2026 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 2026 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) is the 139th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament, since its establishment in 1887.

Champions entered the competition seeking back-to-back All-Ireland titles for the first time since 1965 but after finishing last in the Munster championship, they failed to qualify for the All-Ireland knockouts.

, winners in 2018 and in 2020–23, were considered one of the major contenders after winning the 2026 National Hurling League — along with who were runners-up in both the previous edition of this competition and the 2026 League, but had not won an All-Ireland SHC title since 2005.

played in the Leinster SHC for the first time since 2004 after winning the 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup.

The tournament ended in July 2026 with defeating in the final in Croke Park.

Format

Leinster Championship

Participating counties (6) Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Offaly, Wexford

Group stage (15 matches) Each team play each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Leinster SHC final and the 3rd placed team advances to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team is relegated to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup.

Final (1 match) The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Leinster champions advance to the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals and the Leinster runners-up advanced to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.

Munster Championship

Participating counties (5) Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford

Group stage (10 matches) Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams will advance to the Munster SHC final and the 3rd placed team advance to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals. The lowest placed team in this year's Munster championship will not be relegated to the 2027 Joe McDonagh Cup as a result of the relegation of Kerry to the 2026 Christy Ring Cup.

Final (1 match) The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Munster champions advance to the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals while the Munster runners-up advance to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.

All-Ireland Championship Unlike previous years the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists don't advance to preliminary quarter-finals, with these fixtures being scrapped by the 2026 GAA Congress.

Quarter-finals (2 matches) The Munster runners-up play the third-placed team in Leinster and the Leinster runners-up play the third-placed team in Munster.

Semi-finals (2 matches) The winners of the quarter-finals join the Leinster and Munster champions to make up the semi-final pairings. Teams who may have already met in the provincial championships are kept apart in separate semi-finals where possible.

Final (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game.

Team changes

From Championship Relegated to Joe McDonagh Cup

Antrim

Removal of Preliminary Quarter-Finals

Carlow Down Laois Westmeath

Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Kerry

Teams

General information Eleven counties compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: six teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship. CountyLast provincial titleLast championship titlePosition in 2025 Championship Current championship Clare19982024Munster SHC Cork20252005Munster SHC Dublin20131938Leinster SHC Galway20182017Leinster SHC Kildare——Leinster SHC Kilkenny20252015Leinster SHC Limerick20242023Munster SHC Offaly19951998Leinster SHC Tipperary20162025Munster SHC Waterford20101959Munster SHC Wexford20191996Leinster SHC

Personnel and Kits CountyManagerCaptainSponsor ClareBrian LohanConor ClearyPat O'Donnell CorkBen O'ConnorDarragh FitzgibbonSports Direct DublinNiall Ó CeallacháinChris CrummeyStaycity GalwayMicheál DonoghueDarren MorrisseySupermac's KildareBrian DowlingRian BoranBrady Family Ham KilkennyDerek LyngTJ ReidAvonmore LimerickJohn KielyCian LynchJP McManus OffalyJohnny KellyCharlie MitchellGlenisk TipperaryLiam CahillRonan MaherClover WaterfordPeter QueallyConor PruntySuir Engineering WexfordKeith RossiterJack O'ConnorZurich Insurance Group

Teams by Province The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2026 National Hurling League (after promotion and relegation are applied and after finals are played) before the championship were:

Connacht (1)

Galway

Leinster (5)

Dublin Kildare Kilkenny Offaly Wexford

Munster (5)

Clare Cork Limerick Tipperary Waterford

Ulster (0)

None Participated

Summary

Championships CompetitionYearChampionsTitleRunners-upLevel on pyramidAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship20261Leinster Senior Hurling Championship2026 Galway 4th DublinMunster Senior Hurling Championship2026 Limerick 26th CorkJoe McDonagh Cup2026 Laois2nd Carlow2Christy Ring Cup2026 Derry1st Kerry3Nicky Rackard Cup2026 New York1st Tyrone4Lory Meagher Cup2026 Longford3rd Leitrim5

Key: (C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Provincial Championships

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Group Stage Source: TeamQualification1 Dublin541011-1145-106 +269Advanced to Leinster Final2 Galway (C)540111-1259-92 +3983 Offaly52218-1147-105 +126Advance to All-Ireland Quarter-Finals4 Kilkenny521211-1055-105 +1855 Wexford51047-9512-108 –2826 Kildare (R)50053-8413-122 –680Relegation to Joe McDonagh Cup

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Leinster Final

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Group Stage Sources: TeamQualification1 Cork44004-1073-84 +268Advance to Munster Final2 Limerick (C)430110-1095-85 +3963 Clare42025-907-98 -144Advance to All-Ireland Quarter-Finals4 Waterford40139-906-118–1915 Tipperary40132-949-105 –321

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Munster Final

Cup Competitions

Joe McDonagh Cup (Tier 2)

Group Stage TeamQualification1 Carlow540117-967-94 +328Advanced to Final2 Laois (C,P)540113-1256-104 +4283 Down53026-11710-103 +264 Antrim53026-12210-89 +2165 Westmeath51047-10212-120 -3326 London (R)50056-7110-123 -640Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Final

Christy Ring Cup (Tier 3)

Group Stage TeamQualification1 Kerry540120-1015-84 +628Advance to Final2 Derry (C,P)53119-897-72 +2373 Meath53117-9710-79 +974 Wicklow52037-6613-91 –4345 Donegal51135-8811-79 –936 Roscommon50146-658-101 –421Not relegated because won the Nicky Rackard Cup

Final

Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 4)

Group Stage TeamQualification1 Tyrone550021-846-89 +4010Advance to Final2 Mayo540110-1289-76 +558Advance to Semi-Final3 Sligo53028-12410-67 +5164 Louth52036-788-106 -3445 Fermanagh51047-7110-122 -6026 Armagh (R)50059-8218-107 -520Relegated to Lory Meagher Cup

Semi-Final

Final

Lory Meagher Cup (Tier 5)

Group Stage TeamQualification1 Leitrim55007-998-68 +2810Advance to Final2 Longford (C,P)540117-957-66 +5983 Monaghan52036-8910-75 +244 Warwickshire520313-7712-84 -445 Cavan52039-769-93 -1746 Lancashire500510-6116-111 -680

Final

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Bracket

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

Stadia and locations

CountyLocationProvinceStadiumCapacity ClareEnnisMunsterCusack Park19,000 CorkCorkMunsterPáirc Uí Chaoimh45,000 DublinDublinLeinsterCroke Park (neutral)82,300DonnycarneyLeinsterParnell Park (official home venue)8,500 GalwayGalwayConnachtPearse Stadium26,197 KildareNewbridgeLeinsterSt Conleth's Park15,000 KilkennyKilkennyLeinsterNowlan Park27,000 LimerickLimerickMunsterGaelic Grounds44,023 OffalyTullamoreLeinsterO'Connor Park18,000 TipperaryThurlesMunsterSemple Stadium45,690 WaterfordWaterfordMunsterWalsh Park11,046 WexfordWexfordLeinsterChadwicks Wexford Park18,000

Statistics

Top scorers

Overall

RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage1 Donal Burke Dublin 3–67 76 7 10.802 Aidan O'Connor Limerick 4-48 60 6 10.003 Alan Connolly Cork 1-53 56 7 8.004 Lee Chin Wexford 2–44 50 5 10.005 Eoghan Cahill Offaly 1–42 45 6 7.506 T. J. Reid Kilkenny 4–31 43 5 8.607 Aaron Niland Galway 1-33 36 5 7.208 Jack Sheridan Kildare 2-30 36 5 7.209 Stephen Bennett Waterford 4-24 36 3 12.0010 Brian Hayes Cork 5–20 35 7 5.0011 Mark Rodgers Clare 0-33 33 5 6.6012 Adam Screeney Offaly 3–21 30 5 6.0013 Rory Burke Galway 4-06 18 3 6.00

From Play RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage12345678910 In a single game RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition12345678910

Scoring events

Widest winning margin: 26 points Cork 6–25 — 2–11 Offaly (All-Ireland Quarter Final) Most goals in a match: 8 Galway 4–29 — 4–15 Dublin (Leinster Final)

Most points in a match: 54 Clare 2–33 — 4–21 Waterford (Munster Round 1) Waterford 3–24 — 1–30 Tipperary (Munster Round 2) Most goals by one team in a match: 6 Cork 6–25 — 2–11 Offaly (All-Ireland Quarter Final) Most points by one team in a match: 33 Clare 2–33 — 4–21 Waterford (Munster Round 1) Highest aggregate score: 72 points Clare 2–33 — 4–21 Waterford (Munster Round 1) Lowest aggregate score: 42 points Wexford 1–22 — 1–14 Kildare (Leinster Round 2) Hat-tricks: Stephen Bennett (Waterford) 3-12 v Clare (Munster Round 1) Brian Hayes () 3-0 v (All-Ireland quarter final)

Notable events and records

Kildare played in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 2004, and played their first ever All-Ireland game against Kilkenny. Offaly reach the All-Ireland quarter-final stage for the first time since 2003. Kilkenny failed to win the All-Ireland for the eleventh year in a row, the longest wait for a title in their history ever since they won their first All-Ireland SHC in 1904. They were knocked out in the Leinster championship and did not appear in the All-Ireland qualifiers or series for the first time since 1996. also extended their record title drought to 21 successive seasons, their last title being in 2005. reach their first All-Ireland final since 2018.

Awards Sunday Game Team of the Year The Sunday Game team of the year was picked 19 July on the night of the final.

The panel consisting of Brendan Cummins, Dónal Óg Cusack, Shane Dowling, Ursula Jacob, Anthony Daly, and Patrick Horgan also chose Gearóid Hegarty as the Sunday game player of the year. 1.Nickie Quaid (Limerick) 2. Sean Finn (Limerick) 3. Darren Morrissey (Galway) 4. Barry Nash (Limerick) 5. Diarmaid Byrnes (Limerick) 6. Will O'Donoghue (Limerick) 7. Kyle Hayes (Limerick) 8. Cian Lynch (Limerick) 9. Cathal Mannion (Galway) 10. Gearóid Hegarty (Limerick) 11. Aidan O'Connor (Limerick) 12. Cathal O'Neill (Limerick) 13. Jason Rabbitte (Galway) 14. Peter Duggan (Clare) 15. Brian Hayes (Cork)

2026 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

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