Kilkenny Senior Football Championship


The Kilkenny Senior Football Championship is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Kilkenny in Ireland. It is the most prestigious competition in Kilkenny Gaelic football.
Introduced in 1887 as the Kilkenny Football Championship, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to senior-ranking club teams. The championship has gone through a number of changes throughout the years, including the use of a round robin, before reverting to a straight knockout format.
In its current format, the Kilkenny Senior Championship begins in April with a first round series of games comprising ten teams, while the three remaining teams receive byes to the quarter-final stage. A team's finishing position in the Kilkenny Senior Football League determines at what stage they enter the championship. Four rounds of games are played, culminating with the final match at Nowlan Park. The winner of the Kilkenny Senior Championship qualifies for the subsequent Leinster Intermediate Club Championship.
The competition has been won by 35 teams, 18 of which have won it more than once. Railyard is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 22 times. Mullinavat are the 2025 champions, having beaten Mooncoin by 1–21 to 0–14 in the final.

Format

Overview

The Kilkenny County Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded just one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random, however, there is a certain level of seeding based on league performance. The four top-ranking teams receive a bye into the quarter-finals.

Current format

First round: 10 teams contest this round. The 5 winning teams advance directly to the quarter-final stage. The 5 losing teams are eliminated from the championship. The lower-ranked teams from the league advance to a relegation playoff.
Quarter-finals: Eight teams contest this round. The four winning teams advance directly to the semi-final stage. The four losing teams are eliminated from the championship.
Semi-finals: Four teams contest this round. The two winning teams advance directly to the final. The two losing teams are eliminated from the championship.
Final: The final is contested by the two semi-final winners.

Teams

Participating teams

The following 13 teams participated in the 2023 championship:
TeamLocationColours
ClaraClaraMaroon and white
DanesfortDanesfortBlack and amber
DicksboroPalmerstownMaroon and white
Erin's OwnCastlecomerBlue and white
James StephensLarchfieldRed and green
KilmogannyKilmogannyYellow and green
MooncoinMooncoinGreen and white
MullinavatMullinavatBlack and white
O'Loughlin GaelsHebron RoadGreen and white
MuckaleeMuckaleeGreen and yellow
RailyardMoneenroeRed and white
ThomastownThomastownBlue and white
Tullogher–RosberconTullogherBlack and amber

Wins listed by club

#ClubWinsYears won
1Railyard221951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1992, 1999, 2014, 2015, 2016
2Glenmore201906, 1915, 1916, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1989, 1998, 2009
3Muckalee121968, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
4Tullogher81930, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1944, 1962
4James Stephens81976, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2008
4Mullinavat82007, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025
7Thomastown51981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 2021
8Commercials 41890, 1893, 1894, 1895
8Knocktopher41901, 1908, 1910, 1911
8Lamogue41902, 1903, 1904, 1905
11Slatequarry Miners31900, 1907, 1913
11Ballyhale Shamrocks31979, 1980, 1982
11Dicksboro31994, 1997, 2024
14Kilmacow21887, 1888
14Coolagh21914, 1919
14St John's21946, 1948
14Clann na Gael 21963, 1964
14Erin's Own22002, 2006
18Ballyhale11889
18Sevenhouses11896
18Green Rovers 11897
18Callan '98 Volunteers11898
18City Rangers11899
18Coolroe11909
18Ye Faire City11925
18Cotterstown11926
18Owen Roes 11928
18Black & Whites11932
18Moneenroe11933
18Barrow Rovers 11935
18Northern Junior Selection11945
18Sarsfields 11947
18Graiguenamanagh11956
18St Kieran's 11974
18Mooncoin11986
18Kilmoganny12000

Finals listed by year

  • 1998 No replay - Glenmore won in a replay
  • 1957 - Unfinished - Railyard awarded tit;e
  • 1948 - Reply ordered after objection
  • 1940 Glenmore awarded title on objection
  • 1931 Played on a league basis
  • 1927 Glenmore 1-02, Cotterstown 0-02 Declared null & void
  • 1911 Knocktopher awarded title after an objection
  • 1920 Reply ordered following an objection
  • 1901 Unfinished. Rower claimed they scored a goal. Knocktopher awarded match.
  • 1889 Kells 3-05, Thomas Larkins 0-02; This was declared not the final and Ballyhale was allowed back in championship. Kells refused to play them, and Ballyhale awarded title

Records

Teams

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Kilkenny Senior Football Championship titles, is as follows:

Most consecutive wins

#WinsClubYears won
1st5Railyard1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
1st5Railyard1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
2nd4Lamogue1902, 1903, 1904, 1905
2nd4Muckalee2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
2nd4Mullinavat2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Gaps/wins

Top three longest gaps between championship titles:

Winners and finalists

The Double

Two teams have won the Kilkenny Senior Football Championship and the Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship in a single year as part of a Gaelic football-hurling double. James Stephens became the first team to win the double in 1976, having won the All-Ireland Club SHC title earlier that year. Ballyhale Shamrocks won their own double in 1979, before repeating the feat in 1980 and 1982.
Dicksboro, Erin's Own, Glenmore, Mooncoin and Thomastown also hold the distinction of being dual county senior championship-winning teams, however, these were not achieved in a single calendar season. Muckalee and their sister club St. Martin's have also achieved the double.