Christy Ring Cup

The Christy Ring Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and named in honour of Christy Ring, a legendary Cork player. Introduced in 2005 to replace the earlier All-Ireland B hurling championship, it began as the second tier of the inter-county hurling championship system and has been the third tier since the introduction of the Joe McDonagh Cup. It is contested by the county teams ranked 18 to 24 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship; the champions are promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup. Its format has changed over the years, from group stages and a double elimination system to a single round-robin group of six teams whose top two contest the final.