Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship Explained

Munster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship
Currentlyrunning:	2024 Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship
Irish:	Craobh na Mumhan
Code:	Hurling
Region:	Munster
Trophy:	Hoare Cup
Teams:	6
Title Holders:	Watergrasshill GAA
Currentordinal:	1
Super:	st
Sponsors:	Allied Irish Banks
Website:	Official website

The Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the champion intermediate clubs in the province of Munster in Ireland. It is the most prestigious competition for intermediate clubs in Munster hurling.

The Munster Intermediate Club Championship was introduced in 2003. In its current format, the championship begins in late October or early November and is usually played over a four-week period. The six participating club teams compete in a straight knockout competition that culminates with the Munster final for the two remaining teams. The winner of the Munster Intermediate Championship, as well as being presented with the Hoare Cup, qualifies for the subsequent All-Ireland Club Championship. The competition has been won by 20 teams, however, no team has ever won the championship on more than one occasion. Cork clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories with 10 wins. Kilmoyley's win in the 2021 championship was the first for a Kerry club meaning clubs from all six counties have won at least one title.

Watergrasshill GAA are the reigning champions.

Format

Overview

The Munster Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is no seeding.

Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Competition format

Quarter-final: Four teams contest this round. The two winning teams advance directly to the semi-final stage. The two losing teams are eliminated from the championship.

Semi-finals: Four teams contest this round. The two winning teams advance directly to the final. The two losing teams are eliminated from the championship.

Final: The final is contested by the two semi-final winners.

Teams

Qualification

The six respective county champions automatically qualifying for the Munster series.

County	Championship	Qualifying team
Clare	Clare Intermediate Hurling Championship	Champions
Cork		Champions
Kerry		Champions
Limerick		Champions
Tipperary		Champions
Waterford		Champions

2024 teams

70 clubs will compete in the 2024 Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship: sixteen teams from Clare, twelve teams from Cork, ten teams from Kerry, eight teams from Limerick, sixteen teams from Tipperary and eight teams from Waterford.

County	No.	Clubs competing in county championship
Clare	16
Cork	12	Aghabullogue, Ballincollig, Ballinhassig, Ballymartle, Carrigaline, Castlemartyr, Dungourney, Éire Óg, Kilworth, Mallow, Valley Rovers, Watergrasshill
Kerry	10	Abbeydorney, Ballyduff, Ballyheigue, Causeway, Crotta O'Neill's, Dr Crokes, Kilmoyley, Lixnaw, St Brendan's, Tralee Parnells
Limerick	8	Blackrock, Bruff, Effin, Garryspillane, Glenroe, Granagh-Ballingarry, Na Piarsaigh, Newcastle West
Tipperary	16
Waterford	8

Note: Bold indicates title-holders.

List of Finals

Year	Winners			Runners-up			Venue	Winning captain(s)
	County	Club	Score	County	Club	Score
2024	COR	Watergrasshill	1-21	TIP	Cashel	0-14
2023	COR	Castlelyons	3-16	CLA	Corofin	0-19
2022	LIM	Monaleen	1-22	TIP	Roscrea	0-18	Pairc Ui Rinn
2021	KER	Kilmoyley	0-24	COR	Courcey Rovers	0-21	Gaelic Grounds	Míchael Kennedy
2020		No championship
2019	COR	Fr. O'Neill's	2-15	WAT	Ballysaggart	0-17	Fraher Field	Mark O'Keeffe Dan Harrington
2018	COR	Charleville	2-20	CLA	Feakle	1-20	Gaelic Grounds	Daniel O'Flynn	^[1]
2017	COR	Kanturk	1-23	CLA	Kilmaley	0-25	Gaelic Grounds	Lorcan O'Neill	^[2]
2016	WAT	Lismore	2-14	KER	Kilmoyley	0-13	Mallow GAA Complex	Paudie Prendergast	^[3]
2015	CLA	Wolfe Tones, Shannon	1-18	COR	Newcestown	2-13	Mallow GAA Complex	Aaron Cunningham	^[4]
2014	WAT	Cappoquin	1-11	LIM	Bruff	0-13	Mallow GAA Complex	Shane O'Rourke	^[5]
2013	COR	Youghal	2-13	TIP	Ballina	2-10	Mallow GAA Complex	Bill Cooper	^[6]
2012	TIP	Silvermines	0-14	KER	Ballyduff	0-08	Semple Stadium	Cathal Gleeson	^[7]
2011	LIM	Effin	0-14	KER	Ballyduff	0-11	Gaelic Park	John P. O'Donnell	^[8]
2010	COR	Ballymartle	2-14	TIP	Borrisokane	0-08	Gaelic Grounds	Patrick O'Dwyer	^[9]
2009	LIM	South Liberties	2-10	COR	Douglas	1-12	Mallow GAA Complex	Shane O'Neill	^[10]
2008	COR	Blarney	2-07	CLA	Broadford	0-03	Bruff Sportsfield	Danny Cronin	^[11]
2007	CLA	Clonlara	1-14	LIM	Dromin-Athlacca	1-08	Cusack Park	Paul Collins	^[12]
2006	CLA	Clooney-Quin	0-14	COR	Bishopstown	1-08	Gaelic Grounds	Pat Markham	^[13]
2005	COR	Ballinhassig	1-12	WAT	Ballyduff Upper	0-13	Páirc Mac Gearailt	Martin Coleman, Jnr
2004	TIP	Kildangan	1-10	LIM	Dromin-Athlacca	1-04	Gaelic Grounds	Ger Slattery
2003	COR	Bride Rovers	0-14	TIP	Kilruane MacDonagh's	0-11	FitzGerald Park, Kilmallock	Seán Ryan

Roll of Honour

Performances by county

County	Titles	Runners-up	Total
Cork	10	4	14
Clare	3	4	7
Limerick	3	3	6
Tipperary	2	4	6
Waterford	2	2	4
Kerry	1	3	4

Winning years per county

	Team	Wins	Runners-Up	Winning Years	Years Runners-Up
1	Cork	10	4	2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024	2006, 2009, 2015, 2021
2	Clare	3	4	2006, 2007, 2015	2008, 2017, 2018, 2023
	Limerick	3	3	2009, 2011, 2022	2004, 2007, 2014
4	Tipperary	2	4	2004, 2012	2003, 2010, 2013, 2022
	Waterford	2	2	2014, 2016	2005, 2019
6	Kerry	1	3	2021	2011, 2012, 2016

Records and statistics

Teams

County representatives

+
Year	Clare	Cork	Kerry	Limerick	Tipperary	Waterford
			N/A			Portlaw
						Ballyduff Upper
						Clonea
						N/A
					Templederry Kenyons
						Dungarvan
						Roanmore
						Dunhill
						An Rinn
						Ardmore
					N/A	Cappoquin
						Portlaw
						Lismore
						An Rinn
						Clonea
						Ballysaggart
	No Championship
						Dunhill
						Ballysaggart
						Ferrybank

Top scorers

All time

Rank	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
1	Daniel Collins	Kilmoyley	1-45	48
2	Maurice Shanahan	Lismore	4-27	39
3	Declan Dalton	Fr. O'Neill's	3-28	37
4	Brendan Hannon	Ballyduff Upper	2-25	31
	Luke Cashin	Roscrea	2-25	31
6	Alan O'Connor	Ballybrown	1-25	28
	Bobby O'Sullivan	Ballyduff
8	Shane McGrath	Feakle	1-24	27
9	Stephen Bennett	Ballysaggart	0-26	26
10	Jason Forde	Silvermines	1-22	25

By year

Year	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
2004	Darragh Egan	Kildangan	1-21	24
2005	Brendan Hannon	Ballyduff Upper	2-25	31
2006	Brian Shally	Clooney-Quin	0-23	23
2007	Donal Madden	Clonlara	0-21	21
2008	Pádraig Hickey	Broadford	3-07	16
2009	Mark Harrington	Douglas	2-14	20
2010	Colm Larkin	Borrisokane	0-14	14
2011	Tommy Quaid	Effin	1-19	22
2012	Alan O'Connor	Ballybrown	1-25	28
2013	Michael Breen	Ballina	2-16	22
2014	Shane O'Rourke	Cappoquin	0-16	16
2015	Aron Shanagher	Wolfe Tones, Shannon	1-18	21
2016	Maurice Shanahan	Lismore	4-27	39
2017	Liam O'Keeffe	Kanturk	1-17	20
2018	Shane McGrath	Feakle	1-18	21
	Shane Conway	Lixnaw	0-21
2019	Declan Dalton	Fr. O'Neill's	3-28	37
2021	Daniel Collins	Kilmoyley	0-25	25
2022	Luke Cashin	Roscrea	2-25	31
2023	Gearóid Kelly	Corofin	0-24	24

Single game

Year	Top scorer	Team	Opposition	Score	Total
2004	Darragh Egan	Kildangan	Smith O'Brien's, Killaloe	1-07	10
2005	Brendan Hannon	Ballyduff Upper	Burgess	2-06	12
2006	Brian Shally	Clooney-Quin	Éire Óg, Annacarty	0-09	9
2007	Donal Madden	Clonlara	Lorrha-Dorrha	0-11	11
2008	Pádraig Hickey	Broadford	Bruff	2-03	9
	P. O'Leary	Templederry Kenyons	Broadford	1-06
2009	Mark Harrington	Douglas	Dungarvan	2-08	14
2010	Mark Flaherty	Killanena	Ballyduff	2-06	12
2011	Cathal Dillon	Aherlow	Effin	1-09	12
2012	Bobby O'Sullivan	Ballyduff	Ballybrown	1-09	12
	Alan O'Connor	Ballybrown	Ballinhassig	0-12
2013	Michael Breen	Ballina	St. Brendan's, Ardfert	2-07	13
2014	Shane O'Rourke	Cappoquin	Feakle	0-11	11
2015	Aron Shanagher	Wolfe Tones, Shannon	Newcestown	0-09	9
2016	Maurice Shanahan	Lismore	Bandon	2-10	16
2017	Seán Tobin	Murroe-Boher	Kilmaley	0-12	12
2018	Shane Conway	Lixnaw	Cashel King Cormacs	0-13	13
2019	Declan Dalton	Fr. O'Neill's	Broadford	1-12	15
2021	Daniel Collins	Kilmoyley	Courcey Rovers	0-10	10
2022	Mark O'Dwyer	Monaleen	Roscrea	0-15	15
2023	Alan Fenton	Castlelyons	Crotta O'Neill's	1-11	14

Finals

Final	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
2003	Brian Gaynor	Kilruane MacDonaghs	0-05	5
	Jerome O'Driscoll	Bride Rovers
2004	Darragh Egan	Kildangan	0-05	5
2005	Brendan Hannon	Ballyduff Upper	0-08	8
2006	Brian Shally	Clooney-Quin	0-08	8
2007	Donal Madden	Clonlara	0-07	7
2008	Mark Cremin	Blarney	1-03	6
2009	Brian Slattery	South Liberties	1-03	6
2010	Dan Dwyer	Ballymartle	2-01	7
2011	Tommy Quaid	Effin	0-04	4
2012	Jason Forde	Silvermines	0-07	7
2013	Brendan Ring	Youghal	0-07	7
2014	Shane Bulfin	Bruff	0-06	6
2015	Aron Shanagher	Wolfe Tones, Shannon	0-09	9
2016	Daniel Collins	Kilmoyley	0-13	13
2017	Liam O'Keeffe	Kanturk	1-07	10
2018	Darragh Fitzgibbon	Charleville	0-09	9
	Shane McGrath	Feakle
2019	Declan Dalton	Fr. O'Neill's	1-07	10
2021	Daniel Collins	Kilmoyley	0-10	10
2022	Mark O'Dwyer	Monaleen	0-15	15
2023	Gearóid Kelly	Corofin	0-12	12

See also

• Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship
• Munster Junior Club Hurling Championship

Notes and References

1. Web site: Late Darren Casey goal secures win for Charleville. Irish Examiner. 18 November 2018. 4 December 2018. Eoghan. Cormican.
2. Web site: Kanturk crowned Munster Intermediate Hurling champions after extra time against Kilmaley. 19 November 2017. Irish Examiner. 20 November 2017.
3. Web site: Lismore lift off in second-half. 21 November 2016. Irish Examiner. 21 November 2016.
4. Web site: Wolfe Tones deliver Intermediate title in style. 23 November 2015. Irish Examiner. 12 December 2015.
5. Web site: O'Sullivan's strike key as Cappoquin claim Munster title. 24 November 2014. Irish Independent. 12 December 2015.
6. Web site: Epic final as Youghal edge Ballina. 18 November 2013. Hogan Stand. 13 December 2015.
7. Web site: Forde leads the charge for Silvermines. 26 November 2012. Irish Examiner. 13 December 2015.
8. Web site: Towering Quaid display guides Effin to title glory. 21 November 2011. Irish Independent. 13 December 2015.
9. Web site: Dwyer double inspires Ballymartle. 22 November 2010. Hogan Stand. 13 December 2015.
10. Web site: South Liberties grab glory. 23 November 2009. Hogan Stand. 13 December 2015.
11. Web site: McNamara lends bite to stringent Blarney. 24 November 2008. Irish Independent. 13 December 2015.
12. Web site: Dromin no match for Clonlara as they claim title. 26 November 2007. Irish Independent. 13 December 2015.
13. Web site: Munster Intermediate Hurling Champions 2006. Clooney-Quin GAA website. 13 December 2015.