1985 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1985 was the 99th edition of Ireland's premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 1 September. The match was contested by Offaly and Galway, with Offaly taking the title by 2–11 to 1–12. It was Offaly's second-ever All-Ireland title.

Format

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 the Munster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
• The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final.
• Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, entered the championship at the All-Ireland semi-final stage where they played the Munster champions.
• The winners of the Ulster 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.

Team changes

To Championship

Promoted from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship

• London

From Championship

Relegated to the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship

• None

Teams

General information

Fourteen counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: one team from the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, six teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, one team from the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship and one team from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship.

County	Last provincial title	Last championship title	Position in 1984 championship	Current championship
File:Colours of Antrim.svg Antrim	1946	—		Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Clare.svg Clare	1932	1914		Munster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Cork.svg Cork	1984	1984		Munster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Dublin.svg Dublin	1961	1938		Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Galway.svg Galway	1922	1980		Connacht Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Kilkenny.svgKilkenny	1983	1983		Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Laois.svg Laois	1949	1915		Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Limerick.svgLimerick	1981	1973		Munster Senior Hurling Championship
London	—	1901		All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Offaly.svg Offaly	1984	1981		Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Tipperary.pngTipperary	1971	1971		Munster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Waterford.svgWaterford	1963	1959		Munster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Westmeath.svgWestmeath	—	—		Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
File:Colours of Wexford.svg Wexford	1977	1968		Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

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All-Ireland Final

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Offaly Template:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Galway Template:Preview warning

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

• Laois qualified for the Leinster final for the first time since 1951.
• In the All-Ireland semi-final, Galway defeated Cork 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.

Top scorers

Season

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Paddy Corrigan	Offaly	2–29	35	5	7.00
2	Pat Cleary	Offaly	7–9	30	5	6.00
3	Eugene Fennelly	Laois	0–28	28	3	9.33
4	Mark Corrigan	Offaly	3–17	26	5	5.20
5	John Fenton	Cork	4-13	25	3	8.33
6	Pat Cleary	Offaly	6-6	24	4	6.00
7	Kieran Brennan	Kilkenny	1–20	23	3	7.66
8	Nicky English	Tipperary	4-4	16	3	5.33
9	Séamus Power	Tipperary	2-8	14	3	4.66
	P. J. Molloy	Galway	1-11	14	2	7.00

Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Paddy Corrigan	Offaly	1–11	14	Kilkenny
2	Kieran Brennan	Kilkenny	1–9	12	Westmeath
3	Séamus Power	Tipperary	2–5	11	Clare
	Eugene Fennelly	Laois	0–11	11	Dublin
5	Eugene Fennelly	Laois	0–10	10	Wexford
6	Nicky English	Tipperary	2–3	9	Cork
	Dessie Donnelly	Antrim	2–3	9	London
	Paddy Corrigan	Offaly	1–6	9	Kilkenny
	John Fenton	Cork	1–6	9	Tipperary
	P. J. Molloy	Galway	1–6	9	Offaly
	Denis Byrne	Waterford	0–9	9	Limerick
	Mick Burke	London	0–9	9	Antrim

References

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).