The 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup was the eighth staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.
Offaly, winner of the 2024 final, were promoted to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, replaced by Carlow who were relegated back to this competition. Kildare were promoted from the Christy Ring Cup.
The top two teams from the round robin stage played off in a final to decide the winner, both finalists also advancing to the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship knock-out stages. The bottom team was relegated to Christy Ring Cup.
Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
Initially each of the six teams played the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games competed in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up also advanced to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals, with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.
If the Joe McDonagh champion was a non-Munster team, they would be automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship.
The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup was automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and was replaced by the Christy Ring Cup winner.
The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2025 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Leinster (4)
Munster (1)
Ulster (1)
Six counties will compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup: