The 2026 Christy Ring Cup will be the twenty-second edition of the Christy Ring Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005 and is the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It will be contested by six GAA county teams ranked 18âÂÂ23 in the 2026 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The competition runs from 12 April to 30/31 May 2026.
London, winner of the 2025 final, were promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup, replaced by Kerry who were relegated to this competition. Roscommon were promoted from the Nicky Rackard Cup, replacing Tyrone.
The top 2 teams from the round robin stage will play off in the final to decide the winner.
The bottom team will be relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup.
Relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup
Promoted from the Nicky Rackard Cup
Promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup
Relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup
Initially each of the six teams will play the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games will compete in the Christy Ring Cup Final.
The winner of the Christy Ring Cup will be automatically promoted to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup and replaced by the bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
The bottom-placed team in the Christy Ring Cup will be automatically relegated to the following year's Nicky Rackard Cup and replaced by the Nicky Rackard Cup champions. However, if New York are the Nicky Rackard Cup champions, no team will be relegated from the Christy Ring Cup.
The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2026 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Connacht (1)
Leinster (2)
Munster (1)
Ulster (2)
In a single game