SATURDAY 20 APRIL
Joe McDonagh Cup
Down v Meath, Ballycran, 2pm
Christy Ring Cup
London v Sligo, Ruislip, 1pm
Derry v Tyrone, Owenbeg, 1pm
Nicky Rackard Cup
Donegal v Mayo, Letterkenny, 2pm
Monaghan v Roscommon, Inniskeen, 2pm
Lory Meagher Cup
Lancashire v Leitrim, St Joseph's, Glenavy, 2pm
Fermanagh v Cavan, Enniskillen, 3pm
SUNDAY 21 APRIL
Leinster SHC round robin - round 1
Galway v Carlow, Pearse Stadium, 2pm
Wexford v Dublin, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 2pm
Kilkenny v Antrim, Nowlan Park, 2.30pm
Munster SHC round robin - round 1
Clare v Limerick, Cusack Park, 2pm
Waterford v Cork, Walsh Park, 4pm
Joe McDonagh Cup
Laois v Offaly, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 2pm
Westmeath v Kerry, TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar, 2pm
Christy Ring Cup
Kildare v Wicklow, Manguard Park Pitch 1, 2pm
Nicky Rackard Cup
Louth v Armagh, Dowdallshill, 2pm
Lory Meagher Cup
Warwickshire v Longford, Páirc na hÉireann, 1pm
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Has the Irish summer finally arrived? Yes and no, but it should be dry wherever you're going. Highs of 16 degrees in Ennis, Kilkenny and Salthill, while it'll be more like 10 degrees at Wexford Park and Walsh Park.
For a detailed forecast go to met.ie.
It's finally here, the beginning of the provincial hurling championships.
It'll be a slow start in Leinster, with Wexford versus Dublin the standout game, while Kilkenny and Galway will be expecting to pick up two points in comfortable fashion against Antrim and Carlow respectively.
The Munster Championship, on the other hand, promises to burst into life.
It's fair to say that there isn't a bad game in the southern province but to have the two best teams in the country getting the action underway in Ennis is about the best start you could have asked for.
Over at Walsh Park, the perceived negativity surrounding Davy Fitzgerald's second stint in charge of Waterford could be forgotten about if they were to beat Cork.
Unprecedented dominance
Limerick finally begin their potentially defining year after much build-up since last July. As soon as they had seen off Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, talk was turning to the potential for the five-in-a-row.
The Dublin footballers did it in 2019, and now, just five years later, might we be seeing it happen in hurling for the first time?
There's a long way to go yet, with four provincial games and at least another two in the All-Ireland series to come, but this is a chance for immortality for this group of hurlers from the Treaty City.
They've lost just one of their last 15 games in Munster, and you have to go back to 2018 for the last time they failed to lift the Mick Mackey Cup.
The recent return of Declan Hannon, after nearly nine months on the sidelines, has been a welcome boost for John Kiely.
Banner confidence
Clare had a good spring culminating in them become the Allianz Hurling League champions for the fifth time.
When it has been asked as to who might challenge Limerick in the last 18-24 months, the Banner have been the county that most have pointed to.
Last season they did get one over on Kiely's side in the round robin in Munster, before losing the provincial final leaving the aggregate score between the two counties last summer at: Clare 2-46 Limerick 3-43.
It took extra-time to separate the sides in the 2022 Munster final, while that year's round robin game also ended in a draw. So Brian Lohan will know that his side are more than capable of taking something from the game.
Ankle surgery for star player Tony Kelly late last year has left Lohan sweating on his fitness ahead of the game, although he is named on the bench, while the Shane O'Donnell got game time in the league final victory over Kilkenny.
Must not lose
The other game in Munster is intriguing. Given their record in the round-robin years, every other county will be targeting Waterford for two points.
The Déise, however, will know that if they're to finally finish in the top three in Munster, they have to start winning games, and the new and improved Walsh Park will hopefully, for them, prove to be a happy hunting ground.
The mood music around Waterford hasn't been great with low attendances during a disappointing league campaign.
"If we get a win or two at all, you'll see a change. But we have to work hard and do our side of things," he acknowledged.
"We haven't been far away and we’ve blooded over 30 players in the league. I’m happy with that. Can I stop the rumours? No, I can’t. You know what, let them off."
There was some positive news on the injury front for Fitzgerald in the last few weeks, with Stephen Bennett, Conor Prunty, Tadhg de Búrca and Calum Lyons all named to start on Sunday.
Rebel lessons
Cork manager Pat Ryan has admitted that he got things wrong last season when not giving his team enough recovery time between games.
With Clare to come on Sunday week, Ryan says he will be taking a different approach this time around.
"We probably needed to give lads a bit of a break afterwards. We got lads back in straight away the next day for a bit of recovery and analysis work.
"We have an extra day this time between the Waterford and Clare games. We'll probably give them a bit more of a break this time."
The Cork players will know that two defeats could as good as spell the end of their year before the start of May, so it's a massive seven-day period for the them.
Ryan will have a near full strength squad to choose from, with Shane Kingston and Declan Dalton the only absentees.
The Rebels have a good recent record against Waterford, having won four of the five championship meetings played between the counties since the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final.
Do or die in the south east
Without doubt, Chadwicks Wexford Park is the place to head to if you're looking for a game to attend in the Leinster championship this weekend.
While only the first game of the championship, a defeat for Wexford or Dublin will leave either with a mountain to climb to finish in the top three in the province at the end of next month.
Both counties have had issues beating at least one of the 'big' counties in the province of late, with Wexford's last championship win against Galway coming 28 years ago, en route to their most recent Liam MacCarthy triumph.
Dublin have struggled (like most counties bar Wexford and Limerick) to beat Kilkenny in championship with 2013's semi-final replay victory the only time it has happened this side of the Second World War.
Wexford had an impressive league campaign, losing just once against Cork, with their status in Division 1A already secured for 2025 by that stage.
Sunday's game will mark Keith Rossiter's first championship fixture in charge of his native county, and his perceived open approach has been welcomed along the banks of the Slaney.
He was able to bring Mark Fanning - an accurate distributor of puckouts and a brilliant shot stopper - back into the fold, while he's likely to to be able to call upon talismanic duo Rory O'Connor and Lee Chin on Sunday, with both having missed chunks of the league.
Considering the gradual fade off in form that Dublin have suffered in the last half decade, they still have a good record against Wexford. One championship defeat since 2009 will give the Sky Blues confidence, while Micheál Donoghue has been able to welcome back some of his big players over the course of the league, including Danny Sutcliffe, Chris Crummey and Donal Burke.
That said, the fitness of arguably their most important player, Eoghan O'Donnell, is still uncertain.
Straightforward start for the big two
The other two games in the eastern province have a bit of a Leinster football championship feel to them, with Kilkenny starting their quest for a first five in a row in the province since 2009 against Antrim.
The Saffrons will fancy their chances against Carlow, Dublin and Wexford, but it would be a gargantuan shock if they were to take anything from Nowlan Park.
Galway, meanwhile, should have lifted the Bob O'Keeffe Cup last summer, only to be sucker-punched by Cillian Buckley's goal deep into added time against the Cats.
The Tribesmen open their account by welcoming the perceived weakest team in the province - Carlow - to Pearse Stadium.
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