Down Senior Hurling Championship
The Down Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Morgan Fuels Down GAA Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Down SHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Down in Ireland, deciding the competition winners through a group and knockout format. It is the most prestigious competition in Down hurling. Introduced in 1903 as the Down Senior Hurling Championship, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to senior-ranking  club teams, with its winner reckoned as the Down county champion. In its present format, the four club teams play each other in a double round-robin system. The top two teams proceed to the final match. The winner of the Down Senior Championship, as well as being presented with the Jeremiah McVeagh Cup, qualifies for the subsequent Ulster Club Championship. The competition has been won by 10 teams, 9 of which have won it more than once. Ballycran is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 27 times. Ballycran are the reigning champions, having  beaten Portaferry by 2-25 to 3-21 after extra time in the 2021 Down Senior Hurling Championship. No team outside Ballycran, Portaferry and Ballygalget have won the title since Kilclief's 23rd triumph in 1956. History. Faugh-a-Ballagh won the inaugural Down hurling championship in 1903. Trophy and medals. The Jeremiah McVeagh Cup is the current prize for winning the championship. It was presented by nationalist Member of Parliament Jeremiah McVeagh to the Down County Board in 1913 and has been presented to the championship winners ever since.. Traditionally, depending on the venue, the victory presentation takes place  at a special rostrum in the main grandstand or on a podium on the pitch. The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup, which is held by the winning team until the following year's final. In  accordance with GAA rules, the County Board awards a set of gold medals to the championship winners. Records and statistics. Teams. By decade. The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Down Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows: Gaps. Longest gaps between successive championship titles: