Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship | |
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Current season or competition: 2024 Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship | |
Irish | Craobh Iomána Sinsearach Chill Chainnigh |
Code | Hurling |
Founded | 1887 |
Region | Kilkenny (GAA) |
Trophy | Tom Walsh Cup |
No. of teams | 12 |
Title holders | Thomastown (2nd title) |
Most titles | Tullaroan & Ballyhale Shamrocks (20 titles) |
Sponsors | St Canice's Credit Union |
TV partner(s) | TG4, RTÉ |
Official website | Official website |
The Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the St Canice's Credit Union Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Kilkenny SHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Kilkenny in Ireland. It is the most prestigious competition in Kilkenny hurling.
Introduced in 1887 as the Kilkenny Hurling Championship, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to senior-ranking club teams. The championship has gone through a number of changes throughout the years, including the use of a round robin, before reverting to a straight knockout format.
In its current format, the Kilkenny Senior Championship begins in September with a first round series of games comprising eight teams, while the four remaining teams receive byes to the quarter-final stage. A team's finishing position in the Kilkenny Senior Hurling League determines at what stage they enter the championship. Four rounds of games are played, culminating with the final match at Nowlan Park in October. The winner of the Kilkenny Senior Championship, as well as being presented with the Tom Walsh Cup, qualifies for the subsequent Leinster Club Championship.
The competition has been won by 26 teams, 19 of which have won it more than once. Tullaroan and Ballyhale Shamrocks are the most successful teams in the tournament's history, having won it 20 times each. Thomastown are the title-holders, defeating O'Loughlin Gaels by 0-18 to 0-07 in the 2024 final.