2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
| Championship details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 May 2018 - 19 August 2018 |
| Teams | 5 Leinster Championship 5 Munster Championship 2 Tier 2 Championship |
| All-Ireland champions | |
| Provincial champions | |
| Munster | Not Played |
| Leinster | Not Played |
| Ulster | Not Played |
| Connacht | Not Played |
| Championship statistics | |
| All-Star Team | See here |
|
← 2017
2019 →
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The 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship will be the 131st staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. It is the first tier of senior inter-county championship hurling. The championship will begin one 13 May 2018 and will end on 19 August 2018. The draw for the championship round-robin fixtures was held off camera on 19 October 2017 and announced on the championship draw broadcast live on RTÉ2.
Galway are the defending champions, having beaten Waterford by 0-26 to 2-17 in the final on 3 September 2017.
The 2018 championship will see the biggest change in format since the introduction of the qualifiers in 2002.
A new provincial hurling championship system featuring five-team round-robin groups in both Leinster and Munster will be introduced in 2018 for an initial three-year period. This restructure necessitated the removal of four counties from the Leinster championship – a new Tier 2 involving the four counties from the 2017 Leinster qualifier group plus Antrim and Carlow, the 2017 Christy Ring finalists, was created. The proposal was carried by a narrow margin with 62% voting in favour (a majority of at least 60% was required) at the GAA’s Special Congress on 30 September 2017. The top two teams in each provincial group contest the provincial final, with the provincial winners advancing to the All-Ireland semi-finals and the beaten provincial finalists advancing to the quarter-finals.
An amendment to the motion from Laois, Offaly and Meath was carried by 87%. This will see the two Tier 2 championship finalists participating in preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals against the third-placed team in each province with the Tier 2 teams having home advantage. The bottom placed team in the Leinster championship will be relegated to the Tier 2 championship and will be replaced in next year's Leinster championship by the Tier 2 winners (unless Kerry win Tier 2, in which case they will play off against the team who finished fifth in the Munster championship).
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