# 1996 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1996 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 110th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the various provincial championships took place on 22 October 1995. The championship ran from 5 May to 1 September 1996.
Clare were the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Limerick in the Munster semi-finals.
The All-Ireland final was played on 1 September 1996 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Wexford and Limerick, in what was their third meeting in the final overall, a first meeting in the final in 78 years and a first championship meeting in 41 years. Wexford won the match by 1–13 to 0–14 to claim their sixth All-Ireland title overall and a first title in 26 years.
Limerick's Gary Kirby was the championship's top scorer with 1-35. Wexford's Larry O'Gorman was named Hurler of the Year.

## Team changes
### To Championship

Promoted from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship
* Derry (qualified)
Entered Championship
* New York

### From Championship

Regraded to the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship
* None

## Teams
### Personnel and kits

| Province | Team | Colours | Sponsor | Captain | Manager | Most recent success | Most recent success | Most recent success |
| Province | Team | Colours | Sponsor | Captain | Manager | All-Ireland | Provincial | League |
| Leinster | Carlow | Red, green and yellow | | | Moling Morrissey | | | |
| | Dublin | Navy and blue | Arnotts | | Jimmy Gray | 1938 | 1961 | 1938-39 |
| | Kilkenny | Black and amber | Avonmore | Michael Phelan | Nickey Brennan | 1993 | 1993 | 1994-95 |
| | Laois | Blue and white | Esso Ultron | | Michael "Babs" Keating | 1915 | 1949 | |
| | Meath | Green and gold | Kepak | | John Davis | | | |
| | Offaly | Green, white and gold | Carroll Meats | Shane McGuckin | Éamonn Cregan | 1995 | 1994 | 1990-91 |
| | Westmeath | Maroon and white | Bennett Construction | | Georgie Leahy | | | |
| | Wexford | Purple and gold | Wexford Creamery | Martin Storey | Liam Griffin | 1996 | 2019 | 1973 |
| Munster | Clare | Saffron and blue | Pat O'Donnell | Anthony Daly | Ger Loughnane | 1995 | 1995 | 1977-78 |
| | Cork | Red and white | Barry's Tea | Mark Mullins | Jimmy Barry-Murphy | 1990 | 1992 | 1992-93 |
| | Kerry | Green and yellow | Kerry Group | | John Meyler | 1891 | 1891 | |
| | Limerick | Green and white | Shaws | Ciarán Carey | Tom Ryan | 1973 | 1994 | 1991-92 |
| | Tipperary | Blue and gold | Finches | Michael Cleary | Tom Fogarty | 1991 | 1993 | 1993-94 |
| | Waterford | White and blue | Tedcastles Oil | Fergal Hartley | Tony Mansfield | 1959 | 1963 | 1962-63 |
| Connacht | Galway | Maroon and white | Supermac's | Michael Coleman | Mattie Murphy | 1988 | 1995 | 1995-96 |
| | Roscommon | Blue and yellow | 747 Travel | | Michael Kelly | | | |
| Ulster | Antrim | Saffron and white | Matbro | | Dominic McKinley | | 1994 | |
| | Down | Red and black | No sponsor | | Paddy Braniff Brian Gilmore Gerard Lennon | | 1995 | |
| | Derry | | | | | | | |
| Britain | London | | | | | | | |
| North America | New York | | | | | | | |

## Provincial championships
### Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | First round | First round | First round | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Leinster Final | Leinster Final | Leinster Final |
| Carlow | Carlow | 1-15, 2-08 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Westmeath | Westmeath | 2-12, 3-07 | Meath | Meath | 2-11 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Westmeath | Westmeath | 1-05 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Offaly | Offaly | 2-18 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Meath | Meath | 2-12 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Offaly | Offaly | 4-17 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Laois | Laois | 2-10 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Offaly | Offaly | 2-15 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Wexford | Wexford | 2-23 |
| | | | | | | Wexford | Wexford | 1-14 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 0-14 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Dublin | Dublin | 1-09 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Wexford | Wexford | 2-12 | | | |

### Munster Senior Hurling Championship
## All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
### Bracket

| Preliminary round 1 | Preliminary round 1 | Preliminary round 1 | Preliminary round 2 | Preliminary round 2 | Preliminary round 2 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| New York | New York | 1-16 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| London | London | 0-14 | New York | New York | 4-16 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Derry | Derry | 0-13 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Galway | Galway | 4-22 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | New York | New York | 0-08 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Wexford | Wexford | 2-13 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Galway | Galway | 3-07 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Wexford | Wexford | 1-13 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Limerick | Limerick | 0-14 |
| | | | | | | | | | Limerick | Limerick | 1-17 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Antrim | Antrim | 0-13 | | | |

### All-Ireland final

| Wexford | Limerick |

## Championship statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the championship: Robert Galvin for Westmeath against Carlow (Leinster preliminary round 1)
* Last goal of the championship: Tom Dempsey for Wexford against Limerick (All-Ireland final)
* First hat-trick of the championship: Kevin Broderick for Galway against New York (All-Ireland quarter-final)
* Widest winning margin: 26 points
** Galway 4–22 : 0–8 New York (All-Ireland quarter-final)
* Most goals in a match: 6
** Offaly 4–17 : 2–10 Laois (Leinster semi-final)
** Kerry 2–11 : 4–19 Tipperary (Munstersemi-final)
* Most points in a match: 38
** Wexford 2–23 : 2–15 Offaly (Leinster final)

### Top scorers
#### Season

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Gary Kirby | Limerick | 1–35 | 38 | 6 | 6.33 |
| 2 | Francis Forde | Galway | 3–15 | 24 | 3 | 8.00 |
| 3 | Tom Dempsey | Wexford | 2–15 | 21 | 5 | 4.20 |
| 4 | Johnny Dooley | Offaly | 0–19 | 19 | 3 | 6.33 |
| 4 | Liam Cahill | Tipperary | 3–10 | 19 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 6 | Michael Cleary | Tipperary | 0–18 | 18 | 4 | 4.50 |
| 6 | Kevin Broderick | Galway | 5–3 | 18 | 3 | 6.00 |

#### Single game

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Francis Forde | Galway | 2–8 | 14 | Roscommon |
| 2 | Niall English | Carlow | 1–9 | 12 | Westmeath |
| 3 | Kevin Broderick | Galway | 3–1 | 10 | New York |
| 3 | Gary Kirby | Limerick | 1–7 | 10 | Tipperary |
| 3 | Gary Kirby | Limerick | 0–10 | 10 | Tipperary |
| 6 | Seán McLoughlin | Westmeath | 1–6 | 9 | Carlow |
| 6 | David Martin | Meath | 1–6 | 9 | Offaly |
| 6 | Gary Kirby | Limerick | 0–9 | 9 | Antrim |
| 9 | John Byrne | Carlow | 2–2 | 8 | Westmeath |
| 9 | John Troy | Offaly | 2–2 | 8 | Laois |
| 9 | John Leahy | Tipperary | 2–2 | 8 | Kerry |
| 9 | Tom Dempsey | Wexford | 1–5 | 8 | Offaly |
| 9 | Paul Flynn | Waterford | 1–5 | 8 | Tipperary |
| 9 | Francis Forde | Galway | 1–5 | 8 | New York |

## Miscellaneous

* Cork's 3–18 to 1–8 defeat by Limerick in the Munster quarter-final was the team's biggest defeat since 1936. It was also Cork's first championship defeat at home since 1923.

### Debutantes

The following players made their début in the 1996 championship:
| Player | Team | Date | Opposition | Game |
| Derek Barrett | Cork | May 26 | Limerick | Munster quarter-final |
| Joe Deane | Cork | May 26 | Limerick | Munster quarter-final |
| Seán Óg Ó hAilpín | Cork | May 26 | Limerick | Munster quarter-final |
| Ken McGrath | Waterford | June 2 | Tipperary | Munster quarter-final |
| Kevin Flynn | Dublin | June 23 | Wexford | Leinster semi-final |
| Ollie Canning | Galway | July 6 | Roscommon | Connacht final |

### Retirees

The following players played their last game in the 1996 championship:
| Player | Team | Date | Opposition | Game | Début |
| Jim Cashman | Cork | May 26 | Limerick | Munster quarter-final | 1986 |
| Nicky English | Tipperary | July 14 | Limerick | Munster final | 1982 |