1999 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
# 1999 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 1999 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Hurling Championship) was the 113th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the fixtures took place on 15 November 1998. The championship began on 22 May 1999 and ended on 12 September 1999.

Offaly were the defending champions but were defeated by Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final. Meath, who had participated in the championship since 1993, declined to field a team.

On 12 September 1999, Cork won the championship following a 0–13 to 0–12 defeat of Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. This was their 28th All-Ireland title, their first in nine championship seasons.

Cork's Joe Deane and Kilkenny's Henry Shefflin were the championship's top scorers with 1-24 apiece. Cork's Donal Óg Cusack and Offaly's Stephen Byrne were deemed the best goalkeepers after keeping three clean sheets each. Cork's Brian Corcoran was the choice for Hurler of the Year.

## Team changes

### To Championship

Promoted from the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship

* None

### From Championship

Regraded to the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship

* Meath

## Participating counties

| Team | Colours | Sponsor | Manager | Most recent success | Most recent success | Most recent success |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Team | Colours | Sponsor | Manager | All-Ireland | Provincial | League |
| Antrim | Saffron and white | Bushmills | Séamus Elliott | | 1998 | |
| Clare | Saffron and blue | Patrick Donnellan | Ger Loughnane | 1997 | 1998 | 1977–78 |
| Cork | Red and white | Esat Digifone | Jimmy Barry-Murphy | 1990 | 1992 | 1998 |
| Derry | Red and white | Sperrin Metal | Kevin McNaughton | | 1908 | |
| Down | Red and black | Canal Court Hotel | Frank Dawson | | 1997 | |
| Dublin | Navy and blue | Arnotts | Michael O'Grady | 1938 | 1961 | 1938-39 |
| Galway | Maroon and white | Supermac's | Mattie Murphy | 1988 | 1998 | 1995-96 |
| Kerry | Green and gold | Kerry Group | P. J. O'Grady | 1891 | 1891 | |
| Kilkenny | Black and amber | Avonmore | Brian Cody | 1993 | 1998 | 1995 |
| Laois | Blue and white | Meadow Meats | Padraig Horan | 1915 | 1949 | |
| Limerick | Green and white | Drug Free Cúl | Éamonn Cregan | 1973 | 1996 | 1997 |
| London | Green and white | | Mike Hennessy | 1901 | | |
| Offaly | Green, white and gold | Carroll Meaths | Michael Bond | 1998 | 1995 | 1990–91 |
| Roscommon | Blue and yellow | Casey's Ford | Michael Conneely | | 1913 | |
| Tipperary | Blue and gold | Finches | Nicky English | 1991 | 1993 | 1999 |
| Waterford | White and blue | Gain Feeds | Gerald McCarthy | 1959 | 1963 | 1962-63 |
| Wexford | Purple and Gold | Wexford Creamery | Rory Kinsella | 1996 | 1997 | 1972–73 |

## Managerial changes

### Pre-championship

| Team | 1999 Manager | 1998 Manager(s) | Reason for leaving | Story/Accomplishments |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Kilkenny | Brian Cody, All-Ireland minor and senior-winning captain with Kilkenny. | Kevin Fennelly | Resigned | Fennelly guided Kilkenny to the 1998 All-Ireland final, however, the team were beaten by Offaly. |
| Tipperary | Nicky English, two-time All-Ireland winner with Tipperary. | Len Gaynor | Term ended | Gaynor guided Tipperary to the 1997 All-Ireland final, however, the team were beaten by Clare. |

## Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 6-21 | | | |
| | | | Laois | Laois | 1-14 | | | |
| | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 5-14 |
| | | | | | | Offaly | Offaly | 1-16 |
| | | | Offaly | Offaly | 3-17 | | | |
| Wexford | Wexford | 1-13 | Wexford | Wexford | 0-15 | | | |
| Dublin | Dublin | 1-12 | | | | | | |

## Munster Senior Hurling Championship

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tipperary | Tipperary | 4-29 | | | | | | |
| Kerry | Kerry | 2-06 | Clare | Clare | 2-12, 1-21 | | | |
| | | | Tipperary | Tipperary | 0-18, 1-11 | | | |
| | | | | | | Clare | Clare | 0-14 |
| | | | | | | Cork | Cork | 1-15 |
| | | | Cork | Cork | 0-24 | | | |
| Waterford | Waterford | 1-16 | Waterford | Waterford | 1-15 | | | |
| Limerick | Limerick | 1-15 | | | | | | |

## Ulster Senior Hurling Championship

| Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Antrim | Antrim | 3-23 | | | |
| London | London | 1-06 | | | |
| London | London | 1-06 | Antrim | Antrim | 2-19 |
| | | | Derry | Derry | 1-09 |
| Derry | Derry | 4-16 | Derry | Derry | 1-09 |
| Down | Down | 4-08 | | | |

## All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Clare | Clare | 3-15, 3-18 | | | | | | |
| Galway | Galway | 2-18, 2-14 | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 2-14 | | | |
| | | | Clare | Clare | 1-13 | | | |
| | | | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 0-12 |
| | | | | | | Cork | Cork | 0-13 |
| | | | Cork | Cork | 0-19 | | | |
| Offaly | Offaly | 4-22 | Offaly | Offaly | 0-16 | | | |
| Antrim | Antrim | 0-12 | | | | | | |

## Championship statistics

### Scoring

* First goal of the championship: Paul Shelly for Tipperary against Kerry (Munster quarter-final)
* Last goal of the championship: D.J. Carey for Kilkenny against Clare (All-Ireland semi-final)
* Most goals in a match: 8
   * Derry 4-16 : 4-8 Down (Ulster semi-final)
* Most points in a match: 39
   * Cork 0-24 : 1-15 Waterford (Munster semi-final)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 6
   * Kilkenny 6-21 : 1-14 Laois (Leinster semi-final)
* Most goals scored by a losing team: 4
   * Derry 4-16 : 4-8 Down (Ulster semi-final)
* Most points scored by a losing team: 18
   * Clare 3-15 : 2-18 Galway (All-Ireland quarter-final)
* Widest winning margin: 29 points
   * Tipperary 4-29 : 2-6 Kerry (Munster quarter-final)

### Top scorers

**Overall**

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Joe Deane | Cork | 1-24 | 27 | 4 | 6.75 |
| 1 | Henry Shefflin | Kilkenny | 1-24 | 27 | 4 | 6.75 |
| 3 | D. J. Carey | Kilkenny | 5-10 | 25 | 4 | 6.25 |
| 4 | Tommy Dunne | Tipperary | 0-24 | 24 | 3 | 8.00 |
| 5 | Gregory O'Kane | Antrim | 2-16 | 22 | 3 | 7.33 |
| 6 | Ollie Fahy | Galway | 4-9 | 21 | 3 | 7.00 |
| 6 | Niall Gilligan | Clare | 3-12 | 21 | 4 | 5.25 |
| 8 | Alan Markham | Clare | 2-13 | 19 | 6 | 3.16 |
| 8 | Eugene Cloonan | Offaly | 1-16 | 19 | 3 | 6.33 |
| 8 | Geoffrey McGonagle | Derry | 1-16 | 19 | 2 | 9.50 |

**Single game**

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Eugene Cloonan | Galway | 1-10 | 13 | Clare |
| 2 | Gregory O'Kane | Antrim | 1-9 | 12 | London |
| 3 | Paul Flynn | Waterford | 1-8 | 11 | Limerick |
| 3 | Niall Rigney | Laois | 1-8 | 11 | Kilkenny |
| 5 | Tommy Dunne | Tipperary | 0-10 | 10 | Clare |
| 5 | Henry Shefflin | Kilkenny | 0-10 | 10 | Laois |
| 5 | Niall Rigney | Joe Deane | 0-10 | 10 | Offaly |
| 5 | Geoffrey McGonagle | Derry | 1-7 | 10 | Antrim |
| 5 | Ollie Fahy | Galway | 1-7 | 10 | Roscommon |
| 5 | D. J. Carey | Kilkenny | 2-4 | 10 | Offaly |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Goalkeeper | County | Clean sheets |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Donal Óg Cusack | Cork | 3 |
| 1 | Stephen Byrne | Offaly | 3 |
| 3 | Davy Fitzgerald | Clare | 1 |
| 3 | Stephen Brenner | Waterford | 1 |
| 3 | James McGarry | Kilkenny | 1 |

## Miscellaneous

* The All-Ireland final was decided for the first time ever with both sides failing to score a goal.
