Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship


The Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by mid-tier Kerry GAA clubs.
The Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship trophy commemorates the late Tony Murphy, a former Kerry and Kenmare Shamrocks hurler and a member of the 1961 All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship winning team.
Extra-time can be used to determine the winners of games.
Kilgarvan are the title holders, defeating St Brendan's by 5-11 to 1-09 in the 2024 final.

History

The winners play in the Munster Junior Club Hurling Championship, such as Kilgarvan in 2018, and if successful there, can represent the province in the All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling Championship. Unlike in other counties, the winning team is not always automatically promoted to the senior grade after winning. Since Kerry has very few hurling clubs, many of the competing teams are second teams of clubs competing in the Kerry Senior Hurling Championship.

Format

Group stage

The 7 clubs are divided into a group of four and a group of three. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed two 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 two teams in each group qualify for the semi-finals.

Knockout stage

Semi-finals: The 2 group winners and 2 group runners-up contest this round. A group winner will play a group runner-up of another group. 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 and are promoted to the Kerry Senior Hurling Championship.

Relegation

There is no direct relegation to the Kerry Junior Hurling Championship.

Qualification

At the end of the championship, the winning club qualify to the subsequent Munster Junior Club Hurling Championship.

Teams

2025 Teams

The 9 teams competing in the 2025 Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship are:
TeamLocationColoursDivisionPosition in 2024In championship sinceChampionship titlesLast championship title
AbbeydorneyAbbeydorneyBlack and amberNorth KerryGroup stage0
BallyheigueBallyheigueOrange and blackNorth KerryGroup stage11975
Dr CrokesKillarneyBlack and amberSouth Kerry202532020
Kenmare ShamrocksKenmareBlack and redSouth KerrySemi-finals72025
KilgarvanKilgarvanRed and whiteSouth KerryChampions122024
KilmoyleyKilmoyleyGreen and goldNorth Kerry202592015
Ladys WalkBallyduffGreen and whiteNorth Kerry202552008
LixnawLixnawGreen and goldNorth KerrySemi-finals21974
St Brendan'sArdfertBlue and whiteNorth KerryRunners-up72017

Roll of honour

By club

By division

List of finals

Team records and statistics

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:
  • 1970s: 2 for Lixnaw and St Brendan's
  • 1980s: 4 for Kilmoyley
  • 1990s: 3 for St Brendan's
  • 2000s: 3 for Kenmare Shamrocks and Kilgarvan
  • 2010s: 3 for Kilgarvan
  • 2020s: 2 for Kilgarvan