The 2010–11 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship was the 41st staging of

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 ...

's premier

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

at inter-county level for

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 ...

clubs. A total of fifteen teams competed in the championship, with

Clarinbridge Clarinbridge or Clarenbridge () is a village in south County Galway, Ireland. It is on the mouth of the Clarin River at the end of Dunbulcaun Bay, which is the easternmost part of Galway Bay. The village is 13 km south-east of Galway cit ...

defeating O'Loughlin Gaels by 2-18 to 0-12 in the final at

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. The championship began on 10 October 2010 and concluded on 17 March 2011.

Pre-championship

Barring a win for

Loughgiel Shamrocks Loughgiel Shamrocks GAC is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the village of Loughgiel/ Loughguile in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. They are currently the only club in Ulster to have won an All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Champions ...

, a new club will be crowned All-Ireland champions on St. Patricks's Day as the remaining participants have never claimed the championship title. The Shamrocks claimed the championship in 1982–83, however, their campaign is expected to end in the All-Ireland semi-final. The dominant teams of the last few years –

Ballyhale Shamrocks Ballyhale Shamrocks is a Gaelic games club located in the parish of Ballyhale in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is a member of the Kilkenny branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Founded in 1972, the club was a amalgamation of three team ...

, Birr,

Portumna Portumna (- meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a Portumna bridge, bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where ...

and

Newtownshandrum Newtownshandrum () is a small village in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland located west of Charleville, County Cork, Charleville on the R515 road (Ireland), R515 road. The name translates from Irish to mean 'new town of the old ridge'. ...

– were all eliminated in their respective county club championships. Of all the participating clubs both

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, near the border with County Cork, 30 km south of Limerick city. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King John's Castle (Kilmallock), King's Castle (or K ...

and De La Salle are the only two teams to have ended up as All-Ireland runners-up in the past without claiming the title. Oulart-the-Ballagh were installed as favourites to bring the title back to Wexford for the first time since Buffer's Alley success in 1988–89. Thurles Sarsfield's and O'Loughlin Gaels were also regarded as potential All-Ireland champions.

The championship

Participating clubs

Format

The 2010–11 club championship will be played on a provincial basis as usual. It will be a

knockout tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces – there will be no

seeds In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds are the ...

. Each match will be played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there will be a replay. If that match ends in a draw a period of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

will be played, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time another replay will take place. Leinster Championship ''Quarter-finals:'' (2 matches) These are two lone matches between the first four teams drawn from the province of Leinster. ''Semi-finals:'' (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals join the other two Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. ''Final:'' (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. Munster Championship ''Quarter-final:'' (1 match) This is a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster. ''Semi-finals:'' (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joins the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. ''Final:'' (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. Ulster Championship ''Semi-finals:'' (2 matches) The four participating Ulster clubs are drawn against each other to make up the semi-final pairings. ''Final:'' (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. All-Ireland Series ''Semi-finals'': (2 matches) The four provincial champions contest these games. ''Final'': (1 match) The two semi-final winners contest the final.

Fixtures

Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Leinster GAA, Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associa ...

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Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Associatio ...

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Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship

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All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-coun ...

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Championship statistics

Scoring

* First goal of the championship: 10 October 2010 - Kevin O'Neill for Lavey against Keady Lámh Dhearg (Ulster semi-final) * Widest winning margin: 24 points **

2–24 – 0–6 Keady Lámh Dhearg (Ulster final) *Most goals in a match: 8 goals ** Oulart-the-Ballagh 4–11 : 4–8 Raharney (Leinster semi-final) *Most goals scored in one half by a single team: 4 goals - Raharney against Oulart-the-Ballagh (Leinster semi-final) *Most goals scored by losing team: 4 goals ** Raharney 4–8 : 4–11 Oulart-the-Ballagh (Leinster semi-final)

Discipline

* First red card of the championship: 10 October 2010 - Philip Kirk for Lavey against Keady Lámh Dhearg (Ulster semi-final)

Miscellaneous

Crusheen Crusheen () is a small village in County Clare, Ireland, in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan). Location The village is 10 kilometres northeast of Ennis on the R458 road (Ireland), R458 road to Gort. It is in ...

, the county champions of Clare, participated in the championship for the very first time in the history of the competition. * For the first time ever a club from Armagh – Keady Lámh Dhearg – qualified for the Ulster final. That game turned into the most one-sided decider in the history of the championship as

won by twenty-four points. * Thurles Sarsfields qualified for the Munster final for the very first time in their history. * The Leinster final between O'Loughlin Gaels and Oulart-the-Ballagh, originally fixed for 28 November, was postponed due to a heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures across the country. * Referee John Sexton took charge of the Munster final just twenty-four hours after his father Johnny's funeral. The Ballyhea whistler had the sad duty of having to blow the whistle to start and end the minute's silence in memory of his late father before the throw-in. * A mere 1,613 people attended the Munster final as the country was gripped by a sudden cold spell. It is believed that this is the lowest attendance ever recorded at a Munster decider.

Top scorers

Overall

Single game

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship 2010 in hurling 2011 in hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship