Kilkenny Senior Football Championship
The Kilkenny Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the J. J. Kavanagh & Sons Senior Football Championship and abbreviated to the Kilkenny SFC) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by the Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested by the top-ranking senior clubs in the county of Kilkenny in Ireland. It is the most prestigious competition in Kilkenny Gaelic football.
| Kilkenny Senior Football Championship | |
|---|---|
| Irish | Craobh Peile Sinsearach Chill Chainnigh |
| Code | Gaelic football |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Region | Kilkenny (GAA) |
| No. of teams | 13 |
| Title holders | Mullinavat (7th title) |
| Most titles | Railyard (22 titles) |
| Sponsors | J. J. Kavanagh & Sons |
| Official website | Kilkenny GAA |
Introduced in 1887 as the Kilkenny Football Championship, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to senior-ranking club teams. The championship has gone through a number of changes throughout the years, including the use of a round robin, before reverting to a straight knockout format.
In its current format, the Kilkenny Senior Championship begins in April with a first round series of games comprising ten teams, while the three remaining teams receive byes to the quarter-final stage. A team's finishing position in the Kilkenny Senior Football League determines at what stage they enter the championship. Four rounds of games are played, culminating with the final match at Nowlan Park. The winner of the Kilkenny Senior Championship qualifies for the subsequent Leinster Intermediate Club Championship.
The competition has been won by 35 teams, 18 of which have won it more than once. Railyard is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won it 22 times. Mullinavat are the reigning champions, having beaten Thomastown by 3–07 to 1–09 in the 2023 final.