The 2018 Christy Ring Cup was the 14th staging of the

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is ...

hurling championship since its establishment by 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 ...

in 2005. It is the third tier of senior inter-county hurling. The competition began on 12 May 2018 and ended on 23 June 2018.

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

were the 2017 champions, beating Antrim in the final. Both teams were included in the counties competing in the newly created Joe McDonagh Cup.

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

lost their play-off match against Mayo in 2017 – normally Roscommon would have been relegated but they remained in the 2018 Christy Ring Cup as a result of the restructuring of the hurling championship tiers. Kildare were the 2018 Chrisy Ring champions, defeating London by 3–19 to 1–11 in the final. Kildare lost the relegation/promotion game against Antrim and remained in the Christy Ring Cup for 2019.

Team changes

To Championship

Relegated from the

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

* None Promoted from the

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

From Championship

Promoted to the

Joe McDonagh Cup The Joe McDonagh Cup () is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier t ...

* Antrim *

Relegated to the

* None

Format

Beginning in 2018, the Christy Ring Cup changed to an initial stage of two groups of four teams. Previously it was a double elimination tournament. The top two teams from both groups advance to the semi-finals. In 2018, teams at the bottom of each group will automatically be relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup for 2019. In subsequent years, the bottom teams will meet in a relegation playoff to decide the one team relegated to the following year's Nicky Rackard Cup. The Christy Ring champions contest a promotion/relegation playoff with the second bottom team in the Joe McDonagh Cup with the winner earning the right to compete in the 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup. Following the creation of the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2018, the Christy Ring Cup was reclassified as tier 3 (it was previously tier 2).

Teams

General Information

Personnel and kits

Group stage

Group 1

Group 1 Table

Group 1 Rounds 1 to 3

=Group 1 Round 1

=Group 1 Round 2

=Group 1 Round 3

Group 2

Group 2 Table

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Down all finished on 4 points and were ranked on score difference.

Group 2 Rounds 1 to 3

=Group 2 Round 1

=Group 2 Round 2

=Group 2 Round 3

Knockout stage

Bracket

Semi-finals

The Group 1 winners play the Group 2 runners-up and the Group 2 winners play the Group 1 runners-up.

Final

Relegation/promotion playoff

Antrim retain their place in the

for

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, while

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

remain in the

for

Stadia and locations

Stadiums and locations

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Updated to 2 June 2018

In a single game

Miscellaneous

won their 1st championship in 4 years, winning the 2014 Christy Ring Cup.

References

{{GAA 2018 , state=expanded

Christy Ring Cup