The Westmeath Intermediate Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Slevin's Coaches Westmeath Intermediate Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Westmeath IHC) is an annual

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

competition organised by the Westmeath County Board of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

from 1985 for the third tier hurling teams in the county of Westmeath in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In its current format, the Westmeath Intermediate Hurling Championship begins with a group stage. The six participating teams play each other in a round-robin system. The four top-ranking teams proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match at

TEG Cusack Park Cusack Park (' in Irish) is a GAA stadium in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is the main grounds of Westmeath GAA's Gaelic football and hurling teams. History The ground, named after GAA founder Michael Cusack, was opened in 1933 a ...

. St Oliver Plunkett's is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it six times. Brownstown are the title holders after defeating Southern Gaels by 6–17 to 3–08 in the 2024 final.

History

The Westmeath Intermediate Championship was founded in 1985 in an effort to bridge the standard of play between the Westmeath Senior Championship and the Westmeath Junior Championship. For 35 years, the Westmeath Intermediate Championship was the second tier championship in the Westmeath hurling championship system. A review of Westmeath's hurling championships in 2019 proposed that the Westmeath SHC and Westmeath IHC be restructured. This resulted in the creation of the

Westmeath Senior B Hurling Championship The Westmeath Senior B Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Slevin's Coaches Westmeath Senior B Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Westmeath SBHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Westmeath County ...

. Each of the three championships would consist of six teams. The first championship following the restructuring featured the five teams who didn't make 2019 final, as well as the 2019 Westmeath JAHC winners who gained automatic promotion.

Format

Group stage

Six clubs start in the group stage. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed five group games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top three teams qualify for the knockout stage

Knockout stage

Semi-finals: The top four teams from the group stage contest this round. Final: The two semi-final winner contests the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Qualification

At the end of the championship, the winning team qualify to the subsequent

Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship ''For the senior hurling equivalent see: Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship'' The Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Junior Club Championship) is an annual hurling comp ...

, the winner of which progresses to the

All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling Championship is an annual inter-county club hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) since 2002-03 for eligible hurling clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their per ...

Teams

2025 teams

The 6 teams competing in the 2025 Westmeath Intermediate Hurling Championship are:

Sponsorship

Slevin's Coaches had been providing sponsorship for a number of years before renewing their sponsorship of all Westmeath's hurling championships in July 2020.

Trophy and medals

The Adrian Murray Cup is the current prize for winning the championship. It was commissioned to honour Adrian Murray, a member of the

Crookedwood Crookedwood () is a small village in County Westmeath on the R394 regional road. Historically it was called ''Taghmon'' (), after the townland it occupies. Geography Overlooked by the dominating hill of Knockeyon to the north, the village re ...

club who served in a number of administrative roles with the Westmeath County Board. He died in November 2006, at the age of 59..

Roll of honour

List of finals

* 2018 - The first match ended in a draw: Clonkill 3-10, Crookedwood 1-16. * 2019 - The first match ended in a draw: Cullion 3-13, Raharney 3-13.

References

External link

Official website
{{Westmeath GAA, state=expanded Hurling competitions in County Westmeath Intermediate hurling county championships Westmeath GAA club championships Recurring sporting events established in 1985 1985 establishments in Ireland