The Antrim Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bathshack.com Antrim Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Antrim SHC) is an annual club

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 Antrim 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 ...

. It is contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the

county of Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, with the winners decided through a group and knockout format. It is the most prestigious competition in Antrim hurling. In its present format, the eight teams are drawn into two groups of four teams and play each other in a single round-robin system. The two group winners proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final. The winner of the Antrim Senior Championship, as well as being presented with the Volunteer Cup, qualifies for the subsequent Ulster Club Championship. The competition has been won by 19 teams, 15 of which have won it more than once.

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 ...

is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 20 times. RuairÍ Óg, Cushendall are the reigning champions, having beaten Cúchulains Dunloy by 1-16 to 2–12 in the 2024 final. Commonly the final takes place at Antrim's county stadium,

Casement Park Casement Park () is the principal Gaelic games stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located in Andersonstown Road in the west of the city, and is named after the Irish revolutionary Roger Casement. The stadium, which has been closed si ...

. However, on account of the ground's ongoing redevelopment the 2013 and 2014 finals were held at

Páirc Mac Uílín Páirc Mac Uílín () is a Gaelic Athletic Association playing field in Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is the home of the McQuillan GAC Ballycastle club, one of the most successful teams in the county. The grounds have two ful ...

in Ballycastle. The 2015 final was held at

Dunloy Dunloy () is a village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located north of Ballymena and north-west is Ballymoney. It is located in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Finvoy, in the former Barony (Ireland), bar ...

's Pearse Park, due to McQuillan Ballycastle's appearance in the decider.

Format

Group stage

The 8 teams are divided into two groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three 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 in each group qualify for the knock-out stage.

Knockout stage

Following the completion of the group stage, the top two teams from each group receive byes to separate semi-finals. Quarter-finals: Teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in the group stage contest this round. The two 2nd placed teams play the 3rd placed teams from the opposite group. The two winners from these two games advance to the semi-finals. Semi-finals: The two quarter-final winners and the two group winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final. Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Relegation

At the end of the championship, two 4th-placed teams from the group stage take play-off, with the losing team being relegated to the

Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship The Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition, organised by Antrim GAA. The championship forms the second-tier of Hurling in Antrim. It is contested by the eleven clubs ranked 9–19 in the Antrim championship sy ...

Qualification

The winners of the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship progress to the

Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested ...

Teams

2025 teams

The 8 teams competing in the

2025 Antrim Senior Hurling Championship 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

are:

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Antrim Senior Championship winners qualify for the subsequent

Roll of honour

By club

Notes

* Runners-up unknown: 1901–1905, 1907–1908, 1914, 1916–1929, 1935–1938, 1940–1943, 1945–1952.

List of finals

Legend

* – All-Ireland senior club champions * – All-Ireland senior club runners-up

List of Antrim SHC finals

Records and statistics

Teams

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Antrim SHC titles, is as follows: * 1970s: 3 each for O'Donovan Rossa (1972-76-77) and McQuillans Ballycastle (1975-78-79) * 1980s: 4 for McQuillans Ballycastle (1980-83-84-86) * 1990s: 5 each for

(1990-94-95-97-98) and Ruairí Óg (1991-92-93-96-99) * 2000s: 6 for

(2000-01-02-03-07-09) * 2010s: 5 for

(2010-11-12-13-16) * 2020s: 3 for

(2020-21-22)

References

External links

Official Antrim GAA Website

{{Antrim GAA, state=expanded Hurling competitions in County Antrim Hurling competitions in Northern Ireland Hurling competitions in Ulster Senior hurling county championships 1901 establishments in Ireland Recurring sporting events established in 1901

Format

Group stage

Knockout stage

Relegation

Qualification

Teams

2025 teams

Qualification for subsequent competitions

Roll of honour

By club

Notes

List of finals

Legend

List of Antrim SHC finals

Records and statistics

Teams

By decade

See also

References

External links