Division 1A
Clare
Manager: Brian Lohan (6th year).
Main man: Tony Kelly.
2024 league: Went unbeaten to top Division 1A, before beating Tipperary and Kilkenny to claim their fifth league title.
Outlook: The All-Ireland glow ought to last well into the spring. Have only lost Seadna Morey and Paul Flanagan from last year’s squad and both were struggling for game time anyway. Conor Cleary, Shane Meehan and Diarmuid Ryan are injured and Shane O’Donnell presumably won’t see any league action. Plenty of competition for places around the fringes.
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Opening fixture: v Kilkenny, Sunday, Cusack Park, 2pm.
Prediction: 4th.
Cork
Manager: Pat Ryan (3rd season).
Main man: Darragh Fitzgibbon.
2024 league: Lost their first two games but won the remainder to finish third in Division 1A.
Outlook: Expectations are simmering – 2024 proved that they’re not too far away. If they could shine up a diamond or two in the shape of the likes of Diarmuid Healy, Jack Cahalane, Ben Cunningham or Jack Leahy, it will be a successful league campaign. Winning it for the first time since 1998 would obviously do no harm either.
Opening fixture: v Wexford, Wexford Park, Saturday, 5pm.
Prediction: 2nd.
Galway
Manager: Micheál Donoghue (1st year, 2nd stint).
Main man: Conor Whelan.
2024 league: Three wins and a draw meant they finished third in Division 1B.
Outlook: With Gearóid McInerney, Joseph Cooney and Adrian Tuohey all ushered offstage, this has the feel of a reset year. Cathal Mannion will miss most of the league after ankle surgery. They have four away matches and only two at home – a legacy of last year’s game against Limerick being moved to Salthill – so it could be a frustrating league for Donoghue.
Opening fixture: v Tipperary, Pearse Stadium, Sunday, 3.45.
Prediction: 6th.
Kilkenny
Manager: Derek Lyng (3rd season).
Main man: Eoin Cody.
2024 league: Three wins and a draw saw them finish second in Division 1A, before they lost the final to Clare.
Outlook: Lost a fair chunk of experience over the winter with Walter Walsh, Cillian Buckley and Conor Fogarty finishing up. TJ Reid has given no indication that he’ll be following them, making this his 18th season in stripes. Fionán Mackessy will attract plenty of interest, as a Kerry hurler on the Kilkenny panel.
Opening fixture: v Clare, Ennis, Sunday, 2pm.
Limerick
Manager: John Kiely (9th season).
Main man: Cian Lynch.
2024 league: Went unbeaten to top Division 1A, before losing the semi-final to Kilkenny.
Outlook: Was 2024 the end of something or the beginning of something else? Kiely and Paul Kinnerk have cleared the decks to some extent with big changes in the backroom and Lynch taking over from Declan Hannon as captain. Adam English and Cathal O’Neill aren’t newbies anymore and will surely force their way into more regular starts. Can win it, if winning it is on their agenda.
Opening fixture: v Cork, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, February 1st, 7.30.
Prediction: 1st.
Tipperary
Manager: Liam Cahill (3rd season).
Main man: Ronan Maher.
2024 league: Won four matches to finish second in Division 1B, before losing to Clare in the semi-final.
Outlook: Cahill has been typically unstinting over the winter, with Cathal Barrett and Barry Heffernan out in the cold, Bonner Maher and Dan McCormack retired and Mark Kehoe gone travelling. Five of last year’s under-20 All-Ireland runners-up are in the panel, with high hopes for Darragh McCarthy in particular. Noel McGrath returns for his 17th season.
Opening fixture: v Galway, Pearse Stadium, Sunday, 3.45pm.
Prediction: 5th.
Wexford
Manager: Keith Rossiter (2nd season).
Main man: Lee Chin.
2024 league: Three draws and a win over Waterford left them in fourth place in Division 1A.
Outlook: As if the retirements of Matthew O’Hanlon, Liam Óg McGovern and Diarmuid O’Keeffe didn’t already leave them short, Wexford start the league without Lee Chin, Jack O’Connor and Conor McDonald as well. All three will return as the weeks pass but Rossiter has a huge job on his hands to keep them in the top division.
Opening fixture: v Cork, Wexford Park, Saturday, 5pm.
Prediction: 7th.
Division 1B
Antrim
Manager: Davy Fitzgerald (1st year).
Main man: James McNaughton.
2024 league form: Antrim were relegated as the only team to end up with no points in either section of the old Division One. They also had the worst scoring difference.
Outlook: Expected to get a first-season bounce from the appointment of Davy Fitzgerald as manager last August, even though that pattern in Fitzgerald’s managerial career took a hit on his return to Waterford.
Opening fixture: v Dublin, Saturday, Croke Park, 5.15.
Prediction: 3rd.
Carlow
Manager: Tom Mullally (5th year).
Main man: Marty Kavanagh.
2024 league form: Promoted from Division 2A, having lost just one match in the regulation fixtures. Lost the league final to Laois.
Outlook: Absent from the top 12/14 of the hurling league since 2020 but have consistently punched above their weight in the championship against teams with far greater resources. Likely to be in a relegation fight though.
Opening fixture: v Offaly, Saturday, Tullamore, 2.0.
Prediction: 7th.
Dublin
Manager: Niall Ó Ceallacháin (1st year).
Main man: Donal Burke.
2024 league form: Finished fourth in Division One B with two wins – against Antrim and Westmeath – from five matches.
Outlook: Eoghan O’Donnell’s defection to the footballers will leave a big gap to be filled at No 3, but Dublin have produced a couple of notable performances in preseason challenge games and Ó Ceallacháin is an impressive new manager.
Opening fixture: v Antrim, Saturday, Croke Park, 5.15.
Prediction: 1st.
Laois
Manager: Tommy Fitzgerald (1st year).
Main man: Aaron Dunphy.
2024 league form: Beat Carlow in the Division 2A league final, having lost just once in the group stages.
Outlook: Suffered the upheaval of two managerial changes last year: Darren Gleeson replaced Willie Maher, only to step down weeks later due to ill health. Former player Tommy Fitzgerald picked up the torch. Unlikely to push for promotion.
Opening fixture: v Westmeath, Saturday, Cusack Park, 2.0.
Prediction: 4th.
Offaly
Manager: Johnny Kelly (4th year).
Main man: Dan Bourke.
2024 league form: Finished bottom of Division One A with a draw against Wexford and honourable performances against Clare and Kilkenny.
Outlook: More players from the All-Ireland-winning under-20 team should be filtering through, but they will be focused on building for their return to the Leinster championship after a seven-year absence.
Opening fixture: v Carlow, Saturday, Tullamore, 2.0.
Prediction: 5th.
Waterford
Manager: Peter Queally (1st year).
Main man: Dessie Hutchinson.
2024 league form: Finished second from bottom in Division One A with only one win against Offaly. Didn’t lose any game by more than a goal though.
Outlook: Most of their main men will be missing for the league through injury, including Stephen Bennett, Tadhg de Búrca and the returning Austin Gleeson. Calum Lyons and Neil Montgomery have stepped away from the panel to go travelling.
Opening fixture: v Carlow, Saturday, Dr Cullen Park, 6.0.
Prediction: 2nd.
Westmeath
Manager: Seoirse Bulfin (1st year).
Main man: Killian Doyle.
2024 league form: Finished fifth in Division One B with just one win against Antrim. Respectable performances against Tipperary and Limerick.
Outlook: Having been relegated from the Leinster championship in 2023, they only finished mid-table in the Joe McDonagh Cup last year so will need a restorative league under new management.
Opening fixture: v Laois, Saturday, Cusack Park, 2.0.
Prediction: 6th.
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