# 1979 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1979 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 93rd staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 27 May 1979 and ended on 2 September 1978.
Cork entered the championship as defending champions, however, they were beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Kilkenny won the title after defeating Galway by 2–12 to 1–8 in the final.

## Teams

A total of eleven teams contested the championship, one of the fewest participants in years. Only four team contested the Leinster series of games. Kildare, Laois and Westmeath withdrew from the provincial campaign, however, Laois did qualify for the All-Ireland series by winning the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship. They did this at Antrim's expense. Kerry withdrew from the Munster championship.

### Team summaries

| Team | Colours | Most recent success | Most recent success | Most recent success |
| Team | Colours | All-Ireland | Provincial | League |
| Clare | Saffron and blue | 1914 | 1932 | 1977–78 |
| Cork | Red and white | 1978 | 1978 | 1973–74 |
| Dublin | Navy and blue | 1938 | 1961 | 1938–39 |
| Galway | Maroon and white | 1923 | 1922 | 1974–75 |
| Kilkenny | Black and amber | 1975 | 1978 | 1975–76 |
| Laois | Blue and white | 1915 | 1949 | |
| Limerick | Green and white | 1973 | 1974 | 1970–71 |
| Offaly | Green, white and gold | | | |
| Tipperary | Blue and gold | 1971 | 1971 | 1978–79 |
| Waterford | Blue and white | 1959 | 1963 | 1962–63 |
| Wexford | Purple and gold | 1968 | 1977 | 1972–73 |

## All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Galway | Galway | 1-23 | | | | | | |
| Laois | Laois | 3-10 | Cork | Cork | 1-13 | | | |
| | | | Galway | Galway | 2-14 | | | |
| | | | | | | Galway | Galway | 1-08 |
| | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 2-12 |

### All-Ireland Final
## Championship statistics
### Miscellaneous

* Cork capture a record-equalling fifth successive Munster title following a victory over Limerick. It is the second time that Cork have achieved the five-in-a-row, the first since 1905.
* In the All-Ireland semi-final, Galway defeat Cork for only the second time in the history of the championship. It is Cork's first defeat since the All-Ireland semi-final of 1975 when the same opposition recorded their first win over 'the Rebels'.

## Top scorers
### Season

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Éamonn Cregan | Limerick | 2–17 | 23 | 3 | 7.66 |
| 2 | Ned Buggy | Wexford | 1–16 | 19 | 2 | 9.50 |
| 3 | Mick Brennan | Kilkenny | 2–12 | 18 | 3 | 6.00 |
| 4 | Joe McKenna | Limerick | 4-5 | 17 | 3 | 5.66 |
| 5 | Charlie McCarthy | Cork | 1–12 | 15 | 3 | 5.00 |
| 5 | Liam O'Brien | Kilkenny | 1–12 | 15 | 3 | 5.00 |
| 5 | P. J. Molloy | Galway | 1–12 | 15 | 3 | 5.00 |
| 8 | Mick Crotty | Kilkenny | 2-5 | 11 | 3 | 3.66 |
| 8 | Matt Ruth | Kilkenny | 2-5 | 11 | 3 | 3.66 |
| 10 | Mick Holden | Dublin | 2-3 | 9 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 10 | Ray Cummins | Cork | 2-3 | 9 | 3 | 3.00 |

### Single game

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Éamonn Moroney | Clare | 2–4 | 10 | Waterford |
| 1 | Joe McKenna | Clare | 2–4 | 10 | Kilkenny |
| 1 | Liam 'Chunky' O'Brien | Clare | 1–7 | 10 | Kilkenny |
| 1 | Ned Buggy | Wexford | 0–10 | 10 | Offaly |
| 5 | Mick Holden | Dublin | 2–3 | 9 | Kilkenny |
| 5 | P. J. Molloy | Galway | 1–6 | 9 | Cork |
| 5 | Ned Buggy | Wexford | 1–6 | 9 | Kilkenny |
| 8 | Éamonn Cregan | Limerick | 0–8 | 8 | Clare |
| 8 | Mick 'Cloney' Brennan | Kilkenny | 0–8 | 8 | Wexford |
| 10 | Mick Crotty | Kilkenny | 1–4 | 7 | Dublin |
| 10 | Joe McKenna | Limerick | 1–4 | 7 | Waterford |
| 10 | Matt Ruth | Kilkenny | 1–4 | 7 | Wexford |
| 10 | Charlie McCarthy | Cork | 1–4 | 7 | Limerick |

## Broadcasting

The following matches were broadcast live on television in Ireland on RTÉ.
| Round | RTÉ |
| All-Ireland semi-final | Cork vs Galway |
| All-Ireland final | Kilkenny vs Galway |

## Sources

* Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).