The 2008–09 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship was the 39th since the establishment of the competition by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1970–71. The first matches of the season were played on 12 October 2008 and the championship ended on 17 March 2009. Portumna went into the 2008 championship as defending champions, having won their second All-Ireland title the previous year.

The championship culminated with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin. The match was contested by Portumna and De La Salle. It was their first meeting in the final. Portumna won the game by 2–24 to 1–8. It was their second All-Ireland title in succession and an unprecedented third in four years.

Format

The 2008–09 club championship was played on a straight knock-out basis. Each of the sixteen participating counties enter their respective club champions. The format of the competition was as follows:

Sixteen county club champions participated in the 2008–09 championship. These counties were as follows: Leinster: Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford. Munster: Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford. Connacht: Galway. Ulster: Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down.

Provincial Championships

The Leinster, Munster and Ulster championships were played as usual on a straight knock-out basis. The three respective champions from these provinces advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

All-Ireland Series

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The Munster champions played the Ulster champions while the Leinster champions played the champions of Galway. The Galway club champions enter the competition at this stage due to the absence of a provincial club championship in Connacht.

Participating clubs

TeamColoursCountyMost recent successAll-IrelandProvincialCountyAdareLimerick2007Ballyboden St. Enda'sDublin2007Ballygalget Down20052005Ballyhale Shamrocks Kilkenny200720072007BirrOffaly200320072007Clonlara Clare1919De La SalleWaterfordKeady Lámh DheargArmagh2007Kevin Lynch'sDerry2007PortumnaGalway200820072007Ruairí Óg, CushendallAntrim20062006RaharneyWestmeath2006RathdowneyLaois2006Sarsfield'sCork1957St. Martin'sWexford1999ToomevaraTipperary20062006

Fixtures

Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship

Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship

Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship

PORTUMNA: GK 1 Ivan CanningRCB 2 Martin DolphinFB 3 Eugene McEntee LCB 4 Ollie Canning (c)RWB 5 Gareth Heagney CB 6 Míchéal RyanLWB 7 Aidan Donnelly M 8 Eoin LynchM 9 Leo Smith RWF 10 Niall HayesCF 11 Kevin HayesLWF 12 Andrew Smith RCF 13 Damien HayesFF 14 Joe CanningLCF 15 Ciarán Ryan Substitutes:LCF Davy Canning RWB Michael Gill MD Peter Smith LCB John O'Flaherty LWB Pierce Treacy DE LA SALLE: GK 1 Stephen BrennerRCB 2 Alan KellyFB 3 Ian FlynnLCB 4 Michael DohertyRWB 5 Darren RussellCB 6 Kevin MoranLWB 7 Stephen DanielsM 8 Bryan PhelanM 9 Conor Watt RWF 10 Paudie NevinCF 11 Derek McGrath LWF 12 Lee Hayes RCF 13 Dean Twomey FF 14 John Mullane (c)LCF 15 David GreeneSubstitutes:RCF Brian Farrell CF Thomas Kearney RCF James Quirke MD Alan O'Neill RCF Dermot Dooley Match Rules 60 minutes Replay if scores level Maximum of 5 substitutions

Championship statistics

Scoring

Widest winning margin: 26 points Portumna 2–24 : 1–8 De La Salle (All-Ireland final) Most goals in a match: 6 Portumna 5–11 : 1–16 Ballyhale Shamrocks (All-Ireland semi-final) Most points in a match: 40 De La Salle 1–21 : 1–19 Ruairí Óg, Cushendall (All-Ireland semi-final) Most goals by one team in a match: 5 Portumna 5–11 : 1–16 Ballyhale Shamrocks (All-Ireland semi-final) Most points by one team in a match: 26 Ballyhale Shamrocks 0–26 : 0–9 Raharney (Leinster semi-final) Sarsfield's 0–26 : 0–10 Clonlara (Munster quarter-final)

Top scorers

Season Rank Player Club Tally Total Matches Average1Henry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks0–353548.752Simon WhelahanBirr0–222237.333Pat RyanSarsfield's0–2020210.00Joe CanningPortumna2–1420210.004Martin Óg CoulterBallygalget2–111728.505John MullaneDe La Salle1–131644.00Brian PhelanDe La Salle0–161644.006Damien HayesPortumna4-031527.50Shane McNaughtonRuairí Óg3-061535.007Steven ClarkeBallygalget2-051125.50

Single game Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition1Pat RyanSarsfield's0–1414Clonlara2Joe CanningPortumna2–0511Ballyhale Shamrocks3Henry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks0–1010PortumnaHenry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks0–1010RaharneyMartin Óg CoulterBallygalget0–1010Ruairí Óg, Cushendall4Steven ClarkeBallygalget2–039Keady Lámh DheargJoe CanningPortumna0–099De La SalleSimon WhelahanBirr0–099St. Martin's5Damien HayesPortumna2–028De La SalleShane McNaughtonRuairí Óg, Cushendall2–028Kevin Lynch'sHenry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks0–088Rathdowney

Referees The following referees were used during the championship:

Name County Games James McGrath Westmeath 1 Diarmuid Kirwan Cork 1 Declan O'Driscoll Limerick 1 Johnny Ryan Tipperary 3 F. Smith Meath 1 Éamonn Moris Dublin 2 Dommo Connolly Kilkenny 1 Dickie Murphy Wexford 1 Barry Kelly Westmeath 1 Martin Mulholland Derry 1 Declan Magee Down 1 John Devlin Tyrone 1

Stadia The following stadia were used during the championship:

County Stadium Capacity Dublin Croke Park 82,300 Tipperary Semple Stadium 55,000 Limerick Gaelic Grounds 50,000 Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh 43,500 Antrim Casement Park 32,600 Kilkenny Nowlan Park 30,000 Offaly O'Connor Park 20,000 Westmeath Cusack Park 15,000 Dublin Parnell Park 13,500