# 1951 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1951 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 65th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 6 May 1951 and ended on 2 September 1951.
Tipperary were the defending champions, and retained their All-Ireland crown following a 7-7 to 3-9 defeat of Wexford.

## Teams
### 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 | 1945-46 |
| Cork | Red and white | 1946 | 1947 | 1947-48 |
| Dublin | Navy and blue | 1938 | 1948 | 1938-39 |
| Galway | Maroon and white | 1923 | 1922 | 1950-51 |
| Kilkenny | Black and amber | 1947 | 1950 | 1932-33 |
| Laois | Blue and white | 1915 | 1949 | |
| Limerick | Green and white | 1940 | 1940 | 1946-47 |
| Meath | Green and gold | | | |
| Offaly | Green, white and gold | | | |
| Tipperary | Blue and gold | 1950 | 1950 | 1949-50 |
| Waterford | Blue and white | 1948 | 1948 | |
| Westmeath | Maroon and white | | | |
| Wexford | Purple and gold | 1910 | 1918 | |

## Results
### Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

First round
Semi-finals
Final

### Munster Senior Hurling Championship

First round
Semi-finals
Final

### All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Semi-final
Final

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

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Nicky Rackard | Wexford | 9-18 | 45 | 6 | 7.50 |
| 2 | Padge Kehoe | Wexford | 3-13 | 22 | 6 | 3.66 |
| 3 | Harry Gray | Laois | 5-06 | 21 | 3 | 7.00 |
| 4 | Paddy Kelly | Laois | 6-01 | 19 | 3 | 6.33 |
| 5 | Paddy Kenny | Tipperary | 1-15 | 18 | 4 | 4.50 |
| 6 | Tim Russell | Wexford | 1-11 | 14 | 3 | 4.66 |
| 7 | Séamus Bannon | Tipperary | 3-04 | 13 | 4 | 3.25 |
| 8 | Christy Ring | Wexford | 1-08 | 11 | 2 | 5.50 |
| 9 | Jack Cummins | Wexford | 3-01 | 10 | 6 | 1.66 |
| 9 | Jimmy Smyth | Clare | 3-01 | 10 | 1 | 10.00 |
| 9 | Jack Finnan | Dublin | 3-01 | 10 | 2 | 5.00 |
| 9 | Tim Ryan | Tipperary | 3-01 | 10 | 4 | 2.50 |

#### Top scorers in a single game

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Nicky Rackard | Wexford | 3-02 | 11 | Tipperary |
| 2 | Paddy Kelly | Laois | 3-01 | 10 | Kilkenny |
| 2 | Harry Gray | Laois | 3-01 | 10 | Wexford |
| 2 | Jimmy Smyth | Clare | 3-01 | 10 | Cork |
| 2 | Harry Gray | Laois | 2-04 | 10 | Kilkenny |
| 2 | Nicky Rackard | Wexford | 2-04 | 10 | Dublin |
| 3 | Paddy Kelly | Laois | 3-00 | 9 | Offaly |
| 4 | Nicky Rackard | Wexford | 1-05 | 8 | Meath |
| 4 | Tim Russell | Wexford | 1-05 | 8 | Galway |
| 5 | Nicky Rackard | Wexford | 1-04 | 7 | Laois |
| 5 | Christy Ring | Cork | 1-04 | 7 | Tipperary |
| 5 | Paddy Kenny | Tipperary | 0-07 | 7 | Wexford |

### Scoring

* Widest winning margin: 22 points
** Dublin 6-10 - 0-6 Westmeath (Leinster quarter-final, 6 May 1951)
* Most goals in a match: 10
** Tipperary 7-7 - 3-9 Wexford (All-Ireland final, 2 September 1951)
* Most points in a match: 20
** Tipperary 2-10 - 1-10 Waterford (Munster quarter-final, 10 June 1951)
** Tipperary 2-11 - 2-9 Cork (Munster final, 30 July 1951)
** Wexford 3-11 - 2-9 Galway (All-Ireland semi-final, 30 July 1951)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 7
** Tipperary 7-7 - 3-9 Wexford (All-Ireland final, 2 September 1951)
* Most goals scored by a losing team: 4
** Dublin 4-6 - 6-9 Wexford (Leinster semi-final, 17 June 1951)
** Laois 4-3 - 3-12 Wexford (Leinster final, 15 July 1951)
* Most points scored by a losing team: 10
** Waterford 1-10 - 2-10 Tipperary (Munster quarter-final, 10 June 1951)

### Miscellaneous

* Wexford win their first Leinster title since 1918. The team also qualify for their first All-Ireland decider since then.
* A colour clash between Wexford and Tipperary in the All-Ireland final resulted in both sides wearing their provincial colours. Tipperary wore the blue of Munster while Wexford wore the green of Leinster.
* Tipperary win their 16th All-Ireland title and join Cork as joint leaders on the all-time roll of honour.

## Sources

* Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
* Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).