| 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup | |
| Dates: | 20 April - 8 June 2024 |
| Teams: | 6 |
| Champions: | Offaly |
| Count: | 1 |
| Champions Captain: | Jason Sampson |
| Champions Manager: | Johnny Kelly |
| Runners-Up: | Laois |
| Runners-Up Captain: | Aaron Dunphy |
| Runners-Up Manager: | William Maher |
| Relegated: | Meath |
| Matches: | 16 |
| Goals: | 57 |
| Points: | 680 |
| Top Scorer: | Brian Duignan (3-37) Killian Doyle (1-43) |
| Previous Year: | 2023 |
| Previous Tournament: | 2023 Joe McDonagh Cup |
| Next Year: | 2025 |
| Next Tournament: | 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup |
The 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup was the seventh edition of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018[1] and is the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 12–17 in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The fixtures were announced on 13 April 2018. The competition began on 5 May 2018. The competition ran from 20 April to 8 June 2024.
The Joe McDonagh Cup final was played on 8 June 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Offaly and Laois, in what was their first ever meeting in the final.[2] Offaly won the match by 2–23 to 0–26 to claim their first ever cup title.[3] [4]
Offaly's Brian Duignan and Westmeath's Killian Doyle were the joint-top scorers.
Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
Initially each of the six teams play the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up also advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.
If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the champions are a Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Munster Championship. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions replace the bottom-placed team in the provincial championship containing six teams.
The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the Christy Ring Cup champions.
The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2024 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Leinster (4)
Munster (1)
Ulster (1)
Six counties will compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup:
| County | Last Cup Title | Last Provincial Title | Last All-Ireland Title | Position in 2023 Championship | Appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Down | — | 1997 | — | 5th | 4th | |
| Kerry | — | 1891 | 1891 | 4th | 7th | |
| Laois | 2019 | 1949 | 1915 | 3rd | 4th | |
| Meath | — | — | — | Champions (Christy Ring Cup) | 5th | |
| Offaly | — | 1995 | 1998 | Runners-up | 4th | |
| Westmeath | 2021 | — | — | 6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | 5th |
| County | Manager | Captain(s) | Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Down | ||||
| Kerry | Stephen Molumphy | Tomás O'Connor | Kerry Group | |
| Laois | Willie Maher | Aaron Dunphy | Laois Hire | |
| Meath | ||||
| Offaly | Johnny Kelly | Jason Sampson | Glenisk | |
| Westmeath |
The fixtures for the group stage were an open draw.
Numbers in brackets indicate ranking in the 2024 NHL.[9]
Pot
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship draw took place in 7th December 2023.
Seeded into preliminary quarter-finals
Unseeded into preliminary quarter-finals
| Team | Qualification | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laois | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14-122 | 3-101 | +54 | 8 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals | |
| 2 | Offaly (P) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15-125 | 9-97 | +46 | 8 | ||
| 3 | Kerry | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4-92 | 8-85 | -5 | 6 | ||
| 6 | Westmeath | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6-114 | 6-92 | +22 | 5 | ||
| 5 | Down | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11-97 | 10-130 | -30 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Meath (R) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5-81 | 19-126 | -87 | 0 | Relegated to Christy Ring Cup |
See main article: List of Gaelic Athletic Association stadiums.
| County | Location | Province | Stadium(s) | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral | Dublin | Leinster | Croke Park | 82,300 | |
| Down | Ballycran | Ulster | McKenna Park | 5,000 | |
| Kerry | Tralee | Munster | Austin Stack Park | 12,000 | |
| Laois | Portlaoise | Leinster | Laois Hire O'Moore Park | 22,000 | |
| Meath | Navan | Leinster | Páirc Tailteann | 11,000 | |
| Offaly | Tullamore | Leinster | Glenisk O'Connor Park | 20,000 | |
| Westmeath | Mullingar | Leinster | TEG Cusack Park | 11,000 |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Duignan | Offaly | 3-37 | 46 | 6 | 7.66 |
| Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-43 | 46 | 5 | 9.20 | |
| 3 | Maurice O'Connor | Kerry | 1-34 | 37 | 4 | 9.25 |
| 4 | Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 0-37 | 37 | 5 | 7.40 |
| 5 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 1-25 | 28 | 5 | 5.60 |
| 6 | Pearse Óg McCrickard | Down | 0-26 | 26 | 5 | 5.20 |
| 7 | Daithí Sands | Down | 5-08 | 23 | 5 | 4.60 |
| 8 | Paul Sheehan | Down | 0-22 | 22 | 5 | 4.40 |
| 9 | Charlie Mitchell | Offaly | 1-18 | 21 | 5 | 4.20 |
| 10 | Patrick Purcell | Laois | 2-14 | 20 | 5 | 4.00 |
| David Williams | Westmeath | 0-20 | 20 | 5 | 4.00 |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padraic O'Hanrahan | Meath | 0-17 | 17 | Down |
| 2 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-15 | 15 | Offaly |
| 3 | Brian Duignan | Offaly | 1-11 | 14 | Westmeath |
| 4 | Maurice O'Connor | Kerry | 1-10 | 13 | Westmeath |
| Maurice O'Connor | Kerry | 0-13 | 13 | Down | |
| Pearse Óg McCrickard | Down | 0-13 | 13 | Westmeath | |
| 7 | Brian Duignan | Offaly | 1-09 | 12 | Down |
| 8 | Daithí Sands | Down | 3-02 | 11 | Offaly |
| Nicky Potterton | Meath | 2-05 | 11 | Offaly | |
| Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 1-08 | 11 | Kerry | |
| Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 0-11 | 11 | Kerry | |
| Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-11 | 11 | Kerry | |
| David Williams | Westmeath | 0-11 | 11 | Laois | |
| Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly |