| 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup | |
| Dates: | 11 May 2019 - 30 June 2019 |
| Teams: | 5 |
| Champions: | Laois |
| Count: | 1 |
| Champions Captain: | Patrick Purcell |
| Champions Manager: | Eddie Brennan |
| Runners-Up: | Westmeath |
| Runners-Up Captain: | Aonghus Clarke |
| Runners-Up Manager: | Joe Quaid |
| Matches: | 11 |
| Goals: | 40 |
| Points: | 442 |
| Relegated: | Offaly |
| Top Scorer: | Killian Doyle (3-61) |
| Previous Year: | 2018 |
| Previous Tournament: | 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
| Next Tournament: | 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup |
The 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup was the second staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.[1] The fixtures were announced on 11 October 2018.[2] The competition began on 11 May 2019 and ended on 30 June 2019.
On 30 June 2019, Laois won the Joe McDonagh Cup following a 3-26 to 1-21 defeat of Westmeath in the final at Croke Park.[3] This was their first ever Joe McDonagh Cup title.
Offaly were relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup after losing all of their group stage games.[4]
Westmeath's Killian Doyle was the competition's top scorer with 3-61.
Relegated from the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
| County | Last Provincial title | Last All-Ireland title | Position in 2018 Championship | Appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim | 2017 | — | 5th | 2nd | |
| Kerry | 1891 | 1891 | 3rd | 2nd | |
| Laois | 1949 | 1915 | 4th | 2nd | |
| Offaly | 1995 | 1998 | 5th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | 1st | |
| Westmeath | — | — | Runners-up | 2nd |
| County | Manager | Captain(s) | Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim | Neal Peden [5] | Conor McCann | Fona Cab | |
| Kerry | Martin Stackpoole [6] | Kerry Group | ||
| Laois | Eddie Brennan[7] | Patrick Purcell | MW Hire Services | |
| Offaly | Kevin Martin (to 20 May) and Joachim Kelly (from 20 May)[8] | Pat Camon | Carroll Cuisine | |
| Westmeath | Joe Quaid[9] | Aonghus Clarke[10] | Renault |
Initially each of the five teams play the other four teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games play the third-placed teams in the Leinster and Munster championships in the two All-Ireland preliminary quarter finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage. The top two teams also compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final.
Promotion to Leinster or Munster SHC
If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship and the bottom-placed team in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship are automatically relegated to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup. If the champions are a Munster team, they must win a play-off with the bottom-placed team in the Munster Championship to gain promotion to the following year's Munster Championship.
Relegation
The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup, Offaly are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the 2019 Christy Ring Cup Champions, Meath.[11] [12]
| width=20 | width=150 style="text-align:left;" | Team | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=50 | width=50 | width=20 | width=20 | Qualification | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laois | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12-85 | 6-83 | +20 | 7 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals | ||||||||||
| 2 | Westmeath | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6-85 | 2-78 | +19 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Antrim | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7-82 | 6-85 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Kerry | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3-74 | 11-68 | -18 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Offaly | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8-69 | 11-81 | -21 | 0 | Relegated to Christy Ring Cup |
Laois are promoted to the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
See also: List of Gaelic Athletic Association stadiums. Five teams competed in the 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup - a reduction from six that competed in the inaugural competition.[13]
| Team | Location | Province | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim | Ballycastle | Páirc Mac Uílín | |||
| Kerry | Tralee | Austin Stack Park | |||
| Laois | Portlaoise | O'Moore Park | |||
| Offaly | Tullamore | O'Connor Park | |||
| Westmeath | Mullingar | Cusack Park |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 3-61 | 70 | 5 | 14.00 |
| 2 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-44 | 44 | 4 | 11.00 |
| 3 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 1-30 | 33 | 4 | 8.25 |
| 4 | Mark Kavanagh | Laois | 0-30 | 30 | 3 | 10.00 |
| 5 | Joe Bergin | Offaly | 1-26 | 29 | 4 | 7.25 |
| 6 | Cha Dwyer | Laois | 2-13 | 19 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 7 | Ross King | Laois | 2-09 | 15 | 5 | 3.00 |
| Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 2-09 | 15 | 5 | 3.00 | |
| 8 | Oisín Kelly | Offaly | 4-05 | 17 | 4 | 4.25 |
| 9 | Keelan Molloy | Antrim | 2-07 | 13 | 4 | 3.25 |
| Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 2-07 | 13 | 4 | 4.25 | |
| Stephen Maher | Laois | 0-13 | 13 | 3 | 4.33 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-17 | 17 | Antrim |
| 2 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-12 | 15 | Offaly |
| 3 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-11 | 14 | Kerry |
| Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-11 | 14 | Laois | |
| 4 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 0-13 | 13 | Westmeath |
| Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-13 | 13 | Westmeath | |
| 5 | Mark Kavanagh | Laois | 0-12 | 12 | Westmeath |
| 6 | Joe Bergin | Offaly | 0-11 | 11 | Laois |
| Mark Kavanagh | Laois | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly | |
| Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly |