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The Christy Ring Cup is in effect a competition for the "Division 2" hurling teams, the so-called middle-ranking hurling teams in Ireland. It is an extension of the Guinness All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the premier knock-out hurling competition. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played during the summer months with the Final being played in Croke Park, Dublin.
The Christy Ring Cup is the name of the Cup that hurling teams play for in the final of this newly created competition. The cup and competition are named after Christy Ring, considered to be the greatest hurler of all time. The winner of this cup goes on to play in the participate in the All-Ireland series for the Liam McCarthy Cup the following year. The inaugural "Christy Ring Cup" final was played on Sunday 14 August 2005 between Down and Westmeath.
[edit] Format
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Twelve teams will participate in the Christy Ring Cup 2008. They are:
Two groups of five teams were drawn and each team played four games at the group stages. The top two teams in each group qualified for the semi-finals with the winners meeting in the final. The bottom two teams in each group qualified for the relegation semi-finals with the losers meeting in the final. The loser of that match was be relegated to "Tier 3" - the Nicky Rackard Cup. Unlike the previous two competitions the winners of this years competition will not be guaranteed promotion to the Liam McCarthy Cup ("Tier 1") for next season. There will be a play-off between the winners of the Christy Ring cup and the losers of the Tier 1 relegation play-off.
[edit] Past winners
