# 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 136th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament, since its establishment in 1887. The championship began in April 2023 and ended on 23 July 2023.
Limerick entered the championship as defending champions having won the previous three championships.
The All-Ireland final was played on 23 July 2023 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Limerick and Kilkenny. Defending champions Limerick won the game by 0–30 to 2–15 to claim their four-in-a-row and their fifth title in six years.

## Format
### Leinster Championship
#### Participating counties (6)

Antrim, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Westmeath, Wexford

#### Group stage (15 matches)

Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Leinster final and the 3rd placed team advances to the all-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team may face relegation to next years Joe McDonagh Cup.

#### Final (1 match)

The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Leinster champions advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals and the Leinster runners-up advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

### Munster Championship
#### Participating counties (5)

Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford

#### Group stage (10 matches)

Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Munster final and the 3rd placed team advances to the all-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team may face relegation to next years Joe McDonagh Cup.

#### Final (1 match)

The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Munster champions advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals and the Munster runners-up advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

### Joe McDonagh Cup
#### Participating counties (6)

Carlow, Down, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Offaly

#### Group stage (15 matches)

Each team plays each other once. The 1st and 2nd placed teams advance to the Joe McDonagh Cup final. All other teams are eliminated from the championship and the bottom placed team are relegated to next years Christy Ring Cup.

#### Final (1 match)

The top 2 teams in the group stage contest this game. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.

### All-Ireland Championship
#### Preliminary quarter-finals (2 matches)

The 3rd placed teams from the Leinster and Munster championships play the Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the quarter-finals.

#### Quarter-finals (2 matches)

The winners of the preliminary quarter-finals join the Leinster and Munster runners-up to make up the quarter-final pairings. Teams who may have already met in the provincial championships are kept apart in separate quarter-finals. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

#### Semi-finals (2 matches)

The winners of the quarter-finals join the Leinster and Munster champions to make up the semi-final pairings. Teams who may have already met in the provincial championships are kept apart in separate semi-finals where possible. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.

#### Final (1 match)

The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game.

## Team changes
### To Championship

Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
* Kildare

### From Championship

Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
* Meath

## Teams
### General information

Seventeen counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: six teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and six teams in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
| County | Last provincial title | Last championship title | Position in 2022 Championship | Current championship |
| Antrim | 2017 | — | Preliminary quarter-finals | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Carlow | — | — | 3rd (Joe McDonagh Cup) | Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Clare | 1998 | 2013 | Semi-finals | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Cork | 2018 | 2005 | Quarter-finals | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Down | — | — | 5th (Joe McDonagh Cup) | Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Dublin | 2013 | 1938 | 4th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Galway | 2018 | 2017 | Semi-finals | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Kerry | 1891 | 1891 | Preliminary quarter-finals | Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Kildare | — | — | 1st (Christy Ring Cup) | Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Kilkenny | 2022 | 2015 | Runners-up | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Laois | 1949 | 1915 | 6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Limerick | 2022 | 2022 | Champions | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Offaly | 1995 | 1998 | 4th (Joe McDonagh Cup) | Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Tipperary | 2016 | 2019 | 5th (Munster Senior Hurling Championship) | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Waterford | 2010 | 1959 | 4th (Munster Senior Hurling Championship) | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Westmeath | — | — | 5th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Wexford | 2019 | 1996 | Quarter-finals | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |

### Personnel and kits

| County | Manager | Captain(s) | Sponsor |
| Antrim | Darren Gleeson | Conor McCann | Fibrus |
| Carlow | Tom Mullally | Paul Doyle | SETU |
| Clare | Brian Lohan | Tony Kelly | Pat O'Donnell |
| Cork | Pat Ryan | Sean O'Donoghue | Sports Direct |
| Down | Ronan Sheehan | TBD | EOS IT Solutions |
| Dublin | Micheál Donoghue | Eoghan O'Donnell and Cian O'Callaghan | AIG |
| Galway | Henry Shefflin | Daithí Burke and Joseph Cooney | Supermac's |
| Kerry | Stephen Molumphy | Gavin Dooley | Kerry Group |
| Kildare | David Herity | James Burke | Brady Family Ham |
| Kilkenny | Derek Lyng | Richie Reid and Eoin Cody | Avonmore |
| Laois | Willie Maher | Enda Rowland | Laois Hire |
| Limerick | John Kiely | Declan Hannon | JP McManus |
| Offaly | Johnny Kelly | Jason Sampson | Glenisk |
| Tipperary | Liam Cahill | Noel McGrath | Fiserv |
| Waterford | Davy Fitzgerald | Jamie Barron and Stephen Bennett | Cognizant |
| Westmeath | Joe Fortune | Aonghus Clarke and Killian Doyle | Renault |
| Wexford | Darragh Egan | Lee Chin and Kevin Foley | Zurich Insurance Group |

### Teams by province

The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2023 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Connacht (1)
* Galway (5)
Leinster (8)
* Carlow (16)
* Dublin (8)
* Kildare (14)
* Kilkenny (2)
* Laois (13)
* Offaly (12)
* Westmeath (11)
* Wexford (10)
Munster (6)
* Clare (7)
* Cork (4)
* Kerry (15)
* Limerick (1) (title-holders)
* Tipperary (3)
* Waterford (6)
Ulster (2)
* Antrim (9)
* Down (17)

## Summary
### Championships

| Competition | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Level on pyramid |
| All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship | 2023 | Limerick | 12th | Kilkenny | 1 |
| Leinster Senior Hurling Championship | 2023 | Kilkenny | 75th | Galway | 1 |
| Munster Senior Hurling Championship | 2023 | Limerick | 24th | Clare | 1 |
| Joe McDonagh Cup | 2023 | Carlow | 2nd | Offaly | 2 |
| Christy Ring Cup | 2023 | Meath | 3rd | Derry | 3 |
| Nicky Rackard Cup | 2023 | Wicklow | 1st | Donegal | 4 |
| Lory Meagher Cup | 2023 | Monaghan | 1st | Lancashire | 5 |

## Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
### Group Stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Galway | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 175 | 116 | +59 | 8 | Advance to Leinster Final |
| 2 | Kilkenny | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 163 | 120 | +43 | 7 | Advance to Leinster Final |
| 3 | Dublin | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 125 | 117 | +8 | 6 | Advance to All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 4 | Wexford | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 137 | 141 | -4 | 4 | |
| 5 | Antrim | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 141 | 167 | -26 | 3 | |
| 6 | Westmeath (R) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 93 | 173 | -80 | 2 | Relegation to Joe McDonagh Cup |

#### Round 5
### Final
## Munster Senior Hurling Championship
### Group Stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Clare | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8-91 | 10-76 | +9 | 6 | Advance to Munster Final |
| 2 | Limerick | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6-88 | 2-98 | +2 | 5 | Advance to Munster Final |
| 3 | Tipperary | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7-93 | 8-91 | -1 | 4 | Advance to All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 4 | Cork | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8-94 | 7-90 | +7 | 3 | |
| 5 | Waterford | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1-77 | 3-88 | -17 | 2 | |

#### Round 5
### Final
## Joe McDonagh Cup
### Group Stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Carlow (C) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13-118 | 1-104 | +50 | 8 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 2 | Offaly | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7-105 | 6-93 | +15 | 8 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 3 | Laois | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14-114 | 4-87 | +57 | 7 | |
| 4 | Kerry | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2-101 | 6-96 | -7 | 5 | |
| 5 | Down | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3-88 | 18-112 | -59 | 2 | |
| 6 | Kildare (R) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6-68 | 10-112 | -56 | 0 | Relegated to Christy Ring Cup |

### Final

Carlow will be promoted to the 2024 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

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

| Preliminary Quarter-Finals | Preliminary Quarter-Finals | Preliminary Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | All-Ireland Final | All-Ireland Final | All-Ireland Final |
| | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 2-22 | | | |
| | | | | | | Clare | Clare | 1-22 | | | |
| | | | Clare | Clare | 5-26 | | | | | | |
| Dublin | Dublin | 2-25 | Dublin | Dublin | 2-17 | | | | | | |
| Carlow | Carlow | 0-21 | | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 2-15 |
| | | | | | | | | | Limerick | Limerick | 0-30 |
| | | | | | | Limerick | Limerick | 2-24 | | | |
| | | | | | | Galway | Galway | 1-18 | | | |
| | | | Galway | Galway | 1-20 | | | | | | |
| Tipperary | Tipperary | 7-38 | Tipperary | Tipperary | 1-18 | | | | | | |
| Offaly | Offaly | 3-18 | | | | | | | | | |

### All-Ireland final

* RTÉ
* 23 July 2023 Final
* Report
| Limerick | 0-30 (30) – (21) 2-15 | Kilkenny |
| (HT: 0-09 (9) – (12) 1-09) |||
| Pts: Diarmaid Byrnes 8 (7f), Peter Casey 5, Aaron Gillane 4 (3f), Darragh O'Donovan 2, Cian Lynch 2, Gearóid Hegarty 2, David Reidy 2, Cathal O'Neill 2, Barry Nash 1, Kyle Hayes 1, Tom Morrissey 1 | | Gls: Paddy Deegan 1, Eoin Cody 1 Pts: TJ Reid 7 (6f, 1 '65), Paddy Deegan 1, Tom Phelan 3, Eoin Murphy 1 (1f), Richie Reid 1, John Donnelly 1, Adrian Mullen 1 |
* Croke Park, Dublin Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow) Attendance: 82,300

## Stadia and locations

| County | Location | Province | Stadium | Capacity |
| Antrim | Belfast | Ulster | Corrigan Park | 3,700 |
| Carlow | Carlow | Leinster | Dr Cullen Park | 11,000 |
| Clare | Ennis | Munster | Cusack Park | 19,000 |
| Cork | Cork | Munster | Páirc Uí Chaoimh | 45,000 |
| Down | Rubane | Ulster | McKenna Park | 5,000 |
| Dublin | Dublin | Leinster | Croke Park | 82,300 |
| Galway | Galway | Connacht | Pearse Stadium | 26,197 |
| Kerry | Tralee | Munster | Austin Stack Park | 12,000 |
| Kildare | Newbridge | Leinster | Hawkfield Centre of Excellence | 1,300 |
| Kilkenny | Kilkenny | Leinster | Nowlan Park | 27,000 |
| Laois | Portlaoise | Leinster | O'Moore Park | 22,000 |
| Limerick | Limerick | Munster | Gaelic Grounds | 44,023 |
| Offaly | Tullamore | Leinster | O'Connor Park | 18,000 |
| Tipperary | Thurles | Munster | Semple Stadium | 45,690 |
| Waterford | Thurles | Munster | Semple Stadium | 45,690 |
| Westmeath | Mullingar | Leinster | Cusack Park | 11,500 |
| Wexford | Wexford | Leinster | Chadwicks Wexford Park | 18,000 |

## Championship statistics
### Top scorers
#### Top scorer overall

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | T. J. Reid | Kilkenny | 2-73 | 79 | 8 | 9.87 |
| 2 | Evan Niland | Galway | 0-77 | 77 | 8 | 9.62 |
| 3 | Donal Burke | Dublin | 2-59 | 65 | 6 | 10.83 |
| 4 | Aaron Gillane | Limerick | 3-47 | 56 | 7 | 8.00 |
| 5 | Tony Kelly | Clare | 5-33 | 48 | 7 | 6.85 |
| 6 | Conal Cunning | Antrim | 2-42 | 48 | 5 | 9.60 |
| 7 | Patrick Horgan | Cork | 2-39 | 45 | 4 | 11.25 |
| 8 | Jason Forde | Tipperary | 4-31 | 43 | 4 | 10.75 |
| 9 | Conor Whelan | Galway | 7–18 | 39 | 8 | 4.87 |
| 10 | Mark Rodgers | Clare | 4-27 | 39 | 6 | 6.50 |
| 11 | Stephen Bennett | Waterford | 0-37 | 37 | 4 | 9.25 |
| 12 | Eoin Cody | Kilkenny | 5-21 | 36 | 8 | 4.50 |
| 13 | Lee Chin | Wexford | 1-32 | 35 | 5 | 7.00 |
| 14 | Aidan McCarthy | Clare | 1-27 | 30 | 5 | 6.00 |
| 15 | Martin Keoghan | Kilkenny | 5-09 | 24 | 6 | 4.00 |
| 16 | Jake Morris | Tipperary | 2-18 | 24 | 5 | 4.80 |

#### In a single game

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Patrick Horgan | Cork | 1–14 | 17 | Limerick |
| 2 | Jason Forde | Tipperary | 2–11 | 17 | Offaly |
| 3 | Aidan McCarthy | Clare | 1–13 | 16 | Tipperary |
| 4 | T. J. Reid | Kilkenny | 2–10 | 16 | Antrim |
| 5 | Aaron Gillane | Limerick | 1–11 | 14 | Clare |
| 6 | Tony Kelly | Clare | 0–13 | 13 | Waterford |
| 7 | Stephen Bennett | Waterford | 0–13 | 13 | Limerick |
| 8 | Evan Niland | Galway | 0–12 | 12 | Kilkenny |
| 9 | Martin Keoghan | Kilkenny | 3-03 | 12 | Antrim |
| 10 | Jason Forde | Tipperary | 2-06 | 12 | Clare |
| 11 | Patrick Horgan | Cork | 1-09 | 12 | Clare |

### Scoring events

* Widest winning margin: 34 points
** Galway 6-33 - 0-17 Westmeath (Leinster SHC)
* Most goals in a match: 10
** Offaly 3-18 - 7-38 Tipperary (preliminary quarter-final)
* Most points in a match: 56
** Wexford 1-30 - 1-26 Antrim (Leinster SHC)
** Offaly 3-18 - 7-38 Tipperary (preliminary quarter-final)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 7
** Offaly 3-18 - 7-38 Tipperary (preliminary quarter-final)
* Most points by one team in a match: 38
** Offaly 3-18 - 7-38 Tipperary (preliminary quarter-final)
* Highest aggregate score: 86 points
** Offaly 3-18 - 7-38 Tipperary (preliminary quarter-final)
* Lowest aggregate score: 36 points
** Kilkenny 0-29 - 0-07 Westmeath (Leinster SHC)

## Miscellaneous

* Limerick win their fourth All-Ireland in a row and their 12th in total
* Limerick extended their unbeaten streak to 17 games, 16 wins and 1 draw, after defeating Waterford in the first round Munster championship. The streak began in the Munster quarter final clash versus Clare in October 2020, and ended with a defeat to Clare in the 2023 Munster SHC. Kilkenny are the only other county with a longer unbeaten streak, 21 games unbeaten from 2006 to 2010.
* Tipperary scored 5 goals in a championship match for the first time since 2017 when they scored 5 against Clare in the Munster Championship. They went on to score 7 against Offaly in the All Ireland preliminary quarter-final.
* The 7-38 scored by Tipperary against Offaly, equivalent to 59 points, is the highest score ever recorded in a SHC game. The aggregate score, 86 points in total, is also an all-time record.
* Conor Whelan (Galway) became the first player to score an All-Ireland SHC hat-trick since 2019 with three goals against Westmeath.
* Kilkenny's T. J. Reid becomes the first player to reach 600 points total while playing against Dublin on the 20th May 2023 in Round 4 of the Leinster Championship. While doing so, he also became the highest scoring player in the history of the All-Ireland competition, he over took this position from Cork's Patrick Horgan who is now just fourteen points behind T. J. Reid's top score.
* This was the first year Kildare competed in the championship since 2004.
* Offaly qualify for the All-Ireland knockout stage for the first time since 2003. (Does not include qualifiers)
* Westmeath defeated Wexford in the championship for the first time since 1940.
* Cork's 18th year in a row without an All-Ireland senior title, their longest dry spell since the founding of the championship.
* This was Kilkenny's eighth season in a row without a title, equalling their losing streak of 1984–91.
* Kilkenny's first time losing two All Ireland senior finals in a row to the same opposition.
* It was the first championship meeting between Offaly and Tipperary since 2010. Tipperary went on to defeat Offaly in the preliminary quarter final of the All Ireland series by 7–38 to 3–18 setting a new record for the highest team score in the history of the championship.
* It was the first championship meeting between Clare and Dublin since 2012.
* Limerick win their fifth Munster SHC in a row, the only time a county other than Cork has achieved this.
* Nickie Quaid, Declan Hannon, Graeme Mulcahy and David Reidy became the first Limerick players to win six Munster Championship medals.

## Live televised games

RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, provided the majority of the live television coverage of the hurling championship with 17 games shown.
For the first time GAAGO also broadcast 9 matches in Ireland as part of a deal that will run to 2027 and had exclusive rights to some games. After the GAA's broadcasting contract with Sky Sports expired in October 2022 and they did not seek contracts with producers on free-to-air channels such as Virgin Media Sport, GAAGO was the only place to watch certain games of the 2023 Munster Senior Hurling Championship. This was criticised by some including Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
After suspicion the service was operating beyond its clearance given by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in 2017, the commission opened an inquiry in May 2023 into the service's adherence to competition law. RTÉ told the Irish Examiner that they believed that "CCPC approval was not needed".
On 12 July 2023, senior GAA officials appeared before the Oireachtas Sport and Media Committee to defend the controversial GAAGO coverage of All-Ireland championships, saying broadcasting every championship match on TV was "not realistic" and not in the GAA's "interest".

## Awards
### Sunday Game Team of the Year

The Sunday Game team of the year was picked 23 July on the night of the final. The panel consisting of Jackie Tyrrell, Brendan Cummins, Donal Óg Cusack, Joe Canning, Shane Dowling, and Ursula Jacob also chose Kyle Hayes as the Sunday game player of the year.
* 1 Eoin Murphy
* 2 Mikey Butler
* 3 Huw Lawlor
* 4 Dan Morrissey
* 5 Diarmaid Byrnes
* 6 Will O'Donoghue
* 7 Kyle Hayes
* 8 Darragh O'Donovan
* 9 David Fitzgerald
* 10 Tom Morrissey
* 11 TJ Reid
* 12 Shane O'Donnell
* 13 Conor Whelan
* 14 Aaron Gillane
* 15 Eoin Cody

### All Star Team of the Year

On 16 November, the All-Star winners were announced. The awards ceremony was held at the RDS on 17 November. Aaron Gillane was named as the GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year with Mark Rodgers named as the GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year.
| Pos. | Player | Team | Appearances |
| GK | Eoin Murphy | Kilkenny | 4 |
| RCB | Mikey Butler | Kilkenny | 2 |
| FB | Huw Lawlor | Kilkenny | 2 |
| LCB | Dan Morrissey | Limerick | 3 |
| RWB | Diarmaid Byrnes | Limerick | 4 |
| CB | John Conlon | Clare | 2 |
| LWB | Kyle Hayes | Limerick | 4 |
| MD | Darragh O'Donovan | Limerick | 2 |
| MD | William O'Donoghue | Limerick | 2 |
| RWF | Shane O'Donnell | Clare | 2 |
| CF | T. J. Reid | Kilkenny | 7 |
| LWF | Tom Morrissey | Limerick | 3 |
| RCF | Conor Whelan | Galway | 2 |
| FF | Aaron Gillane | Limerick | 4 |
| LCF | Eoin Cody | Kilkenny | 1 |