Laois Senior Hurling Championship

The Laois Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888.
Clough–Ballacolla are the title holders, defeating Camross by 2-21 to 2-15 in the 2025 final.

Honours

The trophy presented to the winners is the Bob O'Keefe Cup.
The winners of the Laois Senior Championship qualify to represent their county in the Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship. They often do well there and Clough–Ballacolla were in the 2021 Leinster Final after winning the Laois Senior Hurling Championship. The winners can, in turn, go on to play in the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship.

Teams

2025 teams

The 10 teams competing in the 2025 Laois Senior Hurling Championship are:

Club	Location	Championship titles	Last championship title
Abbeyleix	Abbeyleix	8	1949
Ballinakill	Ballinakill	0	—
Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton	Borris-in-Ossory	1	2016
Camross	Coolrain	27	2023
Castletown	Castletown	8	2005
Clough–Ballacolla	Clough and Ballacolla	13	2025
Portlaoise	Portlaoise	11	2004
Rathdowney–Errill	Rathdowney and Errill	6	2019
Rosenallis	Rosenallis	0	—
The Harps	Cullohill and Durrow	0	—

List of finals

= replay

Player records

Winning captains since 1950

1950 Pat Norton Clonad
1951 Michael Rigney Kyle
1952 Jimmy Murray Errill
1953 Andy Dunne Clonad
1954 Andy Dunne Clonad
1955 Lar Dunphy Cullohill
1956 Christy O'Brien Borris-in-Ossory
1957 Christy O'Brien Borris-in-Ossory
1958 Andy Dunne Clonad
1959 Fintan Lalor Camross
1960 Christy O'Brien Borris-in-Ossory
1961 Christy O'Brien Borris-in-Ossory
1962 Jimmy Fennell Clonad
1963 Fintan Lalor Camross
1964 Mt. O'Mahoney Cullohill
1965 Tim Cuddy Camross
1966 Tim Cuddy Camross
1967 Tim Cuddy Camross
1968 Ger Cuddy Camross
1969 Ger Cuddy Camross
1970 George Conroy Clonad
1971 Jimmy Lyons Camross
1972 Brendan Dollard Borris-in-Ossory
1973 John Carroll Camross
1974 Christy Donovan Camross
1975 John O'Keefe Clonaslee
1976 Martin Cuddy Camross
1977 Paddy Dowling Camross
1978 Sean Cuddy Camross
1979 Michael Carroll Camross
1980 Richard Maloney Camross
1981 John Joe Ging Portlaoise
1982 John Joe Ging Portlaoise
1983 John Joe Ging Portlaoise
1984 John Joe Ging Portlaoise
1985 PJ Cuddy Camross
1986 Joe Doran Camross
1987 Sean Bergin Portlaoise
1988 Alo Delaney Camross
1989 John Bohane Portlaoise
1990 Pat Carroll Camross
1991 Seamus Plunkett Portlaoise
1992 Pat Norton Clonad
1993 Fintan Lalor Camross
1994 Tom Delaney Camross
1995 John O' Suillivan Castletown
1996 Matt Collier Camross
1997 Eamonn Kirwan Castletown
1998 Niall Rigney Portlaoise
1999 John Lyons Castletown
2000 Pat Phelan Castletown
2001 Fionan O'Suillivan Castletown
2002 Paul Cuddy Castletown
2003 David Cuddy Castletown
2004 Joe Phelan Portlaoise
2005 Robert Delaney Castletown
2006 Liam Wynne Rathdowney–Errill
2007 Fran Hogan Camrosss
2008 John Purcell Rathdowney–Errill
2009 Mick McEvoy Clough–Ballacolla
2010 Liam Tynan Rathdowney–Errill
2011 John A. Delaney Clough–Ballacolla
2012 Shane Dollard Rathdowney–Errill
2013 Tomás Burke Camross
2014 Alan Delaney Rathdowney–Errill
2015 Darren Maher Clough–Ballacolla
2016 Brian Stapleton Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton
2017 Joe Phelan & Zane Keenan Camross
2018 Niall Homes Camross
2019 Patrick Purcell Rathdowney–Errill
2020 Stephen Maher Clough–Ballacolla
2021 Stephen Maher Clough–Ballacolla
2022 Stephen Maher Clough–Ballacolla
2023 Darragh Duggan Camross
2024 Aidan Corby Clough–Ballacolla
2025 Aidan Corby Clough–Ballacolla

Records and statistics

Finals

Most wins:

* 27 CamrossMost consecutive wins:
* 5 Ballygeehan, Camross, Camross & Castletown Most defeats:
* 17 PortlaoiseMost consecutive defeats:
* 3 Abbeyleix, Portlaoise & Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton Most appearances:
*37 CamrossMost appearances without a win:
*4 Ballacolla Highest scoring match:
*64 points Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton 2-26 Rathdowney-Errill 2-26 Lowest scoring match:
*7 points Portlaoise 0-7 Clonad 1-0Biggest winning margin:
*22 points Rathdowney 7-1 Clonaslee 0-0Highest scoring teams:
*32 points Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton & Rathdowney-ErrillHighest scoring winning team:
*30 points CamrossHighest scoring losing team:
*27 points Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton GAAMost goals match:
*12 Abbeyleix 7-3 Clonad 5-3Fewest goals match:
*0 Most goals team:
* 7 Clonad & AbbeyleixMost goals losing team:
* 5 ClonadTrivia:
* 10 finals have ended in draws
* 4 finals have been goalless
* 20 finals have occurred where the losing team scored more goals than the winning team
* 3 finals have occurred where the winner scored two goals fewer than the losing team
* 23 finals have occurred where there were more goals than points

Teams

By decade

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

1880s: 2 for Rathdowney
1890s: 2 each for Clonaslee and Rathdowney
1900s: 5 for Rathdowney
1910s: 5 for Ballygeehan
1920s: 4 for Rathdowney
1930s: 4 for Clonad
1940s: 4 for Abbeyleix
1950s: 4 for Clonad
1960s: 6 for Camross
1970s: 7 for Camross
1980s: 6 for Portlaoise
1990s: 4 for Camross
2000s: 5 for Castletown
2010s: 4 for Rathdowney–Errill

Gaps

Top ten longest gaps between successive championship titles:

91 years: Clough–Ballacolla
65 years: Clonaslee
38 years: Portlaoise
22 years: Clonad
19 years: Clonaslee
15 years: Portlaoise
14 years: Errill
11 years: Borris-in-Ossory
11 years: Camross
09 years: Rathdowney
09 years: Rathdowney
09 years: Clonad
09 years: Cullohill

Starts (first 1–10 finals)

Best

1 final : ' Rathdowney, Clonaslee, Harristown, Ballygeehan, Abbeyleix, Mountrath, Kyle, Borris-in-Ossory, Castletown, Rathdowney–Errill
2 finals: ' Rathdowney, Clonaslee, Ballygeehan, Abbeyleix, Borris-in-Ossory, Rathdowney-Errill
3 finals: ' Ballygeehan, Abbeyleix, Rathdowney-Errill
4 finals: ' Ballygeehan, Rathdowney–Errill
5 finals: ' Ballygeehan, Rathdowney–Errill
6 finals: ', Abbeyleix, Castletown, Rathdowney–Errill
7 finals: ' Abbeyleix, Castletown
8 finals: ' Abbeyleix, Castletown
9 finals: ' Rathdowney, Abbeyleix, Castletown
10 finals: ' Castletown

Worst

1 final : ' Kilcotton, Skierke, Aghaboe, Ballacolla, Camross, Portlaoise, Clonad, Errill, Rovers, Cuddagh, Ballyfin, Ballinakill, The Harps, Tinnahinch, Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton
2 finals: ' Kilcotton, Ballacolla, Clonad, Camross, Cuddagh, The Harps, Tinnahinch
3 finals: ' Ballacolla, Cuddagh, The Harps, Tinnahinch
4 finals: ' Ballacolla
5 finals: ' Clonad, Borris-in-Ossory–Kilcotton
6 finals: ' Clonad, Errill, Portlaoise
7 finals: ' Clonad, Portlaoise, Errill
8 finals: ' Errill
9 finals: ' Clonad, Clonaslee, Portlaoise
10finals: ' Clonad, Clonaslee, Portlaoise

Laois Senior A Hurling Championship

This competition has existed in various guises since 1995. It was originally played as the Dick Palmer Cup up to 2009, then became a competition ancillary to the main championship. In the earlier years, clubs would qualify for the Senior B by not reaching a certain stage of the main competition.
Since 2010, it has been a proper Tier2 competition, with promotion/relegation to/from the Senior Hurling Championship and from 2015, it has been called the Senior A Hurling Championship.

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Score
2012	Clough–Ballacolla	0-16	Camross	2-05
2013	Abbeyleix	4-12	Ballyfin	0-09note
2014	Ballinakill	0-22	St Fintan's, Mountrath	1-12
2015	Portlaoise	1-14	Clonaslee	1-11
2016	Castletown	1–11	Ballyfin Gaels	0–13
2017	Ballyfin Gaels	0–15	Colt	0–12
2018	Portlaoise	1-13	The Harps	1-11
2019	Rosenallis	1-12	The Harps	1-11