Clare Senior Hurling Championship

Following the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, new rules for gaelic football and hurling were drawn up and published in the United Irishman newspaper. Over the following three years, county committees were established, with the Clare County Board holding their inaugural meeting on 14 February 1887. The inaugural championship in 1887, saw twenty-two clubs competing, with Smith O'Brien's, Killaloe claiming their first and only title. Since then the championship title has been awarded every year except on nine occasions. No championship took place for a five-year period between 1891 and 1895 or in 1901. The early years of the championship was dominated by Tulla winning eight titles, two of which were won by Carahan, who later became the one club. O'Callaghan's Mills (5), Ennis Dalcassians (4), Kilnamona (3), Newmarket-on-Fergus (2), and Scariff (2) were the only other teams to win multiple titles before the championship was suspended from 1920 to 1922 due to civil unrest during the Irish War of Independence.

Newmarket-on-Fergus (5) and Ennis Dalcassians (4) dominated the period between 1924 and 1934 winning nine titles between them. Feakle claimed five of the ten titles on offer between 1935 and 1944, including a three-in-a-row from 1938 to 1940. The Jimmy Smyth-inspired Ruan won five titles between 1948 and 1962. The next twenty years was again dominated by Newmarket-on-Fergus who returned after a period in the doldrums to claim thirteen titles between 1963 and 1981, including two three-in-a-rows (1963-1965 and 1967–1969), and a historic four-in-a-row from 1971 to 1974. No other club has won more than back-to-back titles since. The remainder of the 20th century saw Sixmilebridge (6) and Clarecastle (5) win eleven titles between them. From 1995-2000 the Clare champions went on to win six consecutive Munster Senior Club Hurling Championships (Clarecastle, Sixmilebridge (2), Doora-Barefield (2), and Wolfe Tones, Shannon) and two All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championships (Sixmilebridge and Doora-Barefield).

In 2007 Tulla ended a seventy-four year wait to win their first title since 1933. The following year Clonlara bridged an eighty-nine year gap from 1919 when then won their second county title. There has also been a number of first-time champions since the turn of the millennium with Ballyea, Cratloe, and Crusheen all having won multiple titles since 2009. Since 2015, Ballyea (4) and Sixmilebridge (4) have shared every title between them but have never met in the county final.

Cusack Park

Fixtures in the opening rounds of the championship are usually played at a neutral venue that is deemed halfway between the participating teams. Some of the more common venues include O'Garney Park in Sixmilebridge, Dr Daly Park in Tulla, and Shannon. Cusack Park in Ennis also hosts several double-headers in the early rounds of the championship.

The final is regularly played at Cusack Park in Ennis. Named after the founder of the GAA, Michael Cusack, the ground had an original capacity of about 28,000, but following a 2011 safety review, the certified capacity was reduced to 14,864. In 2015 a major renovation started, this included the demolition and re-erection of the main stand and construction of a new entrance/exit at the north side of the stadium. Once completed in late 2017 the official capacity was increased to 19,000

• 4-in-a-row:
  • Once by Newmarket-on-Fergus (1971-1974)
• 3-in-a-row:
  • Three times by Newmarket-on-Fergus (1925-1927), (1963-1965), and (1967-1969)
  • Once by Feakle (1938-1940)

The following clubs have won both the Clare Senior Hurling Championship and Clare Senior Football Championship in the same year:

• Four times by Ennis Dalcassians (1890, 1911, 1914, 1929)
• Once by Cratloe (2014)

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Clare Senior Hurling Championship titles they won, is as follows:

• 1880s: One title each for Smith O'Brien's, Killaloe (1887), Ogonnelloe (1888) & Tulla (1889)
• 1890s: Three titles for Tulla (1896, 1897, 1899)
• 1900s: Three titles each for Kilnamona (1902, 1903, 1908) & O'Callaghan's Mills (1904, 1906, 1909)
• 1910s: Three titles for Ennis Dalcassians (1911, 1914, 1915)
• 1920s: Three titles each for Newmarket-on-Fergus (1925, 1926, 1927) & Ennis Dalcassians (1924, 1928 (with Clarecastle), 1929)
• 1930s: Three titles each for Newmarket-on-Fergus (1930, 1931, 1936) & Feakle (1935, 1938, 1939)
• 1940s: Three titles for Clarecastle (1943, 1945, 1949)
• 1950s: Two titles each for Scariff (1952, 1953), Éire Óg (1956, 1957), St. Joseph's, Doora-Barefield (1954, 1958) & Ruan (1951, 1959)
• 1960s: Six titles for Newmarket-on-Fergus (1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969)
• 1970s: Six titles for Newmarket-on-Fergus (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978)
• 1980s: Three titles for Sixmilebridge (1983, 1984, 1989)
• 1990s: Three titles each for Sixmilebridge (1992, 1993, 1995) & Clarecastle (1991, 1994, 1997)
• 2000s: Two titles each for Sixmilebridge (2000, 2002) & Clarecastle (2003, 2005)
• 2010s: Four titles for Sixmilebridge (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
• 2020s: Two titles for Ballyea (2021, 2022)

The longest gaps between successive Clare Senior Hurling Championship titles are:

• 89 years: Clonlara (1919-2008)
• 74 years: Tulla (1933-2007)
• 44 years: Feakle (1944-1988)
• 40 years: St. Joseph's, Doora-Barefield (1958-1998)
• 31 years: Newmarket-on-Fergus (1981-2012)
• 29 years: Scariff (1917-1946)
• 21 years: Ennis Dalcassians (1890-1911) & Clarecastle (1949-1970)
• 20 years: Tulla (1913-1933)
• 19 years: O'Callaghan's Mills (1918-1937), Newmarket-on-Fergus (1936-1955) & Kilmaley (1985-2004)
• 16 years: Clarecastle (1970-1986)
• 15 years: Clonlara (2008-2023)
• 14 years: Éire Óg, Ennis (1966-1980)
• 11 years: Whitegate (1950-1961) & Sixmilebridge (2002-2013)
• 10 years: Scariff (1907-1917), Wolfe Tones, Shannon (1996-2006)