TheAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1985 was the 99th edition of Ireland's premierhurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held atCroke Park, Dublin on 1 September. The match was contested byOffaly andGalway, with Offaly taking the title by 2–11 to 1–12. It was Offaly's second-ever All-Ireland title.
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was run on a provincial basis as usual. All games were played on a knockout basis whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship. The format for the All-Ireland series of games ran as follows:
The winners of theMunster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
The winners of theLeinster Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final.
Galway, a team who faced no competition in theConnacht Championship, entered the championship at the All-Ireland semi-final stage where they played the Munster champions.
The winners of theUlster Championship advanced directly to a lone All-Ireland quarter-final where they played the winners of the All-Ireland 'B' championship. The winners of this game advanced to the All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Leinster champions.
P. Corrigan (1–11), P. Cleary (0–3), P. Carroll (0–3), M. Corrigan (0–2), D. Owens (0–1).
K. Brennan (0–7), H. Ryan (0–2), L. Fennelly (0–2), J. Hennessy (0–1), G. Henderson (0–1), G. Fennelly (0–1), R. Heffernan (0–1), P. Walsh (0–1), R. Power (0–1).
M. Corrigan (1–5), P. Cleary (2–1), P. Horan (2–0), P. Delaney (0–3), P. Corrigan (0–2), J. Dooley (0–1), P. Carroll (0–1), G. Coughlan (0–1), F. Conneely (0–1).
E. Fennelly (0–7), M. O'Sullivan (0–4), M. Walsh (0–2), C. Jones (0–2), P. J. Cuddy (0–1), M. Cuddy (0–1).
J. Fenton (1–6), J. Barry-Murphy (1–3), D. Walsh (1–2), T. Mulcahy (1–0), T. O'Sullivan (0–3), K. Hennessy (0–1), P. Horgan (0–1), D. Mac Curtain (0–1).
N. English (2–3), G. O'Neill (1–3), L. Maher (1–0), A. Ryan (0–1), S. Power (0–1), B. Ryan (0–1), I. Conroy (0–1), G. Stapleton (0–1).
Laois qualified for the Leinster final for the first time since 1951.
In the All-Ireland semi-final,Galway defeatedCork for only the third time in the history of the championship. Previous victories for the Galway men came in the All-Ireland semi-finals of 1975 and 1979.
