1971 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1971 was the 85th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Tipperary won the championship, beating Kilkenny 5–17 to 5–14 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

The championship

Format

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1971 was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces – there were no seeds.
Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If both sides were still level at the end of that game another replay had to take place.

Munster Championship

Quarter-final: This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster.
Semi-finals: The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Leinster Championship

First round: This was a single match between two of the 'weaker' teams drawn from the province of Leinster.
Quarter-finals: The winner of the first-round game joined three other Leinster teams to make up the two quarter-final pairings.
Semi-finals: The winners of the two quarter-finals joined Kilkenny and Wexford, who received a bye to this stage, to make up the semi-final pairings.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

All-Ireland Championship

Quarter-final: This was a single match between Antrim and Galway, two teams who faced no competition in their respective provinces.
Semi-finals: The winner of the lone quarter-final joined London and the Munster and Leinster champions to make up the semi-final pairings. The provincial champions were drawn in opposite semi-finals.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Provincial championships

[Leinster Senior Hurling Championship]

First round'Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Final'
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[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]

Quarter-finals'Semi-finals
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Final'
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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

All-Ireland semi-finals

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Championship statistics

Scoring

Widest winning margin: 34 points
*Galway 7–24 : 1–8 Antrim
Most goals in a match: 10
*Tipperary 5–17 : 5–14 Kilkenny
Most points in a match: 34
*Tipperary 3–26 : 6–8 Galway
Most goals by one team in a match: 7
*Galway 7–24 : 1–8 Antrim
Most goals scored by a losing team: 6
*Galway 6–8 : 3–26 Tipperary
Most points scored by a losing team: 18
*Limerick 3–18 : 4–16 Tipperary

Miscellaneous

The All-Ireland final between Tipperary and Kilkenny was the first championship decider to be broadcast in colour by Telefís Éireann. Some years later, it was revealed that RTÉ had recorded over its only copy of archive footage of the game, due to a shortage of blank cassette tape.
Kilkenny's Eddie Keher set a new scoring record in an All-Ireland final. He scored 2–11 of his team's total of 5–14 yet, remarkably, ended up on the losing team.

Player facts

Debutantes

The following players made their début in the 1971 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game
Seánie O'Leary	Cork	July 4	Limerick	Munster semi-final

Retirees

The following players played their last game in the 1971 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game	Début
Ollie Walsh	Kilkenny	September 5	Tipperary	All-Ireland final	1956