# 1983 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1983 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 97th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 1980 fixtures took place in September 1979. The championship began on 29 May 1983 and ended on 4 September 1983.
Kilkenny were the defending champions.
On 4 September 1983, Kilkenny won the championship following a 2–14 to 2–12 defeat of Cork in the All-Ireland final. This was their 23rd All-Ireland title and their second in succession.
Kilkenny's Billy Fitzpatrick was the championship's top scorer with 1-24. Kilkenny's Frank Cummins was the choice for Texaco Hurler of the Year.

## Team changes
### To Championship

Promoted from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship
* Kerry

### From Championship

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

## Teams
### General information

Fourteen counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: one team from the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, six teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, one team from the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship and one team from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship.
| County | Last provincial title | Last championship title | Current championship |
| Antrim | 1946 | — | Ulster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Clare | 1932 | 1914 | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Cork | 1982 | 1978 | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Dublin | 1961 | 1938 | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Galway | 1922 | 1980 | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Kerry | 1891 | 1891 | All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship |
| Kilkenny | 1982 | 1982 | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Laois | 1949 | 1915 | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Limerick | 1981 | 1973 | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Offaly | 1981 | 1981 | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Tipperary | 1971 | 1971 | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Waterford | 1963 | 1959 | Munster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Westmeath | — | — | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |
| Wexford | 1977 | 1968 | Leinster Senior Hurling Championship |

## Format

The provincial championships in Munster and Leinster were all played on a knock-out basis as usual. In keeping with the rotation system for advancement to the All-Ireland final, the Leinster champions automatically qualified for the final of 1983. Galway, having no competition in the Connacht Championship, played the winners of a preliminary game between Kerry and Antrim. The winners of this quarter-final went on to play the Munster champions in a single All-Ireland semi-final.

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

| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | All-Ireland final | All-Ireland final | All-Ireland final |
| | | | | | | Cork | Cork | 5-14 | | | |
| | | | | | | Galway | Galway | 1-16 | | | |
| | | | Galway | Galway | 3-22 | | | | | | |
| Antrim | Antrim | 3-13 | Antrim | Antrim | 2-05 | | | | | | |
| Kerry | Kerry | 2-10 | | | | | | | Cork | Cork | 2-12 |
| | | | | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 2-14 |

### All-Ireland Final

| Kilkenny | Cork |

## Championship statistics
### Miscellaneous

* Tipperary's victory over Clare in the Munster quarter-final was the team's first in the provincial championship since 1973.
* The attendance of 20,816 at the Munster final was the lowest at the provincial decider since 1972.
* In the All-Ireland final two Kilkenny players achieved rare distinctions. Goalkeeper Noel Skehan won a record-breaking ninth All-Ireland medal, however, his first three were won as non-playing substitutes. Midfielder Frank Cummins won his seventh All-Ireland medal on the field of play, equalling the record of four other Kilkenny players from the early part of the century. It was his eighth winners' medal overall as he won a non-playing substitutes' medal in 1967. Cummins also joined a unique group of players who won All-Ireland medals in three different decades.

## Roll of Honour

* Cork - 24 (1978)
* Kilkenny - 23 (1983)
* Tipperary - 22 (1971)
* Limerick - 7 (1973)
* Dublin - 6 (1938)
* Wexford - 5 (1968)
* Waterford - 2 (1959)
* Galway - 2 (1980)
* Offaly - 1 (1981)
* Laois - 1 (1915)
* Clare - 1 (1914)
* London - 1 (1901)
* Kerry - 1 (1891)

## Top scorers
### Season

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Billy Fitzpatrick | Kilkenny | 1–24 | 27 | 3 | 9.00 |
| 2 | Bertie Óg Murphy | Cork | 1–23 | 26 | 5 | 5.20 |
| 3 | Jimmy Barry-Murphy | Cork | 3–12 | 21 | 5 | 4.20 |
| 4 | John Quigley | Wexford | 3–8 | 17 | 2 | 8.50 |
| 4 | P. J. Molloy | Galway | 0-17 | 17 | 2 | 8.50 |
| 6 | Éamonn O'Donoghue | Cork | 4-4 | 16 | 5 | 3.20 |
| 6 | Kevin Hennessy | Cork | 2-10 | 16 | 5 | 3.20 |
| 6 | John Grogan | Tipperary | 1-13 | 16 | 2 | 8.00 |
| 9 | Joe Towell | Dublin | 3–6 | 15 | 2 | 7.50 |
| 10 | Liam Fennelly | Kilkenny | 3-2 | 11 | 3 | 3.66 |

### Single game

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Joe Towell | Dublin | 3–3 | 12 | Laois |
| 1 | Billy Fitzpatrick | Kilkenny | 1–9 | 12 | Wexford |
| 3 | Bertie Óg Murphy | Cork | 1–7 | 10 | Galway |
| 3 | P. J. Molloy | Galway | 0–10 | 10 | Antrim |
| 3 | Billy Fitzpatrick | Kilkenny | 0–10 | 10 | Cork |
| 6 | John Quigley | Wexford | 2–3 | 9 | Westmeath |
| 6 | Seán Kinsella | Wexford | 2–3 | 9 | Kilkenny |
| 6 | John Grogan | Tipperary | 1–6 | 9 | Clare |
| 9 | John Quigley | Wexford | 1–5 | 8 | Kilkenny |
| 9 | Jimmy Barry-Murphy | Cork | 1–5 | 8 | Waterford |
| 9 | Joe Hennessy | Kerry | 1–5 | 8 | Antrim |

## 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 Cork |