The Kildare Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the UPMC Kildare Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Kildare SHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Kildare in Ireland, deciding the competition winners through a group and knockout format. It is the most prestigious competition in Kildare hurling. In its present format, the eight participating teams are drawn against each other in a Preliminary Round and following that the four Preliminary Round winners go to a winners group and the other four in to a ‘losers’ group. At the group stages they play each other in a single round-robin system. This is followed by a knockout phase of one quarter final (3rd in Winners group v 2nd in Losers Group), then two semi-finals and culminates with the final match at St Conleth's Park in October. The winner of the Kildare Senior Championship qualifies for the subsequent Leinster Club Championship. From 1971 until 2012, the winning team received the Seán Carey Cup, however, a new trophy in honour of the late Tony Carew (Coill Dubh) was donated by the Carew family in 2013. The competition has been won by 25 teams, 19 of which have won it more than once. Clane is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 16 times. Naas are the reigning champions, having beaten Coill Dubh by 3-13 to 0-11 in the 2023 final.

Format

Qualifying stage

The eight participating teams are drawn against each other in a Preliminary Round and following that the four Preliminary Round winners go to a winners group and the other four in to a ‘losers’ group.

Group stage

The 8 club teams are divided into the winners and losers groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three group games and four championship 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 three teams in group A and the top two teams in group B qualify for the knockout stage, with the three best-placed teams receiving byes to the semi-finals.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals: One lone quarter-final feature the third-placed team in group A and the second placed team in group B. Semi-finals: The two semi-finals feature four teams. Two teams qualify for the next round. Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Teams

2024 teams

The 8 teams competing in the 2024 Kildare Senior Hurling Championship are:

2024 Hurling Grades

Qualification for subsequent competitions

At the end of the championship, the winning team qualify to the subsequent Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship.

Roll of honour

By club

List of finals

Legend

List of Kildare SHC finals