The series of games are played during the summer months, with the county final currently being played in Austin Stack Park in August. Initially played a knock-out competition, the championship currently uses a double elimination format whereby each team is guaranteed at least two games. The 2020 championship reverted to a straight knock-out format due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Kerry County Championship is an integral part of the wider Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship. The winners of the Kerry county final join the intermediate champions of the other five counties to contest the provincial championship.
The title has been won at least once by 21 different teams. The all-time record-holders are Kilmoyley who have won 26 titles.
The inaugural championship took place in 1889 with just five clubs entering. These were Abbeydorney, Ballyduff, Kenmare, Kilgarvan and Kilmoyley. The very first championship match was held on 10 March 1889 when Abbeydorney beat Ballyduff by 1-1 to 0-1. Walkovers and delays were regular occurrences in the early years of the championship, while no records exist for some championship finals. More clubs fielded teams as the years went on, with the championships of 1905 and 1913 being held on a league basis.[citation needed]
The championship suffered severe disruption between 1920 and 1924 due to the War of Independence and subsequent Civil War. Several championships were abandoned midway through, while the championships of 1921 and 1923 were cancelled. The last championship which failed to be completed was in 1935.[citation needed]
Club dominance
Since the beginning, the championship has been dominated at various times by Ballyduff and Kilmoyley who are collectively known as the "big two". They have won 51 championship titles between them. Kilmoyley dominated the first 25 years of the championship, winning ten titles between 1890 and 1914. The 1920s and 1930s saw a number of first-time winners, including Austin Stacks, Causeway and Lixnaw. Crotta O'Neill's also won their first championship in 1939 and dominated the next twelve years by winning eight titles in total.[citation needed]
The second half of the 20th century was dominated by Ballyduff. The club won 19 championship titles in a forty-year period between 1955 and 1995. The only club who came close to matching their dominance was Causeway who won six championships between 1979 and 1987. The first two decades of the 21st century has seen the Kilmoyley-Ballyduff hegemony continue. Kilmoyley won their first title after a 30-year fallow period in 2001, before claiming seven more titles up to 2016. Ballyduff won five championships between 2006 and 2017.[citation needed]Kilmoyley won back to back titles in 2020-21 to give them ten titles in 20 years.
The 2022 final included a first, a live referee microphone for its national broadcast on TG4.[1] It was also the first time the Kerry County Hurling Final was shown on live national TV.[2]
Format
Group stage
The 9 clubs are divided into three groups of three. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed two 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 two teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals.
Knockout stage
Following the completion of the group stage, the top two teams from each group are ranked (1-6) in terms of points accumulated and scoring difference. The two top-ranking teams receive byes to separate semi-finals.
Quarter-finals: Teams designated 3-6 contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: The two quarter-final winners and teams designated 1-2 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
The three bottom-placed teams from the group stage take part in a series of play-offs, with the losing team being relegated to the Kerry Intermediate Hurling Championship.
The Neilus Flynn Cup is presented to the winners of the championship and is named after Neilus Flynn, who captained Causeway and St Brendan's (Div.) to County Championship successes in 1932 and 1936 respectively. The Flynn family donated both the original trophy (in 1987) and the new cup to the Kerry County Board. The current trophy, which was designed by silversmith Fintan Foley, was presented for the first time to the 2018 champions, Lixnaw.
