2025 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup was the eighth staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.
Offaly, winner of the 2024 final, were promoted to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, replaced by Carlow who were relegated back to this competition. Kildare were promoted from the Christy Ring Cup.
The top two teams from the round robin stage played off in a final to decide the winner, both finalists also advancing to the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship knock-out stages. The bottom team was relegated to Christy Ring Cup.

Team changes

To Championship

Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Carlow

Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup

Kildare

From Championship

Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Offaly

Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup

Meath

Format

Cup format

Initially each of the six teams played the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games competed in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up also advanced to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals, with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.

Promotion

If the Joe McDonagh champion was a non-Munster team, they would be automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship.

Relegation

The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup was automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and was replaced by the Christy Ring Cup winner.

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:
Leinster

Munster

Kerry

Ulster

Down

Teams

General Information

Six counties will compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup:

County	Last Cup Title	Last Provincial Title	Last All-Ireland Title	Position in 2024 Championship	Appearance
Carlow	2023	—	—	6th	6th
Down	—	1997	—	5th	5th
Kerry	—	1891	1891	3rd	8th
Kildare	—	—	—	Champions	3rd
Laois	2019	1949	1915	Runners-up	5th
Westmeath	2021	—	—	4th	6th

Stadia and Locations

County	Location	Province	Stadium(s)	Capacity
Carlow	Carlow	Leinster	Dr Cullen Park	21,000
Down	Rubane	Ulster	McKenna Park	1,320
Kerry	Tralee	Munster	Austin Stack Park	12,000
Kildare	Newbridge	Leinster	St Conleth's Park	15,000
Laois	Portlaoise	Leinster	O'Moore Park	22,000
Westmeath	Mullingar	Leinster	TEG Cusack Park	11,500

Statistics

Scoring events

Widest winning margin: 39 points
* Down 1-12 - 6-36 Laois
Most goals in a match: 11
* Westmeath 4-22 - 7-23 Carlow
Most points in a match: 49
* Laois 5-28 - 1-21 Kerry
Most goals by one team in a match: 7
* Westmeath 4-22 - 7-23 Carlow
Most points by one team in a match: 36
* Down 1-12 - 6-36 Laois
Highest aggregate score: 78 points
* Westmeath 4-22 - 7-23 Carlow
Lowest aggregate score: 39 points
*Kildare 0-19 - 1-17 Kerry
Hat-trick Heros:
* Chris Nolan 3-01 v Down
* James Duggan 5-02 v Kerry
* Martin Kavanagh 3-12 v Westmeath