Carlow Senior Hurling Championship

Carlow Senior Hurling Championship
Current season or competition: 2024 Carlow Senior Hurling Championship
Irish	Craobh Sinsear Iomaint Cheatharlach
Code	Hurling
Founded	1927; 98 years ago (1927)
Region	Carlow (GAA)
Trophy	Willie O'Connor Cup
No. of teams	6
Title holders	St Mullin's (29th title)
Most titles	St Mullin's (29 titles)
Sponsors	JJ Kavanagh and Sons
TV partner(s)	TG4
Official website	Official website

The Carlow Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Carlow GAA clubs.

St Mullin's are the title holders, having defeating Mount Leinster Rangers in the 2024 Final.[1]

History

Since 1927, with the exception of the 'foot and mouth' year of 1941, a 'Premier' Carlow Hurling Championship has been completed. Carlow's premier hurling championship was first awarded senior status in 1960, as the county team had won promotion to Division 1 of the N.H.L. following back-to-back Division 2 title wins.

St Mullin's are the Carlow kingpins, with their 29 titles including pre-1960 titles that were won in Carlow's premier hurling competition in those days.

Format

Group stage

Six clubs start in the group stage. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed five group games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top four teams qualify for the knockout stage

Knockout stage

Following the completion of the group stage, the teams from the group are ranked (1-4) in terms of points accumulated and scoring difference. The two top-ranking teams receive byes to separate semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The tip four teams from the group stage contest this round. First place plays fourth place and second place plays third place The two winners from these two games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Relegation

The bottom-placed team from the group stage is relegated to the Carlow Intermediate Hurling Championship.

Qualification

At the end of the championship, the winning team qualify to the subsequent Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship.

Teams

2025 Teams

Six teams will compete in the 2025 Carlow Senior Hurling Championship:

Team	Location	Colours	Position in 2024	In championship since	Championship titles	Last championship title
Bagenalstown Gaels	Bagenalstown	Green and black	Semi-finals	?	0	—
Ballinkillen	Ballinkillin	Blue and gold	Semi-finals	?	2	2001
Mount Leinster Rangers	Borris	Black and red	Runners-up	?	11	2023
Naomh Bríd	Leighlinbridge	Maroon and white	—	2025	3	2008
Naomh Eoin	Myshall	Black and yellow	Group stage	?	18	2005
St Mullin's	St Mullin's	Green and white	Champions	?	29	2024

Hurling Grades

Championship	Club
Senior
Senior	Bagenalstown Gaels
	Ballinkillen
	Mount Leinster Rangers
	Naomh Bríd
	Naomh Eoin
	St Mullin's
Intermediate
Intermediate	Bagenalstown Gaels (2nd team)
	Carlow Town
	Kildavin/Clonegal
	Mount Leinster Rangers (2nd team)
	Naomh Eoin (2nd team)
	St Mullin's (2nd team)
Junior
Junior	Ballinkillen (2nd team)
	Burren Rangers
	Carlow Town (2nd team)
	Mount Leinster Rangers (3rd team)
	Naomh Bríd (2nd team)
	Naomh Eoin (3rd team)
	St Mullin's (3rd team)

Trophy

The trophy presented to the winners is the Willie O'Connor Cup. The winners of the Carlow Championship winners qualify to represent their county in the Leinster Club Championship, the winners of which go on to the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship.

List of finals

Legend

• Gold – Leinster senior club champions
• Silver – Leinster senior club runners-up

List of Carlow SHC finals

Year	Winners		Runners-up
	Club	Score	Club	Score
1927	Carlow Town	2-03	Bagnelstown	1-04
1928	Bagnelstown	4-03	Ballymurphy	0-01
1929	Bagnelstown	w/o	Ballymurphy
1930	Bagnelstown	3-01	Paulstown	0-01
1931	Bagnelstown	2-07	St Mullin's	2-01
1932	St Mullin's	3-03	Carlow Town	0-00
1933	Cooleyhune	4-02	Bagnelstown	1-02
1934	Erin's Own
1935	Erin's Own		Drumphea
1936	Erin's Own
1937	Carlow Town		Erin's Own
1938	Carlow Town		Drummond
1939	Erin's Own
1940	Erin's Own
1941	No competition
1942	Carlow Town
1943	Erin's Own
1944	Erin's Own
1945	Erin's Own
1946	Borris	2-01	Leighlinbridge	1-00
1947	Hacketstown	2-04	St Mullin's	2-02
1948	Cournellan	3-03	St Mullin's	2-02
1949	St Mullin's	8-01	Leighlinbridge	1-00
1950	St Mullin's	2-07	Erin's Own	2-05
1951	St Mullin's	5-11	Leighlinbridge	3-03
1952	St Mullin's	2-05	Borris	2-02
1953	St Mullin's	3-01	Tinnehinch	1-00
1954	St Mullin's	5-06	Hacketstown	1-02
1955	Cournellan	5-04	Hacketstown	3-02
1956	Leighlinbridge	1-08	Tullow	0-02
1957	St Mullin's	1-08	Tullow	0-03
1958	St Mullin's	6-04	Tullow	0-05
1959	St Mullin's	4-01	Carlow Town	2-01
1960	St Mullin's	3-08	Leighlinbridge	2-01
1961	Carlow Town	5-15	St Mullin's	4-01
1962	St Mullin's	7-13	Erin's Own	4-09
1963	Carlow Town	9-09	St Mullin's	4-10
1964	Erin's Own	3-11	Cournellan	0-03
1965	St Mullin's	2-13	Carlow Town	2-04
1966	St Mullin's	4-15	Tullow	0-08
1967	Erin's Own	5-04	St Mullin's	2-08
1968	St Mullin's	3-09	Erin's Own	3-06
1969	St Fintan's	5-06	Erin's Own	2-04
1970	Erin's Own	w/o	St Mullin's	scr
1971	St Fintan's	1-12	Borris	2-03
1972	Palatine	4-09	Ballinkillen	0-14
1973	Ballinkillen	5-05	Naomh Eoin	2-09
1974	Naomh Eoin	2-16	Ballinkillen	3-05
1975	Naomh Eoin	3-12	St Fintan's	2-12
1976	Naomh Eoin	1-16	Ballinkillen	0-10
1977	Carlow Town	2-07	St Fintan's	1-07
1978	Naomh Eoin	1-08*	St Mullin's	1-06
1979	Carlow Town	0-13	Ballinkillen	0-11
1980	Carlow Town	2-10	Ballymurphy	1-08
1981	Naomh Eoin	2-13	Ballymurphy	2-08
1982	Naomh Eoin	0-15	St Mullin's	1-05
1983	St Mullin's	2-08	Ballymurphy	0-06
1984	St Mullin's	5-09	Ballymurphy	3-09
1985	Naomh Eoin	3-18	St Mullin's	3-06
1986	Naomh Eoin	5-12	St Mullin's	2-07
1987	Naomh Eoin	2-17	St Mullin's	2-10
1988	Carlow Town	3-10	Naomh Eoin	1-09
1989	St Mullin's	4-09	Naomh Eoin	2-10
1990	Naomh Eoin	2-10	St Mullin's	0-11
1991	Naomh Eoin	2-07*	St Mullin's	3-04
1992	Naomh Eoin	1-09	St Mullin's	1-08
1993	Naomh Eoin	3-09*	St Mullin's	1-15
1994	Naomh Eoin	3-06	Parnells	0-11
1995	Naomh Eoin	1-15	Carlow Town	1-10
1996	Naomh Bríd	1-16	St Mullin's	2-06
1997	St Mullin's	2-15	Naomh Eoin	1-09
1998	Naomh Eoin	1-14	Carlow Town	0-10
1999	St Mullin's	3-11*	Naomh Eoin	4-08
2000	St Mullin's	2-10	Naomh Eoin	2-02
2001	Ballinkillen	2-10	Mount Leinster Rangers	0-04
2002	St Mullin's	4-10	Naomh Eoin	4-08
2003	Naomh Eoin		Mount Leinster Rangers
2004	Naomh Bríd	2-13	Ballinkillen	1-07
2005	Naomh Eoin	0-11	Mount Leinster Rangers	0-08
2006	Mount Leinster Rangers		St Mullin's
2007	Mount Leinster Rangers	1-10	St Mullin's	1-08
2008	Naomh Bríd	3-09	Mount Leinster Rangers	2-11
2009	Mount Leinster Rangers	1-13	Erin's Own	1-11
2010	St Mullin's	1-12	Mount Leinster Rangers	0-12
2011	Mount Leinster Rangers	2-12	Naomh Eoin	3-05
2012[2]	Mount Leinster Rangers	3-13	Erin's Own	0-06
2013[3]	Mount Leinster Rangers	1-20	St Mullin's	0-11
2014[4][5]	St Mullin's	0-09	Naomh Eoin	0-07
2015[6]	St Mullin's	1-14	Mount Leinster Rangers	0-10
2016[7]	St Mullin's	2-16	Mount Leinster Rangers	0-13
2017[8]	Mount Leinster Rangers	3-17	Naomh Eoin	0-17
2018	Mount Leinster Rangers	3-10	St Mullin's	1-13
2019 [1]	St Mullin's	2-17	Mount Leinster Rangers	1-19
2020[9]	Mount Leinster Rangers	3-21	Ballinkillen	0-12
2021	Mount Leinster Rangers	0-24	St Mullin's	0-16
2022[10]	St Mullin's	2-22	Bagenalstown Gaels	0-11
2023[11]	Mount Leinster Rangers	3-19	St Mullin's	1-17
2024[12]	St Mullin's	2-25	Mount Leinster Rangers	3-16

Roll of honour

By club

#	Club	Titles	Runners-up	Championships won	Championships runner-up
1	St Mullin's	29	23	1932, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2024	1931, 1947, 1948, 1961, 1963, 1967, 1970, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2023
2	Naomh Eoin	18	10	1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2005	1973, 1988, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2011, 2014, 2017
3	Mount Leinster Rangers	11	9	2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023	2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2024
	Erin's Own	11	7	1934, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1964, 1967, 1970	1937, 1950, 1962, 1968, 1969, 2009, 2012
5	Carlow Town	10	5	1927, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1961, 1963, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1988	1932, 1959, 1965, 1995, 1998
6	Bagenalstown	4	2	1928, 1929, 1930, 1931	1927, 1933
7	Naomh Bríd	3	0	1996, 2004, 2008	—
8	Ballinkillen	2	6	1973, 2001	1972, 1974, 1976, 1979, 2004, 2020
	St Fintan's	2	2	1969, 1971	1975, 1977
	Cournellan	2	1	1948, 1955	1964
11	Leighlinbridge	1	4	1956	1946, 1949, 1951, 1960
	Borris	1	2	1946	1952, 1971
	Hacketstown	1	2	1947	1954, 1955
	Cooleyhune	1	0	1933	—
	Palatine	1	0	1972	—
16	Ballymurphy	0	6	—	1928, 1929, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984
	Tullow	0	4	—	1956, 1957, 1958, 1966
	Paulstown	0	1	—	1930
	Drumphea	0	1	—	1935
	Drummond	0	1	—	1938
	Tinnehinch	0	1	—	1953
	Parnells	0	1	—	1994
	Bagenalstown Gaels	0	1	—	2022

Notes

• The club of Naomh Bríd / St Fintan's / Parnells have a total of 5 titles
• The club of Bagenalstown / Erin's Own / Bagenalstown Gaels have a total of 15 titles

See also

• Carlow Intermediate Hurling Championship (Tier 2)
• Carlow Junior Hurling Championship (Tier 3)
• Carlow Junior Hurling Shield (Tier 4)
• Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship
• Carlow Senior Football Championship

References

1. "St Mullins dethrone 14-man Mount Leinster Rangers to take Carlow hurling crown". Irish Independent. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
2. "Phelan fires double as Rangers storm to glory". Irish Independent. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
3. "Rampant Rangers complete hat-trick". Irish Examiner. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
4. "Carlow SHC final: 24th title for St. Mullin's". Hogan Stand. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
5. "St Mullins collect record 24th title". Irish Examiner. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
6. "Kavanagh inspires Saints". Irish Independent. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
7. "Red mist costs Rangers". Irish Independent. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
8. "Carlow SHC final: MLR prove too strong for Naomh Eoin". Hogan Stand. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
9. "Mount Leinster Rangers in command to bury pain of 2019". Irish Examiner. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
10. "St Mullin's return to Carlow SHC summit". Hogan Stand. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
11. "Carlow SHC: Strong first half helps Mount Leinster Rangers regain crown". Irish Examiner. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
12. "St Mullins dethrone 14-man Mount Leinster Rangers to take Carlow hurling crown". Irish Independent. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2024.

External links

• http://www.carlowgaa.ie/
• Carlow on Hoganstand
• Carlow Club GAA