| Year: | 1972 |
| Dates: | 14 May - 3 September 1972 |
| Teams: | 15 |
| Team: | Kilkenny |
| Titles: | 18th |
| Captain: | Noel Skehan |
| Team2: | Cork |
| Munster: | Cork |
| Leinster: | Kilkenny |
| Poty: | Eddie Keher |
| Matches: | 16 |
| Totalgoals: | 111 (6.93 per game) |
| Totalpoints: | 368 (23 per game) |
| Next: | 1973 |
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was the 85th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Kilkenny won the championship, beating Cork 3-24 to 5-11 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.
| Round | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Leinster First Round | Saturday 14 May 1972 | |
| Munster First Round | Sunday 22 May 1972 | |
| Leinster Final | Sunday 9 July 1972 | |
| Munster Final | Sunday 30 July 1972 | |
| Leinster Final Replay | Sunday 30 July 1972 | |
| All-Ireland Quarter-Final | Sunday 23 July 1972 | |
| All-Ireland Semi-Finals | Sunday 6 August 1972 | |
| All-Ireland Final | Sunday 3 September 1972 |
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces - there were no seeds.
Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If that match ended in a draw a period of extra time was played, however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time another replay had to take place.
| Province | County | Most recent success | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Ireland | Provincial | |||
| Leinster | Dublin | 1938 | 1961 | |
| Kildare | ||||
| Kilkenny | 1971 | 1969 | ||
| Laois | 1915 | 1949 | ||
| Offaly | ||||
| Westmeath | ||||
| Wexford | 1968 | 1970 | ||
| Munster | Clare | 1914 | 1932 | |
| Cork | 1970 | 1970 | ||
| Limerick | 1940 | 1955 | ||
| Tipperary | 1971 | 1971 | ||
| Waterford | 1959 | 1963 | ||
| Connacht | Galway | 1923 | 1922 | |
| Ulster | Antrim | 1946 | ||
| Britain | London | 1901 | ||
Munster Championship
Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.
Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.
Leinster Championship
First Round: (1 match) This was a single match between two of the 'weaker' teams drawn from the province of Leinster.
Quarter-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the first round game joined three other Leinster teams to make up the quarter-final pairings.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals joined Kilkenny and Wexford, who received a bye to this stage, to make up the semi-final pairings.
Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.
All-Ireland Championship
Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between Antrim and Galway, two teams who faced no competition in their respective provinces.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined London and the Munster and Leinster champions to make up the quarter-final pairings. The provincial champions were drawn in opposite semi-finals.
Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.
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See main article: 1972 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final.
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 6-46 | 64 | 5 | 12.8 |
| 2 | Charlie McCarthy | Cork | 3-33 | 42 | 6 | 7.0 |
| 3 | Ray Cummins | Cork | 7-10 | 31 | 6 | 5.1 |
| 4 | Seánie O'Leary | Cork | 8-3 | 27 | 6 | 4.5 |
| 5 | Pat Delaney | Kilkenny | 4-13 | 25 | 5 | 5.0 |
| 6 | Éamonn Flynn | Dublin | 2-11 | 17 | 2 | 8.50 |
| Dan Quigley | Wexford | 2-11 | 17 | 3 | 5.66 | |
| 8 | Phil Dillon | Laois | 3-6 | 15 | 2 | 7.50 |
| Tony Doran | Wexford | 2-9 | 15 | 3 | 5.00 | |
| 10 | Jimmy Hughes | Galway | 3-2 | 11 | 2 | 5.60 |
| Pádraic Fahy | Galway | 0-11 | 11 | 2 | 5.60 |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 0-17 | 17 | Galway |
| 2 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 2-9 | 15 | Cork |
| Charlie McCarthy | Cork | 2-9 | 15 | Clare | |
| 4 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 2-5 | 11 | Wexford |
| Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 1-8 | 11 | Wexford | |
| Pat Delaney | Kilkenny | 2-5 | 11 | Galway | |
| 7 | Eddie Keher | Kilkenny | 1-7 | 10 | Laois |
| Tom Ryan | Galway | 3-1 | 10 | Antrim | |
| 9 | Seánie O'Leary | Cork | 3-0 | 9 | London |
| Ray Cummins | Cork | 2-3 | 9 | Kilkenny | |
| Eddie Donnelly | Antrim | 2-3 | 9 | Galway | |
| Phil Dillon | Laois | 2-3 | 9 | Kilkenny |
The following players made their début in the 1972 championship:
The following players played their last game in the 1972 championship:
The following stadia were used during the championship:
| County | Stadium | |
|---|---|---|
| Antrim | ||
| Clare | Cusack Park | |
| Cork | ||
| Dublin | ||
| Kilkenny | ||
| Laois | ||
| Limerick | ||
| Tipperary |