The 2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (known as the Guinness Hurling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The draws for the respective provincial championships took place on 27 October 2001. The championship ran from 27 April to 8 September 2002.
Tipperary entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final.
The All-Ireland final was played on 8 September 2002 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Kilkenny and Clare, in what was their fourth championship meeting overall but their first All-Ireland final meeting in 70 years. Kilkenny won the match by 2-20 to 0-19 to claim their 27th All-Ireland title overall and a first title in two years.
Tipperary's Eoin Kelly was the championship's top scorer with 2-39.
Teams
General information
Twenty one counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: one team in the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, ten teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship.
All-Ireland final
The new Qualifier system threw up an interesting pairing in the All-Ireland final. It was the Leinster champions Kilkenny versus Clare, who were knocked out of the provincial championship in the very first round. Kilkenny had the upper hand for the whole game as D.J. Carey and Henry Shefflin scored goals for Kilkenny. Clare narrowed Kilkenny's lead in the second half, however, they missed two goal chances. Kilkenny won the title for the 27th time.