi-final. The "back door" system was replaced in 2002 by the All-Ireland Qualifiers which afforded every defeated team in the Leinster Championship the chance of qualifying for the All-Ireland Championship. Between 2005 and 2007 both Munster finalists qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals, however, this system was abolished in 2008 with the Leinster champions receiving a bye to the All-Ireland semi-final.

There are five teams in the Leinster Championship. During the course of a season (from May to June) each team plays the others once (a single round-robin system) for a total of 10 games. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points and then head-to-head results. The top two teams in the group contest the Leinster final.

As of the 2018 championship, qualification for the All-Ireland Championship has changed due to the abolition of the qualifiers. The Leinster champions continue to receive a bye to the All-Ireland semi-final while the defeated Leinster finalists enter the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The third-placed team in the group enter the All-Ireland Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage where they play either the champions or runners-up of the Joe McDonagh Cup.

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Leinster Championship and the Joe McDonagh Cup. If a Connacht, Leinster or Ulster team win the Joe McDonagh Cup, the bottom team in the Leinster group are relegated to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup and replaced in the Leinster championship by the Joe McDonagh champions.

The following six teams will compete for the 2023 Leinster Senior Hurling championship.

Team	Location	Stadium	Position in 2022	First year in championship	Years in championship in 2023	Championship titles	Last championship title	Most Recent Final
Antrim		Casement Park	—	1913		0	—	—
Dublin		Parnell Park	4th	1888	130	24	2013	2021
Galway		Pearse Stadium	2nd	2009	15	3	2018	2022
Kilkenny		Nowlan Park	1st	1888	127	74	2022	2022
Westmeath		Cusack Park	5th	1913		0	—	1937
Wexford		Wexford Park	3rd	1890	123	21	2019	2019

The following teams did not compete in the Leinster Championship in 2023, but have previously competed in the Leinster Championship for at least one season.

Unknown Kilkenny hurler, c. 1923

In spite of Leinster consisting of twelve counties, many of these are dominated by Gaelic football and do not compete at a serious level in hurling. Louth became the fifth team to join the championship in 1889, however, they subsequently withdrew and only contested three further championships in 1901, 1919 and 1920. Kildare also had a similar relationship with the championship. After fielding a team in the inaugural provincial campaign their involvement in later campaigns was sporadic.

Wexford, in spite of contesting the open draw All-Ireland Championship in 1887, did not field a team the inaugural Leinster Championship. They first competed in 1890 and, apart from a few absences, have remained in the championship ever since. Offaly's first involvement in the championship was in 1897.

Westmeath joined the championship in 1913 while Meath entered the championship for the first time in 1919. They were regular participants until the 1960s when they regraded. They made a brief return to the championship in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Wicklow first fielded a team in the championship in 1943, however, their appearances in subsequent championship campaigns were sporadic.

After winning the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship in 1962, Carlow fielded a team at senior level for the first time the following year. They remained in the Leinster Championship until regrading in 1966, however, they were regular participants once again from the 1990s onward.

Longford remain the only county never to have fielded a team in the Leinster Championship.

Due to a lack of meaningful competition in their own respective provinces, Antrim and Galway pushed for entry to the Leinster Championship in the early 2000s. At a special meeting of Congress on 4 October 2008, delegates voted to include Galway and Antrim in a restructured Leinster Championship on a trial basis for three years. Dublin, Wexford and Offaly spoke against the move; however, when put to a vote approximately 80% of delegates voted in favour.[2] Antrim remained in the championship until their relegation to the Christy Ring Cup in 2015.

In 2016 Kerry, in spite of being based in the province of Munster, joined the Leinster Championship after gaining promotion following victory in the Christy Ring Cup.[3] They remained in the province for two championship seasons.

In 2013, an English team participated in the Leinster Championship for the first time after London gained promotion from the Christy Ring Cup. They made their debut in a 4–17 to 2–13 defeat by Carlow on 18 May 2013. The first Leinster Championship match to be played outside Ireland was London's home match at the Emerald GAA Grounds against Carlow on 27 April 2014.

Parnell Park is the home venue of Dublin.

Croke Park in Dublin, as well as being the headquarters of the GAA, has hosted every Leinster final since 1962.

Semple Stadium, in spite of being situated outside of Leinster, hosted the final replay in 2018.

Leinster Championship matches were traditionally played at neutral venues or at a location that was deemed to be halfway between the two participants; however, teams eventually came to home and away agreements depending on the capacity of their stadiums. Every second meeting between these teams was played at the home venue of one of them.

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the Leinster Council and for the teams involved. For the 2016 championship proper, average attendances were 11,571 with a total aggregate attendance figure of 69,429. The 2017 final between Galway and Wexford saw a record attendance of 60,032.

Fixtures in the five group stage rounds of the championship are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed two home games.

Between 1888 and 1978 the semi-finals were played at a selection of venues around the province. A series of poorly-attended semi-finals by the 1970s lead to the decision by the Leinster Council to play both semi-finals at the same venue as part of a double-header. This occurred for the first time on 24 June 1979 when Kilkenny played Dublin and Wexford played Offaly at Geraldine Park in Athy. From 1980 until 2001 the semi-finals were played as a double-header at Croke Park, with the exception of 1993 when Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow was the venue. In 2002 the semi-finals were played outside of Leinster for the first time ever when Semple Stadium in Thurles hosted the penultimate games due to reconstruction work taking place at Croke Park. After that the semi-finals were played on different dates and at different venues around the province until their abolition after the 2017 championship.

The final has been played exclusively at Croke Park since 1962. Prior to this, the final had been played at Croke Park on a number of occasions; however, smaller provincial venues were also used, most notably Nowlan Park in Kilkenny or O'Moore Park in Portlaoise. In 2018 the final was held in Semple Stadium in Thurles.[4]