Joe McDonagh Cup
The Joe McDonagh Cup is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. It forms the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, and is the second highest level of inter-county championship hurling competition in Ireland. The last of the five tiers to be established, the competition was contested for the first time in 2018.
Creation and history
At the GAA’s Special Congress on 30 September 2017, a new provincial hurling championship system featuring five-team round-robin groups in both Leinster and Munster was accepted. This restructure necessitated the removal of four counties from the Leinster Championship. These four teams joined the 2017 Christy Ring Cup finalists - Antrim and Carlow - in creating the new Tier 2 Championship. The proposal was carried by a narrow margin with 62% voting in favour.An amendment to the motion from Laois, Offaly and Meath was carried by 87%. This would see the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists participating in preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals against the third-placed team in both Leinster and Munster with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.
Format
The McDonagh Cup employs a round-robin system, contested within a single group of 5 county teams. At the completion of the round-robin, the top two teams proceed to contest the Joe McDonagh Cup final.Aside from the trophy itself, the reward for victory in the competition depends on the provincial allegiance of the winner; if the winner is a Munster team, it will enter a promotion/relegation playoff with the bottom team in that year's Munster Senior Hurling Championship, with the winner entering the following years Munster Championship, and the loser returning to the following year's edition of the Joe McDonagh Cup. If the winner is not a Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, with their place in the following year's Joe Mcdonagh Cup taken by the bottom-placed team in that year's Leinster Championship.
The Joe McDonagh Cup is unique among the four lower-tier hurling competitions in that it also provides a direct entry route for the top two teams to compete in that year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The top two-placed teams after the group stage, in addition to contesting the Cup final and a possible Munster Championship promotion playoff for the winner, are both rewarded with entry into the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage.
The bottom-placed team in the pool stage of the Cup is relegated to the third-tier Christy Ring Cup for the following year, being replaced by the champions of the Christy Ring Cup for that year. Since 2018 there has been no promotion/relegation playoff between tiers two and three.
2018-only format">2018 Joe McDonagh Cup">2018-only format
In the inaugural year only, six teams participated in the Joe McDonagh Cup; four from Leinster and one each from Munster and Ulster. For that year only, the winners of that year's Christy Ring Cup played the second from bottom team in the Joe McDonagh Cup in a promotion/relegation playoff, with the loser being placed in the 2019 Christy Ring Cup along with the bottom-placed team from the 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup. The winner of that playoff was placed in the 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup. This one-off format was introduced to ease the move to a five team competition moving forward, while ensuring the third and fourth tear competitions would each have eight teams.Teams
7 county teams have participated in at least one edition of the McDonagh Cup. Antrim, Kerry and Westmeath have been ever-presents in the first three editions. Offaly hold the dubious distinction of being the only team to be relegated to hurling's third-tier, having previously been relegated from the tier-one Leinster championship, in successive seasons.| Team | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Antrim | 5th | 3rd | |
| Carlow | Winner | - | |
| Kerry | 3rd | 4th | |
| Laois | 4th | Winner | - |
| Meath | 6th | - | |
| Westmeath | Finalist | Finalist | |
| Offaly | - | 5th | - |
2020 edition">2020 Joe McDonagh Cup">2020 edition
The following five teams will compete during the 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup.| Team | Position in 2019 | First year in cup | Years in cup in 2020 | Cup titles | Last cup title |
| Antrim | 3rd in Joe McDonagh | 2018 | 3 | - | - |
| Kerry | 4th in Joe McDonagh | 2018 | 3 | - | - |
| Meath | Promoted as 2019 Christy Ring Cup winners | 2018 | 2 | - | - |
| Carlow | Relegated from 2019 Leinster Championship | 2018 | 2 | 1 | 2018 |
| Westmeath | Joe McDonagh Runners up | 2018 | 3 | - | - |
Venues
Group stage
Fixtures in the five group stage rounds of the cup are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed at least two home games. During the inaugural staging of the competition some teams had three home games.Final
The Joe McDonagh Cup final is played at Croke Park as the curtain-raiser to the Leinster final on the first Sunday in July.Trophy and medals
At the end of the cup final, the winning team are presented with a trophy. The Joe McDonagh Cup is held by the winning team until the following year's final. The presentation is made at a special rostrum in the Ard Chomairle section of the Hogan Stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match.The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup.
The cup is named after Joe McDonagh. He was an All-Ireland medal winner with Galway in 1980 before later serving as President of the Gaelic Athletic Association. McDonagh, who died in May 2016, was one of the most respected figures within the GAA.
The winning team is presented with a set of gold medals.
Records and statistics
Top scorers
Overall
| Pos. | Name | Team | Goals | Points | Total |
| 1 | Antrim | 4 | 97 | 109 | |
| 2 | Kerry | 0 | 80 | 80 | |
| 3 | Westmeath | 3 | 61 | 70 | |
| 4 | Laois | 2 | 44 | 50 | |
| 4 | Carlow | 0 | 50 | 50 |
By year
| Final | Top scorer | Team | Score | Total |
| 2018 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 3-67 | 76 |
| 2019 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 3-61 | 70 |
In a single game
| Final | Top scorer | Team | Score | Total |
| 2018 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 0-17 | 17 |
| 2019 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-17 | 17 |
In finals
| Final | Top scorer | Team | Score | Total |
| 2018 | Denis Murphy | Carlow | 0-10 | 10 |
| 2019 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-11 | 14 |