# 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup was the seventh edition of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018 and is the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 12–17 in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The fixtures were announced on 13 April 2018. The competition began on 5 May 2018. The competition ran from 20 April to 8 June 2024.
The Joe McDonagh Cup final was played on 8 June 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Offaly and Laois, in what was their first ever meeting in the final. Offaly won the match by 2–23 to 0–26 to claim their first ever cup title.
Offaly's Brian Duignan and Westmeath's Killian Doyle were the joint-top scorers.

## Team changes
### To championship

Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
* Westmeath
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
* Meath

### From championship

Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
* Carlow
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
* Kildare

## Format
### Cup format

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

#### Promotion

If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the champions are a Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Munster Championship. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions replace the bottom-placed team in the provincial championship containing six teams.

#### Relegation

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

### Teams by province

The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2024 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Leinster (4)
* Laois (13)
* Meath (18)
* Offaly (11)
* Westmeath (10)
Munster (1)
* Kerry (17)
Ulster (1)
* Down (15)

## 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 2023 Championship | Appearance |
| Down | — | 1997 | — | 5th | 4th |
| Kerry | — | 1891 | 1891 | 4th | 7th |
| Laois | 2019 | 1949 | 1915 | 3rd | 4th |
| Meath | — | — | — | Champions (Christy Ring Cup) | 5th |
| Offaly | — | 1995 | 1998 | Runners-up | 4th |
| Westmeath | 2021 | — | — | 6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | 5th |

### Personnel and kits

| County | Manager | Captain(s) | Sponsor |
| Down | | | |
| Kerry | Stephen Molumphy | Tomás O'Connor | Kerry Group |
| Laois | Willie Maher | Aaron Dunphy | Laois Hire |
| Meath | | | |
| Offaly | Johnny Kelly | Jason Sampson | Glenisk |
| Westmeath | | | |

## Draws
### Group stage seeding

The fixtures for the group stage were an open draw.
Numbers in brackets indicate ranking in the 2024 NHL.
Pot
* Westmeath (10)
* Offaly (11)
* Laois (13)
* Down (15)
* Kerry (17)
* Meath (18)

### All-Ireland seeding

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship draw took place in 7 December 2023.
Seeded into preliminary quarter-finals
* Joe McDonagh Cup winners
* Joe McDonagh Cup runners-up
Unseeded into preliminary quarter-finals
* 3rd place Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
* 3rd place Munster Senior Hurling Championship

## Group Stage
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Laois | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14-122 | 3-101 | +54 | 8 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 2 | Offaly (P) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15-125 | 9-97 | +46 | 8 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 3 | Kerry | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4-92 | 8-85 | -5 | 6 | |
| 6 | Westmeath | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6-114 | 6-92 | +22 | 5 | |
| 5 | Down | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11-97 | 10-130 | -30 | 3 | |
| 6 | Meath (R) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5-81 | 19-126 | -87 | 0 | Relegated to Christy Ring Cup |

### Round 5
## Knockout stage
### Final

* Laois and Offaly qualify to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-finals.
* Offaly are also promoted to the 2025 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

## Stadia and locations

| County | Location | Province | Stadium(s) | Capacity |
| Neutral | Dublin | Leinster | Croke Park | 82,300 |
| Down | Ballycran | Ulster | McKenna Park | 5,000 |
| Kerry | Tralee | Munster | Austin Stack Park | 12,000 |
| Laois | Portlaoise | Leinster | Laois Hire O'Moore Park | 22,000 |
| Meath | Navan | Leinster | Páirc Tailteann | 11,000 |
| Offaly | Tullamore | Leinster | Glenisk O'Connor Park | 20,000 |
| Westmeath | Mullingar | Leinster | TEG Cusack Park | 11,000 |

## Statistics
### Top scorers
#### Overall

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Brian Duignan | Offaly | 3-37 | 46 | 6 | 7.66 |
| 1 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-43 | 46 | 5 | 9.20 |
| 3 | Maurice O'Connor | Kerry | 1-34 | 37 | 4 | 9.25 |
| 4 | Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 0-37 | 37 | 5 | 7.40 |
| 5 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 1-25 | 28 | 5 | 5.60 |
| 6 | Pearse Óg McCrickard | Down | 0-26 | 26 | 5 | 5.20 |
| 7 | Daithí Sands | Down | 5-08 | 23 | 5 | 4.60 |
| 8 | Paul Sheehan | Down | 0-22 | 22 | 5 | 4.40 |
| 9 | Charlie Mitchell | Offaly | 1-18 | 21 | 5 | 4.20 |
| 10 | Patrick Purcell | Laois | 2-14 | 20 | 5 | 4.00 |
| 10 | David Williams | Westmeath | 0-20 | 20 | 5 | 4.00 |

#### In a single game

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Padraic O'Hanrahan | Meath | 0-17 | 17 | Down |
| 2 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-15 | 15 | Offaly |
| 3 | Brian Duignan | Offaly | 1-11 | 14 | Westmeath |
| 4 | Maurice O'Connor | Kerry | 1-10 | 13 | Westmeath |
| 4 | Maurice O'Connor | Kerry | 0-13 | 13 | Down |
| 4 | Pearse Óg McCrickard | Down | 0-13 | 13 | Westmeath |
| 7 | Brian Duignan | Offaly | 1-09 | 12 | Down |
| 8 | Daithí Sands | Down | 3-02 | 11 | Offaly |
| 8 | Nicky Potterton | Meath | 2-05 | 11 | Offaly |
| 8 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 1-08 | 11 | Kerry |
| 8 | Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 0-11 | 11 | Kerry |
| 8 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-11 | 11 | Kerry |
| 8 | David Williams | Westmeath | 0-11 | 11 | Laois |
| 8 | Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly |

### Scoring events

* Widest winning margin: 31 points
** Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
* Most goals in a match: 8
** Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
** Meath 3-16 - 5-31 Offaly (Round 3)
** Down 3-25 - 5-23 Offaly (Round 5)
* Most points in a match: 49
** Down 3-24 - 0-25 Meath (Round 1)
** Offaly 2-23 - 0-26 Laois (Final)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 7
** Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
* Most points by one team in a match: 31
** Meath 3-16 - 5-31 Offaly (Round 3)
** Laois 4-31 - 0-17 Down (Round 4)
* Highest aggregate score: 72 points
** Down 3-25 - 5-23 Offaly (Round 5)
* Lowest aggregate score: 35 points
** Kerry 3-13 - 1-10 Meath (Round 5)

## Miscellaneous

* Offaly won their 1st championship in 3 years, last winning the 2021 Christy Ring Cup.
* Offaly become the fifth different county to win the Joe McDonagh Cup.
* First-time Joe McDonagh Cup meetings:
** Down v Westmeath (Round 3)
* Meath are relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup for a record third time.