On 6 September 2009, Kilkenny won the championship following a 2–22 to 0–23 defeat ofTipperary in the All-Ireland final. This was their 32nd All-Ireland title overall, their 7th championship of the decade and a record-equalling fourth All-Ireland title in-a-row.
Galway'sJoe Canning was the championship's top scorer with 3–46. Kilkenny'sTommy Walsh won Hurler of the Year.
Due to a lack of competition in their own respective provinces,Antrim andGalway pushed for entry to theLeinster Championship. At a special meeting ofCongress on 4 October 2008, delegates voted to include Galway and Antrim in a restructured Leinster Championship on a trial basis for three years.Dublin,Wexford andOffaly spoke against the move, however, when put to a vote approximately 80% of delegates voted in favour.[1]
A total of 12 teams competed in the championship, including all of the teams from the 2008 championship. There were no new entrants. On 3 August 2008,Westmeath won theChristy Ring Cup for the second year in succession, however, there was no promotion mechanism for them to join the top flight.[2]
The format of the 2009 championship was slightly different from previous years. Firstly,Galway have had no opposition in theConnacht Senior Hurling Championship since 2004. Due to this it was decided at a special meeting of the GAA's congress for Galway to join theLeinster Senior Hurling Championship for a three-year trial period, starting with the 2009 championship.Antrim, being the only Tier 1 team in theUlster Senior Hurling Championship, also participated in the Leinster Championship on a three-year trial period. Antrim also competed in the Ulster Championship which was run as aseparate tournament to the All-Ireland Hurling Championship.
12counties participated in Tier 1 of the 2009 Championship. These teams were as follows:
Provincial ChampionshipsThe Munster championship was played as usual with five teams. The Leinster championship also proceeded as usual, except for the addition of both Antrim and Galway, bringing the total number of competing teams to seven. The Leinster and Munster champions advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
All-Ireland QualifiersThe qualifiers gave teams defeated in the provincial championships another chance at winning the All-Ireland.Phase 1: (2 matches) the three Leinster quarter-finalists and the Munster quarter-finalist play off.Phase 2: (2 matches) the two Leinster semi-finalists and two Munster semi-finalists play off.Phase 3: (2 matches) The four winners of Phase 1 and Phase 2 games meet in Phase 3. The two Phase 3 winners advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
All-Ireland SeriesQuarter-finals: (2 matches) The defeated Munster and Leinster finalists played the winners of the Phase 3 qualifiers.Semi-finals: (2 matches) The Munster and Leinster champions played the winners of the quarter-finals.
Promotion/Relegation
Promotion and relegation between Tier 1 and Tier 2 was in operation in the 2009 championship. The defeated team in the Round 2 match of the Relegation playoffs was demoted to the2010 Christy Ring Cup, to be replaced by the winners of the2009 Christy Ring Cup.
Joe Canning (3–46)
Tommy Walsh
Clare
Cork
Dublin
Laois
Limerick
Offaly
Tipperary
Waterford
Wexford
Terence McNaughton
Leitrim
Tyrone
South Down
Warwickshire