2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship


The 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 138th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament, since its establishment in 1887.
Clare entered the competition as the defending champion, having won a first All-Ireland SHC title since 2013. However, they were eliminated in the [2025 Munster GAA|Munster Senior Hurling Championship|Munster championship] where they finished fourth, thus failing to defend their title.
were widely considered the favourites; the team finished as runner-up in the previous edition of the competition and won the 2025 National Hurling League, but have not won an All-Ireland SHC title since 2005. were also considered a serious contender. were also considered major contenders, until they were eliminated by Dublin in the quarter finals.
The final was played on 20 July at Croke Park in Dublin with Cork facing off against Tipperary, Tipperary came out as winners on a scoreline of 3–27 to 1–18, to earn their first title since 2019.

Format

Leinster Championship

Participating counties (6)

Antrim, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Offaly, Wexford

Group stage (15 matches)

Each team played each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advanced to the Leinster SHC final and the 3rd placed team advanced to the All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals. All other teams were eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team risked facing relegation to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup.

Final (1 match)

The top 2 teams in the group stage contested this game. The Leinster champions advanced 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 played each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advanced to the Munster SHC final and the 3rd placed team advanced to the All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals. All other teams were eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team risked facing relegation to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup.

Final (1 match)

The top 2 teams in the group stage contested this game. The Munster champions advanced to the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals and the Munster runners-up advanced to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.

Joe McDonagh Cup

Participating counties (6)

Carlow, Down, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Westmeath

Group stage (15 matches)

Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Joe McDonagh Cup final. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team are relegated to next years Christy Ring Cup.

Final (1 match)

The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up advance to the [|All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals].

All-Ireland Championship

Preliminary quarter-finals (2 matches)

The 3rd placed teams from the Leinster and Munster championships played the Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up. Two teams were eliminated at this stage, while the winners advanced to the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals (2 matches)

The winners of the preliminary quarter-finals join the Leinster and Munster runners-up to make up the quarter-final pairings. Teams who may have already met in the provincial championships are kept apart in separate quarter-finals. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

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. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.

Final (1 match)

The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game.

Team changes

To Championship

Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup

From Championship

Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup

Teams

General information

Seventeen counties competed in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: six teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and six teams in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
CountyLast provincial titleLast championship titlePosition in 2024 ChampionshipCurrent championship
Antrim2017—5th Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Carlow——6th Joe McDonagh Cup
Clare19982024ChampionsMunster Senior Hurling Championship
Cork20182005Runners-upMunster Senior Hurling Championship
Down1997—5th Joe McDonagh Cup
Dublin20131938Quarter-finalsLeinster Senior Hurling Championship
Galway201820174th Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Kerry189118913rd Joe McDonagh Cup
Kildare——1st Joe McDonagh Cup
Kilkenny20242015Semi-finalsLeinster Senior Hurling Championship
Laois19491915Preliminary quarter-finalsJoe McDonagh Cup
Limerick20242023Semi-finalsMunster Senior Hurling Championship
Offaly19951998Preliminary quarter-finalsLeinster Senior Hurling Championship
Tipperary201620195th Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Waterford201019594th Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Westmeath——3rd Joe McDonagh Cup
Wexford20191996Quarter-finalsLeinster Senior Hurling Championship

Teams by Province

The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2025 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Connacht
Leinster
Munster
Ulster

Provincial Championships

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Group Stage

Source:
TeamQualification
1 Kilkenny540115–1139–89+428Advance to Leinster Final
2 Galway54019–13110–83+458Advance to Leinster Final
3 Dublin530213–11211–105+136Advance to All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals
4 Wexford530212–956–106+76
5 Offaly51049–8110–108−302
6 Antrim 50054–8016–121–770Relegation to Joe McDonagh Cup

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Group Stage

Sources:
TeamQualification
1 Limerick42115–1016–81+175Advance to Munster Final
2 Cork42119–927–93+55Advance to Munster Final
3 Tipperary42117–959–92−35Advance to All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals
4 Clare41128–838–89−63
5 Waterford41034–883–104−132

Cup competitions

Joe McDonagh Cup (Tier 2)

Group Stage

Source:
TeamQualification
1 Kildare540110–1126–90+348Advance to Final and [|All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals]
2 Laois531116–1279–92+567Advance to Final and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals
3 Carlow531119–1107–102+447
4 Westmeath520311–11714–106+24
5 Down51044–9217–128−752
6 Kerry51045–8812–128−612Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Christy Ring Cup (Tier 3)

Final

won the Christy Ring Cup.

Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 4)

Final

won the Nicky Rackard Cup.

Lory Meagher Cup (Tier 5)

Final

' won the Lory Meagher Cup. As a result, ' retained their status in the Nicky Rackard Cup for 2026.

Final

Incidents

On 6 July, the GAA released a statement after the scoreboard at Croke Park misled Kilkenny and Tipperary towards the end of the All-Ireland SHC semi-final. Kilkenny believed a goal was necessary and spent the conclusion of the game trying to score one. The GAA later launched an investigation into the incident.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin was questioned at the Oireachtas Committee on Finance over whether he had returned early from his visit to Japan to watch the other semi-final between Cork and Dublin. When asked about "having "booked the flight home through Toronto at a cost to the taxpayer", he denied this was why he had returned four hours early and not flown through Dubai as originally expected.

Stadia and locations

CountyLocationProvinceStadiumCapacity
AntrimBelfastUlsterCorrigan Park3,700
CarlowCarlowLeinsterDr Cullen Park11,000
ClareEnnisMunsterCusack Park19,000
CorkCorkMunsterPáirc Uí Chaoimh45,000
DownRubaneUlsterMcKenna Park5,000
DublinDublinLeinsterCroke Park 82,300
DublinDonnycarneyLeinsterParnell Park 8,500
GalwayGalwayConnachtPearse Stadium26,197
KerryTraleeMunsterAustin Stack Park12,000
Kildare[Newbridge, County (Gaelic games)|County Kildare|Newbridge]LeinsterSt Conleth's Park15,000
KilkennyKilkennyLeinsterNowlan Park27,000
LaoisPortlaoiseLeinsterO'Moore Park22,000
LimerickLimerickMunsterGaelic Grounds44,023
OffalyTullamoreLeinsterO'Connor Park18,000
TipperaryThurlesMunsterSemple Stadium45,690
WaterfordWaterfordMunsterWalsh Park11,046
WestmeathMullingarLeinsterCusack Park11,500
WexfordWexfordLeinsterChadwicks Wexford Park18,000

Statistics

Top scorers

Overall

A theme of the 2025 championship, as in previous years, will be the ongoing individual battle for the top championship scorer of all time between Patrick Horgan and T. J. Reid. Horgan is currently the top scorer having brought his career tally to 779, compared to Reid's current tally of 758.
RankPlayerCounty teamTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Seán Currie Dublin4–6880810
2Cathal Mannion Galway2–6773612.16
3Lee Chin Wexford3–5665513.00
4Patrick Horgan Cork3–546379
5Jason Forde Tipperary3–465586.87
6Darragh McCarthy Tipperary2–465268.66
6T. J. Reid Kilkenny5–3752510.40
8Aaron Gillane Limerick2–414759.4
9Stephen Bennett Waterford4–3345411.25
10Brian Duignan Offaly2–374358.60
11James McNaughton Antrim2–3541410.25

From Play

RankPlayerCounty teamTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1John McGrath Tipperary7–163784.62
1Cian O'Sullivan Dublin5–223784.62
3Martin Keoghan Kilkenny6–153365.5
4Jason Forde Tipperary3–162583.12
5Cathal Mannion Galway1–212464
5Brian Hayes Cork5–092473.42
5Jake Morris Tipperary0–242473.42
8Alan Connolly Cork4–102273.14
8Adam English Limerick2–162263.66
10Andrew Ormond Tipperary2–152173
10Billy Ryan Kilkenny2–152173
10Seán Currie Dublin1–182182.62

Scoring events

Miscellaneous

  • Clare, the All-Ireland holders, failed to qualify for the All-Ireland series. This hadn't happened since 2014, when Clare, also as holders, were knocked out in the qualifiers. The same happened to Clare in 1996, when they lost their only game. The last non-Clare All-Ireland holders to fail to reach the All-Ireland series were Kilkenny in 1994.
  • Kildare played in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 2004. It is their first time playing in the knockout stage since 1989.
  • Limerick failed to reach the semi-final stage for the first time since 2017.
  • The Big Three all reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2014.
  • Kilkenny failed to win the All-Ireland for the tenth year in a row, the longest wait for a title in their history ever since they won their first All-Ireland SHC in 1904, surpassing the nine-year losing streaks of 1923–31 and 1948–56.
  • The 8th All-Ireland win a row for a Munster county. This is close to the record, which is 11-in-a-row.
  • The 7–26 scored by in the semi-final is the second- or third-highest amount scored by any team in an All-Ireland semi-final; the other two are:
  • *, who scored 12–17 against in the 1954 semi-final
  • *, who scored about 3–44 against Antrim in the 1900 semi-final. However, this scoreline is only an estimate; Galway led by 25 points at half-time and reporters present did not keep an accurate tally of score.
  • Cork were the first team to score 7 goals in an All-Ireland semi-final since 1986, when the previous team to do so was also Cork.

Live television coverage

RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, provided the majority of the live television coverage of the hurling championship.
For the first year new streaming service GAA+ which replaced GAAGO also broadcast matches in Ireland exclusively on its pay streaming service.
BBC Two Northern Ireland showed the All-Ireland semi-finals and final.

Awards

;Sunday Game Team of the Year
The Sunday Game team of the year was picked 20 July on the night of the final.
The panel consisting of Jackie Tyrrell, Brendan Cummins, Dónal Óg Cusack, Joe Canning, Henry Shefflin, and Ursula Jacob also chose Jake Morris as the Sunday game player of the year.
  • 1. Rhys Shelly
  • 2. Robert Doyle
  • 3. Huw Lawlor
  • 4. Seán O’Donoghue
  • 5. Eoghan Connolly
  • 6. Ronan Maher
  • 7. Ciarán Joyce
  • 8. Darragh Fitzgibbon
  • 9. Cathal Mannion
  • 10. Jake Morris
  • 11. Andrew Ormond
  • 12. Cian O’Sullivan
  • 13. Martin Keoghan
  • 14. John McGrath
  • 15. Brian Hayes
;All Star Team of the Year
On 6 November, the All-Star winners were announced. The awards ceremony was held at the RDS on 7 November.
Pos.PlayerTeamAppearances
GK Rhys ShellyTipperary1
RCB Robert DoyleTipperary1
FB Huw LawlorKilkenny3
LCB Seán O'DonoghueCork1
RWB Eoghan ConnollyTipperary1
CB Ronan MaherTipperary3
LWB Ciarán JoyceCork1
MD Cathal MannionGalway2
MD Darragh FitzgibbonCork3
RWF Jake MorrisTipperary1
CF Andrew OrmondTipperary1
LWF Cian O'SullivanDublin1
RCF Martin KeoghanKilkenny1
FF John McGrathHOTYTipperary2
LCF 'Brian HayesCork'1

Attendances

The following table lists all 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship matches with an attendance of at least 30,000. Attendance figures are taken from the match reports on this page.
#DateMatchVenueAttendanceNote
120 July 2025Tipperary vs CorkCroke Park82,331Final
25 July 2025Cork vs DublinCroke Park82,300Semi-final
36 July 2025Kilkenny vs TipperaryCroke Park60,738Semi-final
47 June 2025Limerick vs CorkGaelic Grounds43,580Munster final
518 May 2025Limerick vs CorkGaelic Grounds42,477Round 4
64 May 2025Cork vs TipperaryPáirc Uí Chaoimh42,231Round 2
78 June 2025Kilkenny vs GalwayCroke Park37,503Leinster final
81 June 2025Limerick vs DublinCroke Park36,546Quarter-final
920 April 2025Tipperary vs LimerickSemple Stadium32,295Round 1
1025 May 2025Limerick vs ClareGaelic Grounds32,133Round 5