The 2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The draw for the 2011 fixtures took place on 7 October 2010.^[1] The championship began on 14 May and ended on 4 September 2011. Tipperary were the defending champions.^[2]

Quick Facts Championship details, Dates ...

2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	14 May - 4 September 2011
Teams	14
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Kilkenny (33rd win)
Captain	Brian Hogan
Manager	Brian Cody
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Tipperary
Captain	Eoin Kelly
Manager	Declan Ryan
Provincial champions
Munster	Tipperary
Leinster	Kilkenny
Ulster	Not Played
Connacht	Not Played
Championship statistics
No. matches played	25
Goals total	96 (3.84 per game)
Points total	872 (34.88 per game)
Top Scorer	Paul Ryan (2-47)
Player of the Year	Michael Fennelly
All-Star Team	See here
← 2010 2012 →

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Kilkenny secured the title with a 2-17 to 1-16 defeat of Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. This was their 33rd All-Ireland title, their eighth in twelve championship seasons.^[3]

A total of fourteen teams will contest the championship, including thirteen teams from the 2010 championship and one promoted team from the 2010 Christy Ring Cup.

Laois, Carlow and Wexford were the first teams to exit the 2010 championship; however, there was no relegation play-off. They would all contest the 2011 championship.

2010 Christy Ring Cup champions Westmeath secured direct promotion to the championship. The team made their top flight return after being relegated at the end of the 2006 championship.

General information

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.

More information County, Last provincial title ...

County	Last provincial title	Last championship title	Position in 2010 Championship	Appearance
Antrim	2010	—
Carlow	—	—
Clare	1998	1997
Cork	2006	2005
Dublin	1961	1938
Galway	1999	1988
Kilkenny	2010	2009
Laois	1949	1915
Limerick	1996	1973
Offaly	1995	1998
Tipperary	2010	2010
Waterford	2007	1959
Westmeath	—	—
Wexford	2004	1996

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• Antrim's defeat of Laois in the preliminary round of the Leinster championship is the team's first ever victory in the provincial series of games.^[21]
• The Munster quarter-final meeting of Cork and Tipperary sets a new record as the eighth consecutive year that the sides have met in championship hurling. Previous consecutive meetings stretched from 1949 (draw and replay) to 1954 – a total of seven games in six years. Earlier, eight games were played in the seven-year period 1907 to 1913, however, two of those games were played in the calendar year of 1908.
• The Leinster semi-final meeting between Wexford and Kilkenny at Wexford Park is the first championship meeting between the two sides at that venue since the 1944 Leinster semi-final.
• The All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round meeting between Antrim and Westmeath is the first ever championship meeting between the two sides.
• The All-Ireland qualifiers preliminary round meeting between Laois and Cork is the first championship meeting between the two sides since the 1915 All-Ireland final. Laois are the only team that Cork have played but never beaten in the championship.
• Cork's total of 10-20 against Laois in the preliminary round of the qualifiers is the first time that a side has scored ten goals in the championship since Offaly defeated Westmeath by 10-9 to 2-6 in the 1966 Leinster first round.
• The Leinster semi-final meeting of Galway and Dublin is not only both sides first meeting in the provincial championship but is also the first meeting of the two sides since the 1941 All-Ireland semi-final.^[22]
• Dublin preserve their 100% championship record over Galway with a victory in the Leinster semi-final. Previous victories came in the 1924 All-Ireland final and the 1941 All-Ireland semi-final
• Lar Corbett becomes Tipperary's all-time leading championship goalscorer when he scores his 21st goal against Clare in the Munster semi-final.^[23]
• For the first time in history Dublin qualify for the provincial minor, under-21 and senior finals in the same year.
• Kilkenny's defeat of Dublin in the Leinster final is their seventh consecutive provincial title and sets a new record. Kilkenny also held the previous record of six-in-a-row between 1998 and 2003.
• Henry Shefflin's goal in the Leinster final made him the only player in history to score a goal in thirteen consecutive championship seasons.
• Tipperary's 7-19 to 0-19 defeat of Waterford is the biggest margin of victory in a Munster final since Cork beat Waterford by 5-31 to 3-6 in the 1982 provincial decider. The 21-point winning margin is joint ninth in the top ten biggest Munster final victories.^[24]
• The last time a team scored seven or more goals in a Munster final was in 1936 when Limerick defeated Tipperary by 8-5 to 4-6. Mick Mackey scored 5-3 of their total.
• Brendan Cummins equalled Christy Ring's all-time championship appearances record, joining Ring on 65 appearances for Tipperary in the Munster Final.^[25]
• Tony Browne of Waterford becomes the fourth player to achieve at least 60 championship appearances with his appearance against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
• Dublin's defeat of Limerick in the All-Ireland quarter-final is their first ever championship victory over the Munster team. As a result of this, Dublin reach the All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 1948.
• Waterford preserve their 100% championship record over Galway with a victory in the All-Ireland quarter-final. They have now beaten the westerners on ten occasions on the championship.
• The All-Ireland semi-final between Kilkenny and Waterford is delayed by fifteen minutes due to the playing of extra time in the All-Ireland minor semi-final between Clare and Galway.
• Kilkenny become the first team ever to reach six consecutive All-Ireland finals.
• Tipperary's Brendan Cummins lines out for the 65th time in championship hurling to become the most "capped" player of all-time in the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin. After equalling Christy Ring's long-held record in the Munster final he betters it in this game.^[26]
• The All-Ireland final between Kilkenny and Tipperary is the third year in-a-row that the sides meet in the championship decider. This is the first time that this has happened since 1903, when Cork and London met in the All-Ireland final for the third consecutive year.^[27]
• As a result of Kilkenny's All-Ireland final defeat of Tipperary, Henry Shefflin and Eddie Brennan join Christy Ring and John Doyle as holders of a record eight All-Ireland medals.

• 2011 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
• 2011 Christy Ring Cup
• 2011 Nicky Rackard Cup
• 2011 Lory Meagher Cup

The 2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was covered extensively in Ireland by RTÉ Television, RTÉ Radio and RTÉ.ie, with coverage of 31 live games across both the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships, with Michael Lyster presenting the live coverage. The Sunday Game presented by Des Cahill covered extended highlights and analysis of the day's games on a Sunday night. Live games, on demand re-runs and match highlights were also carried on the RTÉ website.^[37] TV3 also broadcast a selection of All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship matches, as well as a weekly preview show called The GAA Show which aired on a Friday evening during the championship.^[38]