| Year: | 2016 |
| Dates: | 1 May – 4 September 2016 |
| Teams: | 14 |
| Leinster: | Kilkenny |
| Munster: | Tipperary |
| Ulster: | Antrim |
| Matches: | 21 |
| Poty: | Austin Gleeson |
| Team: | Tipperary |
| Titles: | 27th |
| Captain: | Brendan Maher |
| Manager: | Michael Ryan |
| Team2: | Kilkenny |
| Captain2: | Shane Prendergast |
| Manager2: | Brian Cody |
| Totalgoals: | 47 (2.2 per match) |
| Totalpoints: | 790 (37.6 per match) |
| Topscorer: | Shane Dooley (4-46) |
| Previous: | 2015 |
| Next: | 2017 |
The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 129th staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. It is the top tier of senior inter-county championship hurling.[1] The championship began on 1 May 2016 and ended on 4 September 2016.
Kilkenny were the defending champions.[2] Kerry qualified for the competition for the first time since 2004
Tipperary won the title for the 27th time and for the first time since 2010, defeating Kilkenny in the final, 2–29 to 2–20.[3] [4]
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is a double-elimination tournament based on the Leinster and Munster provincial championships. Fourteen teams take part.
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Seven Leinster counties compete. Galway and Kerry, though not in Leinster, also participate. The competition begins with a qualifier group consisting of the four weakest teams. Two teams from the qualifier group progress and the remainder of the competition is knock-out. Most of the beaten teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers – the two bottom teams in the Leinster qualifier group do not.
In 2016 the bottom team in the Leinster qualifier group will be relegated to next year's Christy Ring Cup (2nd tier). Their place in next year's Leinster qualifier group will be taken by the winner of 2016's Christy Ring Cup.
Kerry qualified for this year's Leinster Championship by winning the 2015 Christy Ring Cup.
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Five Munster counties compete. Kerry participates in The Leinster Hurling Championship (see above). The competition has a knock-out format. All of the beaten teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers.
All teams beaten in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Leinster and Munster Hurling Championships enter the All-Ireland hurling qualifiers which are knock-out. The qualifiers eventually result in two teams who play the beaten finalists of the Leinster and Munster championships in the two All-Ireland quarter-finals.
The Leinster and Munster champions play the winners of the two quarter finals in the semi-finals. The final normally takes place on the first Sunday in September.
Connacht and Ulster teams can qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship by winning the Christy Ring Cup (tier 2).
Connacht Senior Hurling Championship
This competition is no longer organised. Galway represent Connacht and participate in the Leinster Championship.
Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
Although this competition takes place, it is not part of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Currently no Ulster teams qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
Fourteen counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: nine teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship.
All bar one of the teams from the 2015 championship participated in hurling's top tier in 2016.
Antrim, who finished bottom of the 2015 Leinster qualifier group, were relegated to the 2016 Christy Ring Cup. Their place in the 2016 Leinster qualifier group went to Kerry who won the 2015 Christy Ring Cup and gained automatic promotion.[5] It was the first time since 2004 that Kerry participated in the All-Ireland senior championship.
| Team | Colours | Sponsor | Captain(s) | Vice-captain(s) | Manager(s) | Most recent success | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Ireland | Provincial | League | |||||||
| Carlow | Dan Morrissey Ltd. | Séamus MurphyAlan Corcoran | Pat English | ||||||
| Clare | Pat O'Donnell | Tony KellyCian Dillon | Colin RyanShane O'Donnell | Davy Fitzgerald | 2013 | 1998 | 2016 | ||
| Cork | Chill Insurance | Stephen McDonnell | Séamus Harnedy | Kieran Kingston | 2005 | 2014 | 1998 | ||
| Dublin | AIG | Liam Rushe | Ger Cunningham | 1938 | 2013 | 2011 | |||
| Galway | Supermac's | David Burke | Joe Canning | Micheal Donoghue | 1988 | 2012 | 2010 | ||
| Kerry | Kerry Group | Daniel Collins | Tom Murnane | Ciarán Carey | 1891 | 1891 | |||
| Kilkenny | Glanbia | Shane Prendergast | Brian Cody | 2015 | 2015 | 2014 | |||
| Laois | MW Hire Services | Charles Dwyer | Séamus Plunkett | 1915 | 1949 | ||||
| Limerick | Sporting Limerick | Nickie Quaid | Séamus Hickey | T. J. Ryan | 1973 | 2013 | 1997 | ||
| Offaly | Carroll Cuisine | Colin Egan | James DempseyJames Mulrooney | Éamonn Kelly | 1998 | 1995 | 1990–91 | ||
| Tipperary | Intersport/Elverys | Brendan Maher | Pádraic Maher | Michael Ryan | 2010 | 2015 | 2008 | ||
| Waterford | 3 | Kevin Moran | Derek McGrath | 1959 | 2010 | 2015 | |||
| Westmeath | Renault | Aonghus Clarke | Michael Ryan | ||||||
| Wexford | Gain | Matthew O'Hanlon | Lee Chin | Liam Dunne | 1996 | 2004 | 1972–73 | ||
Hawkeye was used for the first time in the Munster Hurling Championship in Thurles when Tipperary played Cork on 22 May 2016. Previously it was only installed in Croke Park.[6]
Matches will be broadcast live on television in Ireland on RTÉ and Sky Sports, and in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports. Worldwide coverage will be provided on GAAGO.[7]
RTÉ coverage will be shown on RTÉ One on The Sunday Game Live presented by Michael Lyster in high definition. Des Cahill will present The Sunday Game highlights and analysis show on Sunday evening.[8]
These matches were broadcast live on television in Ireland
| Round | RTÉ | Sky Sports | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Munster Championship | Tipperary vs Cork Waterford vs Clare Tipperary vs Limerick Tipperary vs Waterford | ||
| Leinster Championship | Kilkenny vs Dublin | ||
| Qualifiers | Wexford vs Offaly | Cork vs Dublin Cork vs Wexford Clare vs Limerick | |
| Quarter-finals | Waterford vs Wexford Clare vs Galway | ||
| Semi-finals | |||
| Final | Kilkenny vs Tipperary | Kilkenny vs Tipperary |
| Pos | Team | Qualification | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westmeath | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3-62 | 4-39 | +20 | 6 | Advance to quarter-finals | |
| 2 | Offaly | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5-47 | 4-53 | -3 | 4 | ||
| 3 | Kerry | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3-52 | 4-54 | -5 | 2 | ||
| 4 | Carlow | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4-43 | 3-58 | -12 | 0 | Relegation to Christy Ring Cup |
Matches
Last year's Leinster champions receive a bye into the semi-finals. The remaining six teams (four seeded teams plus the qualifier group winners and runners-up) play in three quarter-finals. An informal system of promotion or relegation operates in this round; if a team from the qualifier group wins their quarter-final, they will be seeded in next year's Leinster championship and the beaten seeded team will compete in next year's Leinster qualifier group.--------
Last year's Leinster champions receive a bye into the semi-finals. They are joined by the winners of the three quarter-finals.--------
See main article: 2016 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Final. ----
Five of the six Munster counties compete. Kerry qualify for the qualifier group of the Leinster championship. The competition is straight knock-out.
----
See main article: 2016 Munster Senior Hurling Championship Final.
See main article: All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship qualifiers. All qualifier matches are knock-out.
The eight teams beaten in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Leinster (5 teams) and Munster (3 teams) provincial championships play in four matches.[9] A draw is made that ensures there are three matches between Leinster and Munster teams and one match between two Leinster teams.
The four winners of round 1 play in two matches. The draw was made on 4 July.[10] Teams who have already met in the Leinster or Munster championships cannot be drawn to meet again.
The beaten finalists from the Leinster and Munster championships play the winners of round 2 of the qualifiers.
----
The Leinster and Munster champions play the winners of the two quarter-finals.
See main article: 2016 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final.
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Dooley | Offaly | 4-46 | 58 | 6 | 9.67 | |
| 2 | Séamus Callanan | Tipperary | 2-47 | 53 | 5 | 10.60 | |
| 3 | T.J. Reid | Kilkenny | 0-49 | 49 | 5 | 9.80 | |
| 4 | Niall O'Brien | Westmeath | 0-43 | 43 | 5 | 8.60 | |
| Pauric Mahony | Waterford | 0-43 | 43 | 5 | 8.60 | ||
| 6 | Joe Canning | Galway | 1-35 | 38 | 5 | 7.60 | |
| 7 | Conor McDonald | Wexford | 0-35 | 35 | 4 | 8.75 | |
| 8 | Shane Dowling | Limerick | 0-29 | 29 | 3 | 9.66 | |
| 9 | David Treacy | Dublin | 0-28 | 28 | 3 | 9.33 | |
| 10 | Tony Kelly | Clare | 0-27 | 27 | 4 | 6.75 |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Dooley | Offaly | 1-11 | 14 | Laois |
| Séamus Callanan | Tipperary | 1-11 | 14 | Waterford | |
| Shane Dowling | Limerick | 1-11 | 14 | Westmeath | |
| Pauric Mahony | Waterford | 0-14 | 14 | Kilkenny | |
| 5 | Shane Dooley | Offaly | 1-10 | 13 | Carlow |
| Shane Dooley | Offaly | 1-10 | 13 | Kerry | |
| Conor McDonald | Wexford | 0-13 | 13 | Cork | |
| Séamus Callanan | Tipperary | 0-13 | 13 | Kilkenny | |
| 9 | Niall O'Brien | Westmeath | 0-12 | 12 | Galway |
| Patrick Horgan | Cork | 0-12 | 12 | Dublin |
| Rank | Goalkeeper | County | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eoin Murphy | Kilkenny | 3 |
| 2 | Darren Gleeson | Tipperary | 2 |
| Anthony Nash | Cork | 2 | |
| Andrew Fahy | Clare | 2 | |
| Nickie Quaid | Limerick | 2 | |
| Colm Callanan | Galway | 2 | |
| 7 | Aiden McCabe | Kerry | 1 |
| Paddy Maloney | Westmeath | 1 | |
| James Dempsey | Offaly | 1 | |
| Dean Grennan | Carlow | 1 | |
| Conor Dooley | Dubin | 1 | |
| Stephen O'Keeffe | Waterford | 1 |
Widest winning margin: 35 points
Most goals in a match: 5
Most points in a match: 49
Most goals by one team in a match: 5
Highest aggregate score: 61
Lowest aggregate score: 34
Most goals scored by a losing team: 2
Sean Cleere - Kilkenny
Brian Gavin - Offaly
Fergal Horgan - Tipperary
John Keenan - Wicklow
Alan Kelly - Galway
Barry Kelly - Westmeath
Diarmuid Kirwan - Cork
Colm Lyons - Cork
James McGrath - Westmeath
Paud O'Dwyer - Carlow
James Owens - Wexford
Johnny Ryan - Tipperary
Highest attendances:
Total attendance: 486,553
Average attendance: 24,328