# 1976–77 National Hurling League

The 1976–77 National Hurling League was the 46th season of the National Hurling League.

## Division 1

Kilkenny came into the season as defending champions of the 1975-76 season. Wicklow entered Division 1 as the promoted team.
On 24 April 1977, Clare won the title after a 2–8 to 0–9 win over Kilkenny in the final. It was their second league title overall and their first since 1945-46.
Wicklow were relegated from Division 1 after just one season in the top flight.
Cork's Pat Moylan and Clare's Colm Honan were the Division 1 joint-top scorers.

### Division 1A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Clare | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Division 1 champions |
| 2 | Kilkenny | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Division 1 runners-up |
| 3 | Tipperary | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | Wexford | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Cork | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Limerick | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Relegated to Division 1A |
| 7 | Dublin | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Relegated to Division 1A |

### Division 1B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Offaly | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | Promoted to Division 1A |
| 2 | Galway | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | Promoted to Division 1A |
| 3 | Kildare | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | Waterford | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Laois | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Antrim | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 7 | Wicklow | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Relegated to Division 2 |

### Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final

### Scoring statistics
#### Top scorers overall

| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Pat Moylan | Cork | 3-25 | 34 | 7 | 4.85 |
| 1 | Colm Honan | Clare | 1-31 | 34 | 7 | 4.85 |
| 3 | Pat Delaney | Offaly | 1-28 | 31 | 8 | 3.87 |
| 4 | Declan Fitzpatrick | Waterford | 1-25 | 28 | 6 | 4.66 |
| 5 | Tommy Butler | Tipperary | 4-16 | 28 | 8 | 3.50 |
| 6 | Eddie Donnelly | Antrim | 4-15 | 27 | 6 | 4.50 |
| 6 | Éamonn Cregan | Limerick | 2-21 | 27 | 7 | 3.85 |
| 6 | Pat Dillon | Laois | 0-27 | 27 | 6 | 4.50 |
| 9 | P. J. Molloy | Galway | 1-20 | 23 | 8 | 2.87 |
| 9 | Johnny Walsh | Kildare | 0-23 | 23 | 5 | 4.60 |
| 9 | Liam O'Brien | Kilkenny | 0-23 | 23 | 7 | 3.28 |

#### Top scorers in a single game

| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Declan Fitzpatrick | Waterford | 1-10 | 13 | Wicklow |
| 2 | Pat Moylan | Cork | 2-05 | 11 | Wexford |
| 3 | Eddie Donnelly | Antrim | 2-04 | 10 | Wicklow |
| 4 | Noel Casey | Clare | 2-03 | 9 | Dublin |
| 4 | Eddie Donnelly | Antrim | 2-03 | 9 | Laois |
| 4 | Éamonn Cregan | Limerick | 1-06 | 9 | Cork |
| 7 | Pat O'Connor | Clare | 2-02 | 8 | Kilkenny |
| 7 | Hugh Maher | Waterford | 2-02 | 8 | Wicklow |
| 7 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 1-05 | 8 | Cork |
| 7 | Colm Honan | Clare | 1-05 | 8 | Limerick |
| 7 | Pat Delaney | Offaly | 0-08 | 8 | Kildare |

## Division 2

On 20 February 1977, Westmeath won the title after a 5–14 to 0–7 win over Meath in the final round of the group stage.

### Division 2 table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Westmeath | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Division 2 champions |
| 2 | Kerry | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Down | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Carlow | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 5 | Meath | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | Roscommon | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |