All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, is named after the main sponsor, also often referred to as the Guinness Hurling Championship. Has been the annual discharged main competition in hurling and is organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA). The games take place in the period from May to September. The finale, called All-Ireland Final will be held on the first Sunday in September in Croke Park in Dublin. The winner receives the Liam McCarthy Cup.
Competition mode
Ireland has 32 counties. Each of these counties has its own GAA County Board for the regulation of gaming operations. Since the performance differences in hurling are very large between the individual counties, a pre-selection is made for the participation in the championship. The remaining counties play in the so-called Tier-2 and Tier -3 Championships the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup part.
At the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2010 was attended by 13 counties. The teams in detail ( by province ):
The championships of Leinster and Munster will be played in a normal KO system. Galway and Antrim are participating in the province of Leinster championship since 2009. The two winners are directly in the semifinals, the losers directly in the quarterfinals.
The other aforementioned teams will play a qualifying series in the elimination system. The two remaining teams are qualified for the quarter-finals. The two winners of the quarter -finals play in the semifinals against the champions of Leinster and Munster.
The previous winners
The championship has been held since 1887. So far, 13 counties were entered in the list of winners. The most successful teams come from the provinces of Munster and Leinster. Record winner 's Kilkenny with 34 titles before Cork ( 30).
Notes: