Antrim Senior Hurling Championship


The Antrim Senior Hurling Championship is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Antrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Antrim, with the winners decided through a group and knockout format. It is the most prestigious competition in Antrim hurling.
In its present format, the eight teams are drawn into two groups of four teams and play each other in a single round-robin system. The two group winners proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final. The winner of the Antrim Senior Championship, as well as being presented with the Volunteer Cup, qualifies for the subsequent Ulster Club Championship.
The competition has been won by 19 teams, 15 of which have won it more than once. Loughgiel Shamrocks is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 20 times. RuairÍ Óg, Cushendall are the reigning champions, having beaten Cúchulains Dunloy by 1-16 to 2–12 in the 2024 final.
Commonly the final takes place at Antrim's county stadium, Casement Park. However, on account of the ground's ongoing redevelopment the 2013 and 2014 finals were held at Páirc Mac Uílín in Ballycastle. The 2015 final was held at Dunloy's Pearse Park, due to McQuillan Ballycastle's appearance in the decider.

Format

Group stage

The 8 teams are divided into two groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three group games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top three teams in each group qualify for the knock-out stage.

Knockout stage

Following the completion of the group stage, the top two teams from each group receive byes to separate semi-finals.
Quarter-finals: Teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in the group stage contest this round. The two 2nd placed teams play the 3rd placed teams from the opposite group. The two winners from these two games advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: The two quarter-final winners and the two group winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.
Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Relegation

At the end of the championship, two 4th-placed teams from the group stage take play-off, with the losing team being relegated to the Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship.

Qualification

The winners of the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship progress to the Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship.

The Volunteer Cup

The Association of Pre-Truce Old I.R.A. in Belfast was wound up in the late 1950’s. They had approximately £1300 in funds. Their Commanding Officer in charge at the time was Jimmy McCreaely who although a qualified teacher was never permitted to teach officially in the Six Counties as he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance.
He worked a lifetime in Belfast with Torney Brothers—Fruit Importers in charge of what was known as “The Banana House.” He did however help the Christian Brothers on occasions. At his instigation it was decided to use the £1300 to purchase a Memorial Cup for presentation to Belfast schools as a trophy for inter-schools competition in hurling.
The Cup was made in Limerick of pure Irish silver and had a fragment of the Treaty Stone embedded in it. It was contained in a glass and mahogany show case. Called the Volunteer Cup it is now irreplaceable as Irish Silver is no longer produced.
The Cup was first played for in 1961 when St. Mary’s opposed St. Malachy’s for the Under 15 Championship. St. Malachy’s gained victory by a margin of one point. Playing on that St. Mary’s team were Oliver Kelly, the present Antrim County Chairman; Eamonn Hamill of Rossa and Joe McCallion of Ardoyne while P. J. Hill of Carey Faughs was a member of the St. Malachy’s team. In 1967 the Belfast Schools Committee decided to present the Cup to Brian Moore of the Antrim County Board as a hurling trophy.
The Volunteer Cup was then played for at Senior Club level in 1968 when Loughgiel met and defeated Rossa at Casement Park. The Cup was presented to Loughgiel’s Captain, Neil McMullan by Mr. John Cullen, Secretary of the Third Northern Division Pre-Truce I.R.A..

Teams

2025 teams

The 8 teams competing in the 2025 Antrim Senior Hurling Championship are:
ClubLocationColoursPosition in 2024In championship sinceChampionship titlesLast championship title
Carey FaughsBallyvoyGreen and whiteChampions 202531923
DunloyDunloyGreen and yellowRunners-up?162022
Loughgiel ShamrocksLoughguileRed and whiteSemi-finals?202016
McQuillan BallycastleBallycastleBlack and amberQuarter-finals?171986
O'Donovan RossaBelfastRoyal Blue, Saffron and WhiteGroup stage?152004
Ruairí ÓgCushendallMaroon and whiteChampions?162024
St Enda'sGlengormleyAmber and blackQuarter-finals?0—
St John'sBelfastBlue and whiteSemi-finals?82025

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Antrim Senior Championship winners qualify for the subsequent Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship.

List of finals

Legend

Records and statistics

Teams

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Antrim SHC titles, is as follows: