The 2026 season was Liam Cahill's fourth year as manager of the Tipperary senior hurling team.
The team continued a sponsorship for the fifth year with financial services technology solutions company Fiserv but with a new jersey sponsor Clover who are owned by Fiserv and are there point-of-sale platform. The logo is a four-leaf clover but with three of the leaves silhouetted.
On 20 January it was announced that Ronan Maher would remain as captain for a third consecutive year with Jake Morris also returning as vice-captain.
The team started the season as defending All-Ireland champions after defeating Cork by 3–27 to 1–19 in the All-Ireland final on 20 July 2025.
2026 senior hurling management team Liam Cahill continued as manager for a fourth year after being given a two-year extension in October 2025, with the option of a third year. Toomevara's Michael Bevans continued as coach with Loughmore Castleiney's Declan Laffan and Clonoulty Rossmore's TJ Ryan also continuing as selectors. David Herity also continued in his role as coaching support for the team
2026 squad At the end of November 2025, manager Liam Cahill announced a training panel with 15 players added to the panel from 2025.
Former All-Star goalkeeper Brian Hogan returned after spending the last three years in Australia, with seven players promoted from the under 20 panel, Mason Cawley (Nenagh Eire Og), Adam Daly (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams), Joe Egan (Moycarkey/Borris), Cathal English (Father Sheehy’s), Tom Delaney (Borris-Ileigh), Cathal O’Reilly (Holycross/Ballycahill), and Adam Ryan (Arravale Rovers). Adam Hall, Kevin McCarthy, Darragh Tynan, Brian Og O’Dwyer, Charlie Ryan have also been added to the training panel with recalls also for former seniors Jack Leamy and Paddy Creedon.
Four players left the panel, Conor Bowe, Kieran Cummins, Gavin O’Halloran and Danny Slattery.
On 20 January, ahead of the start of the National Hurling League, manager Liam Cahill named a panel of 43 players for the league, which included 13 new players added to the panel since last year. Five sets of brothers are included in the panel, the McGrath’s, McCormack’s, and Stakelum’s, joined this year by the McCarthy’s and Morgan’s, with Kevin McCarthy and Aaron Morgan joining their brothers Darragh McCarthy and Craig Morgan in the panel.
Noel McGrath returned for his 18th season with Ronan Maher remaining as captain with Jake Morris also returning as vice-captain.
The following players made their competitive senior debut in 2026.
Cathal O'Reilly against Galway on 24 January. Jack Leamy against Galway on 24 January. Stefan Tobin against Galway on 24 January. Paddy McCormack against Offaly on 1 February. Adam Daly against Offaly on 1 February. Cathal English against Offaly on 1 February. Keith Ryan against Limerick on 21 February. Kevin McCarthy against Waterford on 15 March. Jamie Ormond against Limerick on 24 May.
2026 Munster Senior Hurling League Summary The Co-Op Superstores Munster Senior Hurling League began in early January. Tipperary played Waterford in their first match of the year on 3 January in Fethard Town Park Grass Pitch. The game had been originally scheduled to take place at the Clonmel Sportsfield at 2pm, but due to a frozen pitch it was changed to Fethard for a 3.15pm start. Tipperary started the game with four starters from the 2025 All-Ireland final win over Cork, Robert Doyle, Michael Breen, Bryan O’Mara and Andrew Ormond, as well as three players who came on as substitutes, Alan Tynan, Oisín O’Donoghue and Darragh Stakelum. Capacity for the match was limited to a maximum of 2,000 supporters and was sold-out. Tipperary scored a goal in the first half when Paddy Creedon fired low to the net and had a 1-11 to 0-7 lead at half-time, and also led by eight points with ten minutes of normal time remaining. However the match ended in a draw, 1-18 to 1-18 with a late Jack Leamy free rescuing the draw for Tipperary.
On 11 January, Tipperary played Kerry in their second game of the Munster Hurling League in Austin Stack Park in Tralee. Tipperary needed a 38 point win to reach to the final after Waterford had defeated Kerry by 6-25 to 0-6 four days earlier. Manager Liam Cahill included 17 of the 2025 All-Ireland winning panel in the matchday squad and 8 starters from the All-Ireland final win. In wet conditions, Kerry had a one point lead at half-time before Oisin O’Donoghue’s scored a goal for Tipperary in the 47th minute with a low shot to the net from an angle with Tipperary going on to win by 1-16 to 1-7, but failing to qualify for the final.
Results
2026 National Hurling League Summary The National Hurling League started in late January with Tipperary's opening game was against Galway, managed by Micheál Donoghue on Saturday 24 January at Semple Stadium. The match was shown live on RTÉ2 in front of a crowd of 7,762. Manager Liam Cahill named his team for the match on 23 January, with 10 players that started the 2025 All-Ireland Hurling final named to start. In wet conditions, Tipperary won the game on a 1-21 to 1-16 scoreline after the teams were level on 0-9 each at half-time and also level on 11 occasions. The Tipperary goal came in the 64th minute from Darragh Stakelum with a low shot to the net from the right, putting Tipperary into a three point lead. Jake Morris was named as the man of the match.
On 15 March in the fifth round of the league, Tipperary travelled to Walsh Park to play Waterford, managed by Peter Queally in the re-arranged fixture after the initial match was postponed due to bereavement. The match was shown live on the TG4 app and Waterford had a 1-17 to 1-7 going into first-half stoppage time, before Tipperary scored two points to reduce the gap to eight points at half-time, the Tipperary goal came from John McGrath in his first start of 2026 in the 22nd minute. In the second half Tipperary came back and got a second goal from Gearóid O’Connor in the 58th minute and went on to win by four points on a 2-24 to 1-23 final score, a result that relegated Waterford to Division 1B for 2027.
Results
2026 Munster Senior Hurling Championship The Munster Senior hurling championship started on 19 April 2026. Ticket prices for terrace were €30 and stand tickets were €35, the same as in 2025.
Round 1 (v Cork 19 April) On Sunday 19 April, Tipperary played Cork, managed by Ben O'Connor in their first match of the Munster Championship at Semple Stadium. The match was played in dry sunny conditions in front of a sell-out crowd of 44,348 and was televised live on RTÉ 2 as part of the Sunday Game presented by Joanne Cantwell with on site analysis by Liam Sheedy, Joe Canning and Dónal Óg Cusack. Tickets for the game cost €35 for the stand and €30 for the terrace. Commentary on the game was provided by Marty Morrissey alongside Michael Duignan.
Stefan Tobin started for Tipperary to make his Chanmpionship debut, with Oisín O’Donoghue named to start for the first time in the half-back line, but eventually played in the half-forward line. The teams were level at half-time on 0-13 to 0-13. In the second half, Cork pulled away and prevented Tipperary from scoring from play in the second half until the 64th minute. Cork outscored Tipperary by 0-11 to 0-01 between the 44th and 59th minutes of the game. As the game went into added time, susbstitute Alan Tynan scored a goal for Tipperary with a low shot to the left corner of the net at the town end to make it 0-28 to 1-21. Substitute Darragh McCarthy then scored with a free to reduce the Cork lead to three points, before Cork went on to win by four on a 0-29 to 1-22 scoreline. The win was the fifth successive championship win for Cork against Tipperary in Thurles. Tipperary’s home record in the current Munster Championship round-robin format is 3 wins from 13 games.
Round 2 (v Waterford 26 April) On Sunday 26 April, Tipperary travelled to Walsh Park to play Waterford, managed by Peter Queally in their second match of the Munster Championship at Walsh Park. Tipperary had not won a Munster Championship game at Walsh Park since a 1-14 to 1-11 win in June 1996. The match was played in dry cloudy conditions in front of a sell-out crowd of 11,982, and was televised live on GAA+. Seamus Kennedy, Alan Tynan, Sam O’Farrell and Darragh McCarthy came into the team instead of Craig Morgan, Conor Stakelum, Stefan Tobin and Jason Forde from the named starting line-up. At half-time, Tipperary had an eleven point lead on a 1-18 to 1-07 scoreline, the Tipperary goal coming from Andrew Ormond in the 23rd minute when he rounded the goalkeeper on the right to shoot to the net, putting ten points between the sides on a 1-11 to 0-4 scoreline.
Early in the second half Waterford came back and got a goal from Jamie Barron when he fired powerfully to net to make the score 1-4 to 1-11. Tipperary were awarded a penalty when John McGrath was pulled down, Darragh McCarthy's low shot was saved by Waterford goalkeeper Billy Nolan with the score showing 1-18 to 1-10. Stephen Bennett then got a second goal for Waterford in the 54th minute when he ran in from the right before turning in to shoot with power to the net to make it 2-16 to 1-21. Waterford went on to go two points in front in the 66th minute. Tipperary responded and got level before points from Stefan Tobin, Jason Forde, and Ronan Maher gave them a three point lead deep into the four minutes of added time. With the last chance of the game, Waterford scored a third goal, a shot from Kevin Mahony with the last puck of the game from the left high to the right of the net to level the scores with the match finishing level. Oisín O'Donoghue was named as the man of the match.
Round 3 (v Clare 16 May) On Saturday 16 May, Tipperary played Clare, managed by Brian Lohan in their third match of the Munster Championship at Semple Stadium. The match was played in dry conditions in front of a crowd of 32,327, and was televised live on GAA+. Craig Morgan and Jason Forde returned to the Tipperary team that was named to start on 15 May in place of Seamus Kennedy and Sam O’Farrell, there were no changes on match day to the starting team. Playing with the wind in the first half into the town end, Clare had a 0-14 to 0-8 at half-time. 47 seconds into the second half, Clare scored a goal from Ian Galvin when he batted the ball past Rhys Shelly into the right of the net to put Clare nine points in front. In the 41st minute, John McGrath had a goal chance with a shot along the ground which was saved down low by Éibhear Quilligan. Willie Connors was sent-off for Tipperary in the 51st minute after a second yellow card, with Clare going on to win the game by 11 points, 1-25 to 0-17.
The win by Clare meant that they guaranteed qualification in the top three from Munster. The defeat for Tipperary meant that if Limerick defeated Waterford the next day on 17 May, then Tipperary would be out of the All-Ireland Championship. Tipperary's elimination from the Championship was confirmed the next day when Limerick defeated Waterford by 2-29 to 2-20. Tipperary were outscored by 0-10 to 0-1 between the 19th and 36th minutes. It was the fourth time in a row that Clare defeated Tipperary in Thurles. Clare's Diarmuid Stritch was the man-of-the-match with 6 points from play.
Tipperary manager, Liam Cahill speaking after the game admitted his team played “in fear” and were physically dominated by Clare, and conceded only two of his players – Robert Doyle and Bryan O’Mara performed in this defeat, saying "“I don't want to make it any worse than it already is but with the exception of maybe Robert Doyle and Bryan O'Mara today, where else would you go to say that the rest of the players were up to a level that they'd be happy with themselves?"
Round 4 (v Limerick 24 May) On Sunday 24 May, Tipperary, already eliminated from the Championship, played Limerick, managed by John Kiely in their final match of the Munster Championship at the Gaelic Grounds.