2000 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship


The 2000 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 114th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 2000 fixtures took place on 14 November 1999. The championship began on 6 May 2000 and ended on 10 September 2000.
Cork were the defending champions but were defeated by Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final. Carlow, New York and Westmeath fielded teams after long absences.
On 10 September 2000, Kilkenny won the championship following a 5-15 to 1-14 defeat of Offaly in the All-Ireland final. This was their 26th All-Ireland title, their first in seven championship seasons. It was the third All-Ireland final to feature teams from the same province.
Offaly's Johnny Dooley was the championship's top scorer with 0-41. Kilkenny's D. J. Carey was the unanimous choice for Hurler of the Year.

New provincial formats

Following a motion from the Westmeath County Board at Congress, the Leinster Council proposed the introduction of a "back door system" in their hurling championship. This would be introduced to help develop hurling in the "weaker" counties and to ensure at least two championship games for these teams. While the motion was passed at Congress in April, the new format was rejected by the GAA's management committee at a meeting on 30 October 1999. The committee disagreed with the prospect of allowing losers from earlier rounds to re-enter the championship through a "back door system". As a result of this the Leinster Council were forced to tweak their championship format. This also led to the postponement of the championship draw. The Leinster Council's diluted proposal saw the introduction of a round-robin for the four weakest teams in the province. The group stage winners would join the other three teams in the championship proper.

Teams

Due to the introduction of the round robin system in Leinster, Carlow and Westmeath returned to the championship.
On 18 May 2000 the Roscommon County Board announced that the senior hurling team were withdrawing from the Connacht Championship. Nine of the previous year's panel were absent and, together with a lack of commitment from the remaining players, the board were left with no choice but to withdraw. As a result of this the Connacht Championship was not played and Galway's first game was an All-Ireland quarter-final.
The Kerry County Board were faced with a similar prospect to Roscommon, however, they declined to withdraw from the Munster Championship.
New York joined the Ulster Championship.

Personnel and kits

TeamColoursManagerCaptainKit manufacturerSponsor
AntrimSaffron and whiteSeán McNaughtonConor McCambridgeO'NeillsBushmills
CarlowRed, yellow and greenEddie ByrneO'NeillsStone Developments
ClareSaffron and blueGer LoughnaneBrian LohanO'NeillsEircell
CorkRed and whiteJimmy Barry-MurphyFergal RyanO'NeillsEsat Digifone
DerryWhite and redKevin McNaughtonConor MurrayO'NeillsO'Kane Insurance
DownRed and blackJimmy O'ReillyO'NeillsCanal Court Hotel
DublinBlue and navyMichael O'GradyO'NeillsArnott's
GalwayMaroon and whiteMattie MurphyJoe RabbitteO'NeillsSupermac's
KerryGreen and goldMichael O'HalloranO'NeillsKerry Group
KilkennyBlack and amberBrian CodyWillie O'ConnorO'NeillsAvonmore
LaoisBlue and whitePadraig HoranP. J. PeacockO'NeillsMeadow Meats
LimerickGreen and whiteÉamonn CreganOllie MoranO'NeillsRed Cow Moran's Hotel
LondonGreen and whiteO'NeillsSetanta Sports
New YorkWhite and blueO'NeillsBudweiser
OffalyGreen, white and goldPat FleuryJohnny DooleyO'NeillsCarroll Meats
TipperaryBlue and goldNicky EnglishTommy DunneO'NeillsFinches
WaterfordWhite and blueGerald McCarthyPaul FlynnO'NeillsGain Feeds
WexfordPurple and goldJoachim KellyRory McCarthyO'NeillsWexford Creamery

Results

[Ulster Senior Hurling Championship]

[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]

[Leinster Senior Hurling Championship]

[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship]

Top scorers

Season

Single game

RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition
1Gary O'KaneAntrim1-912London
1Dave CuddyLaois0-1212Dublin
1Johnny DooleyOffaly0-1212Derry
4Gary BiggsDerry0-1010Down
4Joe DeaneCork0-1010Tipperary
4Joe DeaneCork0-1010Offaly
7Tomás McGraneDublin1-69Westmeath
7Dave CuddyLaois1-69Carlow
7Johnny DooleyOffaly0-99Wexford
10Henry ShefflinKilkenny2-28Offaly
10Eugene O'NeillTipperary1-58Cork
10Pat CoadyCarlow1-58Westmeath
10Johnny DooleyOffaly0-88Kilkenny
10Denis ByrneKilkenny0-88Galway
10Tomás McGraneDublin0-88Laois
10Tomás McGraneDublin0-88Laois
10Neil RonanCork0-88Kerry

Clean sheets

RankGoalkeeperCountyClean sheets
1Kieran Stevenson Derry2
1Donal Óg Cusack Cork2
1Brendan Cummins Tipperary2
1Brendan McLoughlin Dublin2
1James McGarry Kilkenny2
6Shane Elliott Antrim1
6Brendan Landers Waterford1
6John Lyons Laois1
6Michael Crimmins Galway1
6Stephen Byrne Offaly1