Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Following the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, new rules for Gaelic football and hurling were drawn up and published in the United Irishman newspaper. In 1886, county committees began to be established, with several counties affiliating over the next few years. The GAA ran its inaugural All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1887. The decision to establish that first championship was influenced by several factors. Firstly, inter-club contests in 1885 and 1886 were wildly popular and began to draw huge crowds. Clubs started to travel across the country to play against each other and these matches generated intense interest as the newspapers began to speculate which teams might be considered the best in the country. Secondly, although the number of clubs was growing, many were slow to affiliate to the Association, leaving it short of money. Establishing a central championship held the prospect of enticing GAA clubs to process their affiliations, just as the establishment of the FA Cup had done much in the 1870s to promote the development of the Football Association in England. The championships were open to all affiliated clubs who would first compete in county-based competitions, to be run by local county committees. The winners of each county championship would then proceed to represent that county in the All-Ireland series.[4] For the first and only time in its history the All-Ireland Championship used an open draw format. Six teams entered the first championship, however, this number increased to nine in 1888. Because of this, and in an effort to reduce travelling costs, the GAA decided to introduce provincial championships in Leinster and Munster.

The inaugural Munster Championship featured Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. Cork and Tipperary contested the first match on Sunday 27 May 1888. Despite losing, Cork advanced to the Munster semi-final as Tipperary champions Clonoulty used players from other clubs to supplement their team. Such a format was not yet allowed. A replay was ordered in Cork but Clonoulty refused to play anywhere in Cork stating a preference for Kilmallock. As a result of their refusal to play they were disqualified. The inaugural Munster final between Cork and Clare was to be played on Wednesday 29 August 1888, however, the provincial showpiece ended in disarray. Clare champions Ogonelloe, who had received a walkover from South Liberties of Limerick in the semi-final, however, this was later disputed. Before the final commenced South Liberties took to the field to play Ogonelloe, with the winners competing in the final later that day. The officials decided then not to play either game. It was then decided to play the final in Cork on Sunday 2 September 1888, however, Clare refused to travel and Cork were awarded the title.

Postponements, disqualifications, objections, withdrawals and walkovers were regular occurrences during the initial years of the championship. Kerry became the sixth and final team to enter the championship in 1889, however, the championship ended without a final once again as Kerry conceded a walkover to Clare.

On Sunday 28 September 1890, the very first Munster final took place. Cork won their first title on the field of play after a 2-00 to 0-01 defeat of Kerry. Since then the championship title has been awarded every year except in 1908 when Tipperary were awarded the title after being granted a walkover by Kerry.

In spite of winning the Munster title in 1891, Kerry eventually became a county dominated by Gaelic football. Because of this the inter-county hurling team went into a sharp decline. Kerry's championship appearances were sporadic by the 1950s and the county eventually stopped fielding a team at senior level before regrading to the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship. After some successes in the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship, Kerry returned to the Munster Championship after a nineteen-year absence in 1977. A decade later the team made a more permanent return to the championship, however, Kerry only recorded one championship victory from then until their last appearance in the championship in 2004.[5]

Due to a lack of competition in the Connacht Championship, the Galway County Board proposed a regrading to the junior championship in January 1958. This led to a wider debate regarding the structure of the championship. The abolition of the provincial system and the introduction of an open draw was rejected. Galway put forward their own proposal for the creation of a new "province" consisting of Galway, Clare, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath, however, this was also rejected. The possibility of starting the National Hurling League in April in an effort to give Galway some game time before the start of the championship was also discussed. At a meeting of the Munster Council on 10 January 1959 it was decided to invite Galway to participate in all grades of hurling in Munster on a temporary basis. This decision was later ratified at the GAA Congress. Galway played in the Munster Championship from 1959 until 1969, however, during that time they won just one of their twelve championship games.[6]

Since the beginning the championship has been dominated by Cork and Tipperary. They have won a combined total of 96 of the 131 championship titles. These two teams began their hegemony by winning 18 championship titles between 1890 and 1909. Cork set a number of records during this time by becoming the first team to win successive titles in 1893, before claiming a first three-in-a-row the following year. Cork also set the all-time record of five successive championships which they won between 1901 and 1905. After twenty years Limerick emerged to break the dominance of the "big two" when they claimed five championship titles between 1910 and 1923. Limerick enjoyed a second golden era by winning a further five championship titles between 1933 and 1940. After a period in decline Cork returned to dominate by winning nine championships between 1942 and 1956. A period in decline followed once again, as Tipperary emerged with what many people regard as their greatest ever team. Between 1958 and 1971 they won nine championships, however, a sixteen-year barren spell followed. Cork dominated the next two decades, winning thirteen championships between 1972 and 1986. The 1990s saw a more equitable period develop in the championship as every team qualified for a Munster final with victories for Clare, Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Waterford dominated the first decade of the 20th century. Between 2002 and 2010 they won four championships from six final appearances.

Between 1888 and 2017 the Munster Championship was a knockout tournament whereby once a team was defeated they were eliminated from the championship. In the early years the pairings were drawn at random and there was no seeding. Each match was played as a single leg. If a match ended in a draw there was a replay. Drawn replays were settled with extra time; however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time a second replay took place and so on until a winner was found. Extra-time was eventually adopted in the event of a draw for all championship games except the final.

The dominance of Cork and Tipperary eventually led to both these teams being placed on opposite sides of the championship draw. This was later viewed as a mean of penalising the other teams. While it might be possible to beat one of these teams it was deemed near impossible to beat the two strongest teams in the province in a single championship season. This practice was eventually abolished with a return to the open draw in which three of the five teams automatically qualified for the semi-final stage of the championship. Two other teams played in a lone quarter-final with the winner joining the other three teams at the semi-final stage.

The Munster Championship was an integral part of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Between 1888 and 1996 the Munster final winners automatically qualified for either the All-Ireland semi-final or final. The introduction of the "back door" system in 1997 allowed the defeated Munster finalists access to the All-Ireland quarter-final, while the Munster champions received a bye to the All-Ireland semi-final. The "back door" system was replaced in 2002 by the All-Ireland Qualifiers which afforded every defeated team in the Munster Championship the chance of qualifying for the All-Ireland Championship. Between 2005 and 2007 both Munster finalists qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals, however, this system was abolished in 2008 with the Munster champions receiving a bye to the All-Ireland semi-final.

There are five teams in the Munster Championship. During the course of a season (from May to June) each team plays the others once (a single round-robin system) for a total of 10 games. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points. The top two teams in the group contest the Munster final.

If two teams have the same points total, they are ranked by their head-to-head result. If this was a draw, the teams are ranked by score difference, followed by scores for, and then goals for. If all these are equal, then the two teams contest a play-off match to determine the higher-ranked team.[7]

As of the 2018 championship qualification for the All-Ireland Championship has changed due to the abolition of the qualifiers. The Munster champions continue to receive a bye to the All-Ireland semi-final while the defeated Munster finalists enter the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The third-placed team in the group enter the All-Ireland Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage where they play either the champions or runners-up of the Joe McDonagh Cup.

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Munster Championship and the Joe McDonagh Cup, however, this only occurs if Kerry win the Joe McDonagh Cup. If that were to happen they contest a relegation/promotion play-off with the bottom team in the Munster group for the right to compete in the following year's Munster Championship.

The following five teams will compete during the 2020 championship.

Munster Championship matches were traditionally played at neutral venues or at a location that was deemed to be halfway between the two participants; however, teams eventually came to home and away agreements depending on the capacity of their stadiums. Teams that previously had agreements prior to the restructuring of the championship were Cork and Tipperary, Limerick and Cork and Limerick and Tipperary.[8][9] Every second meeting between these teams was played at the home venue of one of them.

Waterford and Clare, in spite of having home stadiums, did not have home and away agreements with the other teams as their stadiums were initially deemed not to be of an adequate size for Munster Championship games. These teams usually played their games at neutral venues.[10]

The introduction of the round robin format in 2018 saw home and away arrangements being agreed by all five teams, with every second meeting between the participating teams being played at the home venue of one of the teams. On 16 March 2018, it was confirmed that Waterford would play their two 'home' clashes at a neutral venue instead of Walsh Park. The ground has a capacity of just 8,000 and was deemed unsuitable.[11] Nowlan Park in Kilkenny was mentioned as a possible venue for the Waterford-Tipperary game, however, the Munster Council cited a regulation whereby a change from a home venue can only be to a neutral venue within the province.[12] In November 2018, the Munster Council once again voted against allowing Waterford to play home games in Nowlan Park.[13] On 28 February 2019, it was confirmed that Waterford would play their two home championship games at Walsh Park after resolving a 'structural issue' which reduced the venue's capacity in 2018.[14]

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the Munster Council and for the teams involved. For the 2017 championship, average attendances were 31,998 with a total aggregate attendance figure of 127,992. For a four-game championship, it was the highest cumulative figure since 2008 (136,868). The 2017 figure represented the highest combined total for a Munster Championship since 2009, when 136,908 fans attended five games, including a semi-final replay between Limerick and Waterford.[15] The change of format for the 2018 championship almost doubled attendances. A combined total of 248,809 attended 11 championship games, seeing a 95% increase on the previous year and a 147% rise on 2016.[16] The highest ever attendance at a Munster Championship game was recorded on 30 July 1961 when a crowd of 62,175 attended the Munster final between Cork and Tipperary. This is the officially-recorded attendance, however, due to spectators storming the gates the attendance could have been as high as 70,000 or more.

Fixtures in the five group stage rounds of the championship are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed two home games.

The final has historically been played at either Semple Stadium, Páirc Uí Chaoimh or the Gaelic Grounds. As of the 2018 championship, the final is played at one of these venues as per the home and away agreements between Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. If Clare or Waterford were to reach the Munster final the game would be played at a neutral venue.