Laois Senior Hurling Championship

The Laois Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888.

Clough–Ballacolla are the title holders, defeating Camross by 2-21 to 2-15 in the 2025 final.

Honours The trophy presented to the winners is the Bob O'Keefe Cup.

The winners of the Laois Senior Championship qualify to represent their county in the Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship. They often do well there and Clough–Ballacolla were in the 2021 Leinster Final after winning the Laois Senior Hurling Championship. The winners can, in turn, go on to play in the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship.

Teams

2026 teams The 10 teams competing in the 2026 Laois Senior Hurling Championship are: ClubLocationChampionship titlesLast championship title AbbeyleixAbbeyleix81949 BallinakillBallinakill0—BallyfinBallyfin0— Borris-in-Ossory–KilcottonBorris-in-Ossory12016 CamrossCoolrain272023 Clough–BallacollaClough and Ballacolla132025 PortlaoisePortlaoise112004 Rathdowney–ErrillRathdowney and Errill62019 RosenallisRosenallis0— The HarpsCullohill and Durrow0—

List of finals (r) = replay

Year Winners Runners-up Club Score Club Score Winning captain 1888 Rathdowney 2-02 Knockaroo 0-01 1889 Rathdowney 3-05 Skierke 0-00 1890 Clonaslee 1-02 Rathdowney 1-00 1891 Clonaslee w/o Aghaboe scr1892–1896No competition 1897 Harristown 0-08 Rathdowney 1-01 1898 Kilkenny Moderator - Saturday 26 November 1898 P4 Rathdowney 2-10 Ballacolla 0-01 1899 Kilkenny Moderator - Saturday 18 November 1899 Rathdowney 1-06 (on obj) Knockaroo 1-11 (on obj)1900No competition 1901 Rathdowney 1902 Rathdowney 1903 Rathdowney 1904 Kilcotton 1-05 Rathdowney 1-03 1905 Kilcotton 4-11 Rathdowney 1-03 1906 Kilcotton 2-11 Camross 0-01 1907 Rathdowney 4-10 Ballacolla 2-09 1908 Leinster Leader Feb 6th 1909 P8 Rathdowney 2-11 Clonaslee 1-13 1909Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 26 March 1910; Page: 5 Kilcotton 2-11 Clonaslee 4-04 1910 Clonaslee 3-02 Kilcotton 3-01 1911 Rathdowney 7-01 Clonaslee 0-00 1912 Rathdowney 4-02 Kilcotton 1-02 1913 Kilcotton 3-03, 3-02 (r), 3-02 (r2) Rathdowney 4-00, 3-02 (r), 2-01 (r2) 1914 Ballygeehan 0-09, 3-02 (r) Kilcotton 0-09, 2-01 (r) 1915 Carlow Nationalist - Saturday 02 September 1916 P5 Ballygeehan 5-03 Kilcotton 4-05 1916 Ballygeehan 4-04 Rathdowney 2-00 1917 Ballygeehan 3-00 Kilcotton 2-02 1918 Ballygeehan 3-00 Rathdowney 0-00 1919 Kilcotton 4-01 Ballygeehan 0-01 1920 Kilcotton 1-05 Rathdowney 1-03 1921 Rathdowney 3-00 Kilcotton 1-03 1922 Rathdowney 4-03 Portlaoise 2-01 1923 Kilcotton 5-02 Ballacolla 1-00 1924 Kilcotton 3-01 Rathdowney 2-01 1925 Rathdowney 3-03 Clonad 2-01 1926 Rathdowney 6-01 Ballacolla 2-00 1927 Abbeyleix 6-03 Rathdowney 3-02 1928 Portlaoise 0-04 Clonad 1-00 1929 Kilcotton w/o Portlaoise scr 1930 Clonad 5-01 Ballygeehan 3-01 1931 Rathdowney 2-03 Clonad 1-04 1932 Abbeyleix 2-04 Clonad 1-02 1933 Clonad 5-03 Rathdowney 0-02 1934 Abbeyleix 2-05 Clonad 2-03 1935 Clonad 7-03 Rathdowney 1-05 1936 Rathdowney 6-04 Kilcotton 1-05 1937 Clonad 2-07 Abbeyleix 2-01 1938 Errill 2-05 Rathdowney 1-04 1939 Abbeyleix 2-09 Errill 1-03 1940 Abbeyleix 2-03 Kilcotton 0-03 1941 Rathdowney 2-02 (on obj) Kilcotton 3-06 (on obj) 1942 Mountrath 3-02 Clonad 3-00 1943 Portlaoise 4-11 Rathdowney 4-03 1944 Abbeyleix 2-09 Kilcotton 0-03 1945 Irish Press 1931-1995, Monday, 15 October 1945; Page: 4 Abbeyleix 5-05 Camross 1-02 1946 Clonad 3-04 Abbeyleix 2-03 1947 Clonad 3-08 Abbeyleix 2-04 1948 Clonad 2-06 Abbeyleix 0-03 1949 Abbeyleix 7-03 Clonad 5-03 1950 Clonad 3-13 Errill 1-05Pat Norton 1951 Kyle 3-02 Rovers 2-02Michael Rigney 1952Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 27 September 1952; Page: 6 Errill 6-06 Clonad 3-04Jimmy Murray 1953Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 10 October 1953; Page: 3 Clonad 2-14 Kyle 2-07Andy Dunne 1954 Clonad 1-09 Errill 0-04Andy Dunne 1955Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 15 October 1955; Page: 4 Cullohill 5-09 Kyle 3-05Lar Dunphy 1956 Borris-in-Ossory 2-13 Cullohill 2-06Christy O'Brien 1957Cuddagh requested a postponement, on the grounds of injuries, which was turned down at an emergency meeting in October 1957. Cuddagh refused to play the final. Borris-in-Ossory w/o Cuddagh scrChristy O'Brien 1958 Clonad 1-09, 3-04 (r) Borris-in-Ossory 2-06, 1-09 (r)Andy Dunne 1959 Camross 2-05 Cuddagh 3-01Fintan Lalor 1960 Borris-in-Ossory 2-06 Portlaoise 0-11Christy O'Brien 1961 Borris-in-Ossory 3-11 Cuddagh 0-04Christy O'Brien 1962 Clonad 1-08 Borris-in-Ossory 0-05Jimmy Fennell 1963 Camross 2-09 St Canice's 2-06 Fintan Lalor 1964 Cullohill 4-04 Camross 4-03Mt. (Mog) O'Mahoney 1965 Camross 3-10 St Canice's 3-06Tim Cuddy 1966 Camross 5-07 Rathdowney 2-04Tim Cuddy 1967 Camross 5-04 Clonad 3-04Tim Cuddy 1968 Camross 5-13 Cullohill 2-05Ger Cuddy 1969 Camross 3-13 Rathdowney 2-05Ger Cuddy 1970 Clonad 2-09 Clonaslee 2-06 George Conroy 1971 Camross 4-10 Clonad 3-08Jimmy Lyons 1972 Borris-in-Ossory 4-06 Ballyfin 2-06Brendan Dollard 1973 Camross 5-13 Borris-in-Ossory 0-14John Carroll 1974 Camross 1-15 Clonaslee 0-05Christy Donovan 1975 Clonaslee 0-13 Clonad 0-08John O'Keefe 1976 Camross 1-13 Clonaslee 1-09Martin Cuddy 1977 Camross 2-14 Portlaoise 0-05Paddy Dowling 1978 Camross 2-09 Borris-in-Ossory 0-05Sean Cuddy 1979 Camross 3-09 Ballinakill 1-07Michael Carroll 1980 Camross 3-04 Portlaoise 1-08Richard Maloney 1981 Portlaoise 2-13 Camross 4-05John Joe Ging 1982 Portlaoise 2-12 Errill 1-08John Joe Ging 1983 Portlaoise 3-10 Camross 3-05John Joe Ging 1984 Portlaoise 1-08, 2-14 (r) The Harps 2-05, 1-07 (r)John Joe Ging 1985 Camross 1-05 Portlaoise 0-07PJ Cuddy 1986 Camross 4-09 Errill 2-14Joe Doran 1987 Portlaoise 2-13 Clonad 1-05Sean Bergin 1988 Camross 1-13 Portlaoise 0-10Alo Delaney 1989 Portlaoise 1-09, 0-12 (r) Camross 2-06, 1-04 (r)John Bohane 1990 Camross 2-13 Portlaoise 1-09Pat Carroll 1991 Portlaoise 1-14 Clonad 0-07Seamus Plunkett 1992 Clonad 0-16 Portlaoise 2-07 Pat Norton 1993 Camross 1-13, 1-13 (r) Portlaoise 2-10, 2-09 (r)Fintan Lalor 1994 Camross 2-08 Clonad 0-03Tom Delaney 1995 Castletown 1-12 Portlaoise 0-11John O' Suillivan 1996 Camross 0-15 Castletown 1-05Matt Collier 1997 Castletown 3-14 The Harps 2-09Eamonn Kirwan 1998 Portlaoise 0-13 The Harps 0-11Niall Rigne 1999 Castletown 2-06 Portlaoise 1-06John Lyons 2000 Castletown 3-10 Camross 2-05Pat Phelan 2001 Castletown 2-19 Tinnahinch 1-08Fionan O'Suillivan 2002 Castletown 4-09 Tinnahinch 2-04 Paul Cuddy 2003 Castletown 2-12 Portlaoise 1-11David Cuddy 2004 Portlaoise 2-08 Castletown 0-07Joe Phelan 2005 Castletown 0-13, 1-08 (r) Camross 1-10, 0-10 (r)Robert Delaney 2006 Rathdowney–Errill 1-11 Tinnahinch 1-07Liam Wynne 2007 Camross 5-09 Portlaoise 2-11Fran Hogan 2008 Rathdowney–Errill 1-19 Portlaoise 2-15John Purcell 2009 Clough–Ballacolla 2-13 Portlaoise 1-10Mick McEvoy 2010 Rathdowney–Errill 2-11 Camross 1-09Liam Tynan 2011 Clough–Ballacolla 1-10 Portlaoise 0-11John A. Delaney 2012 Rathdowney–Errill 1-11, 0-17 (r) Clough–Ballacolla 2-08, 0-14 (r)Shane Dollard 2013 Camross 2-12 Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 1-12Tomás Burke 2014 Rathdowney–Errill 1-20 Camross 0-10Alan Delaney 2015 Clough–Ballacolla 0-20 Camross 1-14 Darren Maher 2016 Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 2-26, 1-18 (r) Rathdowney–Errill 2-26, 2-10 (r)Brian Stapleton 2017 Camross 3-14 Clough–Ballacolla 1-19Joe Phelan & Zane Keenan 2018 Camross 2-15 Rathdowney–Errill 0-19Niall Homes 2019 Rathdowney–Errill 0-17 Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 1-09Patrick Purcell 2020 Clough–Ballacolla 1-22 Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 1-17 Stephen Maher 2021 Clough–Ballacolla 1-25 Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 2-21 Stephen Maher 2022 Clough–Ballacolla 1-24 Camross 0-16 Stephen Maher2023 Camross 4-18 Abbeyleix St' Lazerian's 0-14Darragh Duggan2024 Clough–Ballacolla 2-22 Rathdowney–Errill 0-22 Aidan Corby 2025 Clough–Ballacolla 2-21 Camross 2-15 Aidan Corby

Roll of honour # Club Wins Years won 1Camross 27 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2023 2Rathdowney 18 1888, 1889, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1907, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1936, 1941 3 Clonad 14 1930, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1970, 19924 Clough–Ballacolla (incl. Ballygeehan)131914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025 5 Portlaoise 11 1928, 1943, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2004 6 Kilcotton 10 1904, 1905, 1906, 1909, 1913, 1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1929 7 Castletown 8 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 Abbeyleix 1927, 1932, 1934, 1939, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1949 9Rathdowney–Errill 6 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2019 10 Borris-in-Ossory 5 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1972 11 Clonaslee 4 1890, 1891, 1910, 1975 12 Cullohill 2 1955, 1964 Errill 1938, 1952 14 Kyle 1 1951 Harristown 1897 Mountrath 1942 Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 2016

Records and statistics Finals Most wins: 27 Camross Most consecutive wins: 5 Ballygeehan (1914–18), Camross (1965–69), Camross (1976–80) & Castletown (1999–2003) Most defeats: 17 Portlaoise Most consecutive defeats: 3 Abbeyleix (1946–48), Portlaoise (2007–09) & Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton (2019–21) Most appearances: 37 Camross Most appearances without a win: 4 Ballacolla (1898-1907-1923-1926) Highest scoring match: 64 points (2016) Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 2-26 Rathdowney-Errill 2-26 (possible All Ireland record for 60-minute county SHC final) Lowest scoring match: 7 points (1928) Portlaoise 0-7 Clonad 1-0 Biggest winning margin: 22 points (1911) Rathdowney 7-1 Clonaslee 0-0 Highest scoring teams: 32 points (2016) Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton & Rathdowney-Errill Highest scoring winning team: 30 points (2023) Camross Highest scoring losing team: 27 points (2021) Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton GAA Most goals match: 12 (1949) Abbeyleix 7-3 Clonad 5-3 Fewest goals match: 0 (1914, 1975, 1998 & 2012d) Most goals team: 7 (1935) Clonad & (1949) Abbeyleix Most goals losing team: 5 (1949) Clonad Trivia: 10 finals have ended in draws 4 finals have been goalless (1914-1975-1998-2012r) 20 finals have occurred where the losing team scored more goals than the winning team (last: 2019) 3 finals have occurred where the winner scored two goals fewer than the losing team (1909-1981-1992) 23 finals have occurred where there were more goals than points (last: 1964)

Teams By decade The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Laois Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows: 1880s: 2 for Rathdowney (1888–89) 1890s: 2 each for Clonaslee (1890–91) and Rathdowney (1898–99) 1900s: 5 for Rathdowney (1901-02-03-07-08) 1910s: 5 for Ballygeehan (1914-15-16-17-18) 1920s: 4 for Rathdowney (1921-22-25-26) 1930s: 4 for Clonad (1930-33-35-37) 1940s: 4 for Abbeyleix (1940-44-45-49) 1950s: 4 for Clonad (1950-53-54-58) 1960s: 6 for Camross (1963-65-66-67-68-69) 1970s: 7 for Camross (1971-73-74-76-77-78-79) 1980s: 6 for Portlaoise (1981-82-83-84-87-89) 1990s: 4 for Camross (1990-93-94-96) 2000s: 5 for Castletown (2000-01-02-03-05) 2010s: 4 for Rathdowney–Errill (2010-12-14-19) 2020s: 5 for Clough-Ballacolla (2020-21-22-24-25)

Gaps Top ten longest gaps between successive championship titles: 91 years: Clough–Ballacolla (1918–2009) [as Ballygeehan in 1918] 65 years: Clonaslee (1910–1975) 38 years: Portlaoise (1943–1981) 22 years: Clonad (1970–1992) 19 years: Clonaslee (1891–1910) 15 years: Portlaoise (1928–1943) 14 years: Errill (1938–1952) 11 years: Borris-in-Ossory (1961–1972) 11 years: Camross (1996–2007) 09 years: Rathdowney (1889–1898) 09 years: Rathdowney (1912–1921) 09 years: Clonad (1937–1946) 09 years: Cullohill (1955–1964)

Starts (first 1–10 finals) Best