2013 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The 2013 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 126th staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment in 1887. The draw for the 2013 fixtures took place on 4 October 2012. The championship began on 5 May 2013 and ended on 28 September 2013 with Clare winning their fourth All Ireland title after a 5–16 to 3–16 win against Cork in the replayed final.
| Championship details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 5 May — 28 September 2013 |
| Teams | 15 |
| All-Ireland champions | |
| Winning team | Clare (4th win) |
| Captain | Patrick Donnellan |
| Manager | Davy Fitzgerald |
| All-Ireland Finalists | |
| Losing team | Cork |
| Captain | Pa Cronin |
| Manager | Jimmy Barry-Murphy |
| Provincial champions | |
| Munster | Limerick |
| Leinster | Dublin |
| Ulster | Antrim |
| Connacht | Not Played |
| Championship statistics | |
| No. matches played | 21 |
| Goals total | 48 (2.28 per game) |
| Points total | 710 (33.80 per game) |
| Top Scorer | Colin Ryan (0-70) |
| Player of the Year | Tony Kelly |
| All-Star Team | See here |
← 2012 2014 → | |
Kilkenny were the defending champions. However, they were knocked out of the Leinster Championship by eventual Leinster champions Dublin at the semi-final stage and Cork saw them off in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Limerick won the Munster Championship for the first time since 1996. Cork defeated Dublin and Clare defeated Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
The 2013 Championship has been described by many as one of the best ever. In February 2014, the GAA announced that both the 2013 football and hurling Championships brought in €11.9m in gate receipts, an increase of €1.3m for the hurling championship.
The introduction of Hawk-Eye for Championship matches at Croke Park fell foul in a high-profile blunder by the computer system which led to use of Hawk-Eye being suspended during the All-Ireland semi-finals on 18 August. During the minor game between Limerick and Galway, Hawk-Eye ruled a point for Limerick as a miss although the graphic showed the ball passing inside the posts, causing confusion around the stadium - the referee ultimately waved the valid point wide provoking anger from fans, viewers and TV analysts covering the game live. The system was subsequently stood down for the senior game which followed, owing to "an inconsistency in the generation of a graphic". Hawk-Eye admitted they were to blame and as a result Limerick, who were narrowly defeated after extra-time, announced they would be appealing over Hawk-Eye's costly failure. The incident drew attention from the UK, where Hawk-Eye had made its debut in English soccer's Premier League the day before.