2009 Lory Meagher Cup

The 2009 Lory Meagher Cup was the inaugural edition of the Lory Meagher Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association as the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It was contested by eight GAA county teams ranked 29–36 in the 2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Seven county teams and one regional team took part in the competition. The teams were Warwickshire, Longford, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Cavan, South Down, Tyrone and Donegal.
On 11 July, Tyrone won the inaugural Lory Meagher Cup, with a 5–11 to 3–16 win over Donegal at Croke Park. As the winners of the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup, Tyrone were promoted to the 2010 Nicky Rackard Cup.

Format

The tournament had a double elimination format: each team played at least two games before being knocked out.

The eight teams played four Round 1 matches.
*The winners in Round 1 advanced to Round 2A.
*The losers in Round 1 went into Round 2B.
There were two Round 2A matches.
*The winners in Round 2A advanced to the semi-finals.
*The losers in Round 2A went into the quarter-finals.
There were two Round 2B matches.
*The winners in Round 2B advanced to the quarter-finals.
*The losers in Round 2B were eliminated.
There were two quarter-final matches between the Round 2A losers and Round 2B winners.
*The winners of the quarter-finals advanced to the semi-finals.
*The losers of the quarter-finals were eliminated.
There were two semi-final matches between the Round 2A winners and the quarter-final winners.
*The winners of the semi-finals advanced to the final.
*The losers of the semi-finals were eliminated.
The winners of the final won the Lory Meagher Cup for 2009.