Search
17 Dec 2025
Search
17 Dec 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Eoin Cody of Kilkenny in action against Robert Doyle of Tipperary during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final earlier this year. Picture: Sportsfile
Kilkenny hurling fans will get an early Christmas present as the county’s senior hurlers will be out in action this weekend.
Derek Lyng’s side will begin their preparations for 2026 when they face Tipperary in a challenge game in Templetuohy on Saturday afternoon.
While it will be Kilkenny’s first bit of preseason action, the Premier County got a taste for it last weekend when they faced off with Limerick in the Champions Under Lights Challenge in aid of the Dylan Quirke Foundation in Fethard.
Saturday’s game was played as a double-header alongside the Tipperary and Kerry football affair as the Town Park venue played host to a large attendance. Tipperary ran out one point winners in the hurling encounter with a number of new faces on show as Liam Cahill opted to have a look at some of the unknown quantities in his extended panel.
The game on Saturday will bring back memories of their controversial All-Ireland semi-final clash in Croke Park last July when a scoreboard error dented Kilkenny’s chances as they fell to an agonising two point defeat.
Tipperary then went on to beat Cork in the All-Ireland decider a fortnight later, so there is certainly a bit of regret at how things transpired for Derek Lyng and the management team.
This game will also give a chance to newly-appointed selectors Eddie Brennan and Niall Corcoran to get a look at their troops in a competitive environment with the Walsh Cup returning after a one-year absence when Kilkenny travel to Mullingar to meet Westmeath on the first Sunday in January.
The league will then arrive quickly on the horizon with the Noresiders entertaining Offaly in the ’Park on Sunday, January 25 so getting in a game against top quality opposition should prove invaluable in the coming weeks as Derek Lyng looks to widen his search for new talent after the news that Huw Lawlor and Billy Ryan will be unavailable for the upcoming season.
The meeting of the neighbours will have a 1pm start on Saturday and all profits from the game are in aid of Mary’s Meals Ireland.
All donations on the day will also be doubled by the Tom Cunningham Trust in what is a very worthwhile cause.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
