2024 Joe McDonagh Cup

2024 Joe McDonagh Cup
Dates	April – May 2024
Teams	6
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The 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup is due to be the seventh staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.^[1]

The top 2 teams from the round robin stage will play off in the final to decide the winner. Both will advance to the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship knock-out stages. The bottom team will be relegated to the Christy Ring Cup.^[2]

Team changes edit

To championship edit

Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Westmeath

Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup

Meath

From championship edit

Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Carlow

Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup

Kildare

Format edit

Cup format edit

Initially each of the six teams play the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up also advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.

Promotion edit

If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the champions are a Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Munster Championship. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions replace the bottom-placed team in the provincial championship containing six teams.

Relegation edit

The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the Christy Ring Cup champions.

Teams by province edit

The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2024 National Hurling League before the championship were:

Leinster (4)

Laois (TBD)
Meath (TBD)
Offaly (TBD)
Westmeath (TBD)

Munster (1)

Kerry (TBD)

Ulster (1)

Down (TBD)

Teams edit

General information edit

Six counties will compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup:

County	Last Cup Title	Last Provincial Title	Last All-Ireland Title	Position in 2023 Championship	Appearance
Down	—	1997	—	5th	4th
Kerry	—	1891	1891	4th	7th
Laois	2019	1949	1915	3rd	4th
Meath	—	—	—	Champions (Christy Ring Cup)	5th
Offaly	—	1995	1998	Runners-up	4th
Westmeath	2021	—	—	6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship)	5th

Personnel and kits edit

County	Manager	Captain(s)	Sponsor
Down
Kerry	Stephen Molumphy	Tomás O'Connor	Kerry Group
Laois	Willie Maher	Aaron Dunphy	Laois Hire
Meath
Offaly
Westmeath

Group Stage edit

Table edit

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	SF	SA	Diff	Pts	Qualification
1	Laois	3	3	0	0	10-75	1-58	+44	6	Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals
2	Offaly	3	2	0	1	7-78	6-57	+24	4	Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals
3	Kerry	3	2	0	1	1-64	4-51	+4	4
4	Down	3	1	1	1	8-5	1-76	0	3
5	Westmeath	3	0	1	2	3-59	6-62	-12	1
6	Meath	3	0	0	3	4-57	15-84	-60	0	Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Round 1 edit

20 April 2024 Round 1	Down	3-24 (33) – 0-25 (25)	Meath	Ballycran
2pm		(HT: 1-15 - 0-13)		Venue: McKenna Park
	Pts: Tim Prenter 2-1, Daithí Sands 1-3, Paul Sheehan 0-5 (4fs), Pearse Óg McCrickard 0-3 (2fs), Oisín McManus and Eoghan Sands 0-2 each, Marc Fisher, Donal Hughes, Liam Savage, Caolan Taggart, Donal Hughes, and Finn Turpin 0-1 each.	Report	Pts: Padraic O'Hanrahan 0-17 (15fs), Eamon Óg Ó Donnchadha 0-2, Simon Ennis, James Toher, Kris Gorman, Niall McLarnon, Nicky Potterton, Seán Martin 0-1 each.	Referee: C McDonald (Antrim)

21 April 2024 Round 1	Laois	2-21 (27) – 0-24 (24)	Offaly	Portlaoise
2pm		(HT: 0-11 - 0-16)		Venue: O'Moore Park
	Pts: Paddy Purcell 2-1, Aaron Dunphy 0-5 (three frees), Aidan Corby and Stephen Maher (two frees, one 65) 0-4 each, Jer Quinlan 0-3, Tom Cuddy 0-2, Liam O'Connell and John Lennon 0-1 each	Report	Pts: Adam Screeney 0-8 (four frees), Brian Duignan 0-4 (two frees), Sam Bourke, Killian Sampson, Eoghan Cahill (one free) and Dan Bourke 0-2 each, Dan Ravenhill, Cathal King, Charlie Mitchel and Leon Fox 0-1 each	Referee: C Cunning (Antrim)

21 April 2024 Round 1	Westmeath	1-14 (17) – 1-20 (23)	Kerry	Mullingar
2pm		(HT: 0-6 - 0-9)		Venue: Cusack Park
	Pts: K Doyle 0-11 (7f), T Doyle 1-1, A Clarke, s McGovern 0-1 each	Report	Pts: M O'Connor 1-10 (10f), F Mackessy 0-4 (2f), R Walsh 0-3, D Shanahan, N Mulcahy, K Hayes 0-1 each	Referee: S Cleere (Kilkenny)

Round 2 edit

27 April 2024 Round 2	Meath	1-16 (19) – 7-29 (50)	Laois	Navan
3pm		(HT: 1-8 - 2-16)		Venue: Páirc Tailteann
	Pts: Nicky Potterton 0-4 (0-1f, 0-1 65), Mark Horan 1-0, Sean Quigley 0-3, James Toher 0-2 (0-2f), Kris Gorman 0-1, Tom Shine 0-1, Sean Martin 0-1, James Kelly 0-1, Simon Ennis 0-1, Eamon Og O Donnchadha 0-1, Domhnall Rogers 0-1	Report	Pts: Willie Dunphy 1-4, Mark Dowling 2-0, Martin Phelan 1-2, Tomas Keyes 1-2, Aaron Dunphy 0-5, James Duggan 1-1, Padraig Purcell 0-4, Stephen Maher 0-4 (0-1f, 0-1 65), Enda Rowland 1-0 (1-0 pen), Padraig Delaney 0-2, David Dooley 0-2, Aidan Corby 0-2, Fiachra C Fennell 0-1	Referee: P Owens (Down)

27 April 2024 Round 2	Offaly	2-23 (29) – 1-20 (23)	Westmeath	Tullamore
3pm		(HT: 1-11 - 1-11)		Venue: O'Connor Park
	Pts: Brian Duignan 1-11 (1-0 pen, 8fs, 1 65), Cillian Kiely 0-3, Dan Bourke 1-0, Killian Sampson 0-2, Charlie Mitchell 0-2, Eimhin Kelly 0-2, Ben Conneely 0-1, Cathal King 0-1, Leon Fox 0-1	Report	Pts: Killian Doyle 0-15 (10fs, 1 65), David O’Reilly 1-1, Eoin Keyes 0-1, Robbie Greville 0-1, David Williams 0-1, Davy Glennon 0-1	Referee: B Keon (Galway)

28 April 2024 Round 2	Kerry	0-26 (26) – (18) 2-12	Down	Tralee
13:00		(HT: 0-10 – 2-04)		Venue: Austin Stack Park
		Report^[3]		Referee: C Doyle (Tipperary)

Round 3 edit

4 May 2024 Round 3	Down	3-19 – 1-25	Westmeath	Ballycran
3pm				Venue: McKenna Park
	Pts: 28		Pts: 28

4 May 2024 Round 3	Meath	3-16 – 5-31	Offaly	Navan
3pm				Venue: Páirc Tailteann
	Pts: 25		Pts: 46

4 May 2024 Round 3	Kerry	0-18 – 1-25	Laois	Tralee
3pm				Venue: Austin Stack Park
	Pts: 18		Pts: 28

Round 4 edit

18 May 2024 Round 4	Westmeath	v	Meath	Mullingar
TBC				Venue: Cusack Park

18 May 2024 Round 4	Laois	v	Down	Portlaoise
TBC				Venue: O'Moore Park

19 May 2024 Round 4	Offaly	v	Kerry	Tullamore
TBC				Venue: O'Connor Park

Round 5 edit

25 May 2024 Round 5	Kerry	v	Meath	Tralee
TBC				Venue: Austin Stack Park

25 May 2024 Round 5	Westmeath	v	Laois	Mullingar
TBC				Venue: Cusack Park

25 May 2024 Round 5	Down	v	Offaly	Ballycran
TBC				Venue: McKenna Park

Knockout stage edit

Final edit

8 June 2024 Final	1st	v	2nd	Dublin
3:30pm				Venue: Croke Park
				TV: RTÉ2

Joe McDonagh champions and Joe McDonagh runners-up qualify to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-finals.
Joe McDonagh champions are also promoted to the 2025 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

Stadia and locations edit

County	Location	Province	Stadium(s)	Capacity
Neutral	Dublin	Leinster	Croke Park	82,300
Down	Ballycran	Ulster	McKenna Park	5,000
Kerry	Tralee	Munster	Austin Stack Park	12,000
Laois	Portlaoise	Leinster	O'Moore Park	22,000
Meath	Navan	Leinster	Páirc Tailteann	11,000
Offaly	Tullamore	Leinster	O'Connor Park	20,000
Westmeath	Mullingar	Leinster	Cusack Park	11,000

Statistics edit

Top scorers edit

Overall edit

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Padraic O'Hanrahan	Meath	0–17	17	1	17
2	Maurice O'Connor	Kerry	1-10	13	1	13
3	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	0–11	11	1	11
4	Adam Screeney	Offaly	0–08	8	1	8
5	Tim Prenter	Down	2–01	7	1	7
6	Paddy Purcell	Laois	2-01	7	1	7
7	Daithí Sands	Down	1–03	6	1	6
8	Paul Sheehan	Down	0–05	5	1	5
9	Aaron Dunphy	Laois	0-05	5	1	5
10	Aidan Corby	Laois	0-04	4	1	4

In a single game edit

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Padraic O'Hanrahan	Meath	0–17	17	Down
2	Maurice O'Connor	Kerry	1–10	13	Westmeath
3	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	0-11	11	Kerry
4	Adam Screeney	Offaly	0-08	8	Laois
5	Tim Prenter	Down	2–01	7	Meath
6	Paddy Purcell	Laois	2–01	7	Offaly
7	Daithí Sands	Down	1–03	6	Meath
8	Paul Sheehan	Down	0–05	5	Meath
9	Aaron Dunphy	Laois	0-05	5	Offaly
10	Aidan Corby	Laois	0-04	4	Offaly

Scoring events edit

Widest winning margin: 31 points
- Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
Most goals in a match: 8
- Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
Most points in a match: 49
- Down 3-24 - 0-25 Meath (Round 1)
Most goals by one team in a match: 7
- Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
Most points by one team in a match: 29
- Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
Highest aggregate score: 69 points
- Meath 1-16 - 7-29 Laois (Round 2)
Lowest aggregate score: 40 points
- Westmeath 1-14 - 1-20 Kerry (Round 1)

Miscellaneous edit

First-time Joe McDonagh Cup meetings:
- Down v Westmeath (Round 3)

References edit

^ Moran, Seán (30 September 2017). "GAA Congress approve round-robin provincial hurling championships". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
^ "Hurling round-up: All to play for in final rounds for Joe McDonagh, Kildare head into Christy Ring final as hot favourites". Irish Examiner. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
^ "Maurice O'Connor haul helps Kerry to Joe McDonagh victory". RTE. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

[1] Moran, Seán (30 September 2017). "GAA Congress approve round-robin provincial hurling championships". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

[2] "Hurling round-up: All to play for in final rounds for Joe McDonagh, Kildare head into Christy Ring final as hot favourites". Irish Examiner. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.

[3] "Maurice O'Connor haul helps Kerry to Joe McDonagh victory". RTE. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

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