2024 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup was the seventh edition of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018 and is the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 12–17 in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The fixtures were announced on 13 April 2018. The competition began on 5 May 2018. The competition ran from 20 April to 8 June 2024.

The Joe McDonagh Cup final was played on 8 June 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Offaly and Laois, in what was their first ever meeting in the final. Offaly won the match by 2–23 to 0–26 to claim their first ever cup title.

Offaly's Brian Duignan and Westmeath's Killian Doyle were the joint-top scorers.

Team changes

To championship Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Westmeath

Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup Meath

From championship Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Carlow

Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup Kildare

Format

Cup format Initially each of the six teams play the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up also advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.

Promotion If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the champions are a Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Munster Championship. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions replace the bottom-placed team in the provincial championship containing six teams.

Relegation The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the Christy Ring Cup champions.

Teams by province The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2024 National Hurling League before the championship were:

Leinster (4)

Laois (13) Meath (18) Offaly (11) Westmeath (10)

Munster (1)

Kerry (17)

Ulster (1)

Down (15)

Teams

General information Six counties will compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup: CountyLast Cup TitleLast Provincial TitleLast All-Ireland TitlePosition in 2023 ChampionshipAppearance Down —1997 —5th4th Kerry —189118914th7th Laois2019194919153rd4th Meath———Champions (Christy Ring Cup)5th Offaly—19951998Runners-up4th Westmeath2021——6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship)5th

Personnel and kits CountyManagerCaptain(s)Sponsor Down Kerry Stephen Molumphy Tomás O'Connor Kerry Group Laois Willie Maher Aaron Dunphy Laois Hire Meath Offaly Johnny Kelly Jason Sampson Glenisk Westmeath

Draws Group stage seeding The fixtures for the group stage were an open draw.

Numbers in brackets indicate ranking in the 2024 NHL.

Pot

Westmeath (10) Offaly (11) Laois (13) Down (15) Kerry (17) Meath (18)

All-Ireland seeding The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship draw took place in 7 December 2023.

Seeded into preliminary quarter-finals Joe McDonagh Cup winners Joe McDonagh Cup runners-up Unseeded into preliminary quarter-finals 3rd place Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 3rd place Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Group Stage

Table TeamQualification1 Laois540114-1223-101+548Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals2 Offaly (P)540115-1259-97 +4683 Kerry53024-928-85 -566 Westmeath52126-1146-92 +2255 Down511311-9710-130 -3036 Meath (R)50055-8119-126-870Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Knockout stage

Final

Laois and Offaly qualify to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-finals. Offaly are also promoted to the 2025 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

Stadia and locations

CountyLocationProvinceStadium(s)CapacityNeutralDublinLeinsterCroke Park82,300 DownBallycranUlsterMcKenna Park5,000 KerryTraleeMunsterAustin Stack Park12,000 LaoisPortlaoiseLeinsterLaois Hire O'Moore Park22,000 MeathNavanLeinsterPáirc Tailteann11,000 OffalyTullamoreLeinsterGlenisk O'Connor Park20,000 WestmeathMullingarLeinsterTEG Cusack Park11,000

Statistics Top scorers

Overall

RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage1 Brian Duignan Offaly3-374667.66 Killian Doyle Westmeath1-434659.203 Maurice O'Connor Kerry1-343749.254 Aaron Dunphy Laois0-373757.405 Eoghan Cahill Offaly1-252855.606 Pearse Óg McCrickard Down0-262655.207 Daithí Sands Down5-082354.608 Paul Sheehan Down0-222254.409 Charlie Mitchell Offaly1-182154.2010 Patrick Purcell Laois2-142054.00 David Williams Westmeath0-202054.00

In a single game

RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition1 Padraic O'Hanrahan Meath0-1717 Down2 Killian Doyle Westmeath0-1515 Offaly3 Brian Duignan Offaly1-1114 Westmeath4 Maurice O'Connor Kerry1-1013 Westmeath Maurice O'Connor Kerry0-1313 Down Pearse Óg McCrickard Down0-1313 Westmeath7 Brian Duignan Offaly1-0912 Down8 Daithí Sands Down3-0211 Offaly Nicky Potterton Meath2-0511 Offaly Eoghan Cahill Offaly1-0811 Kerry Aaron Dunphy Laois0-1111 Kerry Killian Doyle Westmeath0-1111 Kerry David Williams Westmeath0-1111 Laois Aaron Dunphy Laois0-1111 Offaly

Scoring events

Widest winning margin: 31 points Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2) Most goals in a match: 8 Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2) Meath 3-16 - 5-31 Offaly (Round 3) Down 3-25 - 5-23 Offaly (Round 5) Most points in a match: 49 Down 3-24 - 0-25 Meath (Round 1) Offaly 2-23 - 0-26 Laois (Final) Most goals by one team in a match: 7 Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2) Most points by one team in a match: 31 Meath 3-16 - 5-31 Offaly (Round 3) Laois 4-31 - 0-17 Down (Round 4) Highest aggregate score: 72 points Down 3-25 - 5-23 Offaly (Round 5) Lowest aggregate score: 35 points Kerry 3-13 - 1-10 Meath (Round 5)

Miscellaneous

Offaly won their 1st championship in 3 years, last winning the 2021 Christy Ring Cup. Offaly become the fifth different county to win the Joe McDonagh Cup. First-time Joe McDonagh Cup meetings: Down v Westmeath (Round 3) Meath are relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup for a record third time.

2024 Joe McDonagh Cup

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