The second tier of the Allianz Hurling League houses an eclectic bunch as ever, including both the 2024 All-Ireland champions and the 2024 Christy Ring champions, as well as All-Ireland semi-finalists from last summer.
Four of the counties will be hurling in the provincial championships this summer, including Kildare, who have secured back-to-back promotions in the championship.
It's anticipated that 1B will be a three-way battle for the two promotion spots, with Clare the hottest of favourites to top the table, while Dublin and Wexford, so often engaged in a straight shootout for progression from Leinster, are expected to go head-to-head for a spot in 1A.
Carlow, under new management, will hope to bounce back from a year of near misses in 2025. Antrim are back in the Joe McDonagh after a difficult first campaign under Davy Fitzgerald.
Joe McDonagh champions Kildare will be hoping to ride the wave of momentum a bit further, while Down will seek to recover their early 2025 form - and leave their summer 2025 form where it was.
While the division is colloquially referred to as the second tier, it retains the 1B nomenclature for reasons unknown.
Antrim
2025 league: Fifth in Division 1B
2025 championship: Sixth in Leinster SHC, demotion to Joe McDonagh Cup
Manager: Davy Fitzgerald
Squad news: Keelan Molloy and Seean Elliott flirted with a move to Mark Doran's Antrim football squad but ultimately threw their lot in with the hurlers once again. Long-serving goalkeeper Ryan Elliott has stepped away, as has his cousin Nigel, while Eoghan Campbell’s absence is a major blow to their defensive strength.
Lie of the land
Fitzgerald's first year in Antrim was rather rocky. The county's three-year run in the Leinster SHC came to an end, while the manager engaged in a war of words with Antrim legend Sambo McNaughton and earned an eight-week ban for announcing that referee Johnny Murphy "despised" him.
Notwithstanding all that, and the torturous commute from Sixmilebridge to the north east, Fitzgerald is back for another year with the county.
They lost all five of their championship games last season, though they were unexpectedly competitive in the critical do-or-die game against Offaly in the final round, almost pulling off an upset victory in Tullamore.
Pre-season ended with a loss in the Walsh Cup shield semi-final to Kildare, the Leinster SHC newcomers winning 0-17 to 2-10, while Antrim paid the price for poor shooting.
Prediction: 5th
Carlow
2025 league: Fourth in Division 1B
2025 championship: Third in Joe McDonagh Cup
Manager: Pat Bennett
Squad news: Carlow will be without James Doyle and Ciaran Whelan for the early stages of the league, though the biggest change is on the managerial side with Pat Bennett replacing Tom Mullally, the latter departing after a reasonably successful five-year reign.
Lie of the land
Carlow missed out on the Joe McDonagh final in excruciating fashion last year, James Duggan's goal deep in injury-time grabbing a draw for Laois in the final round robin game and nabbing a place in the decider.
The game was the final one of Mullally's five-year stint in Carlow, which saw them win the 2023 Joe McDonagh Cup and then mount a highly credible showing in the 2024 Leinster SHC, highlighted by their home draw with Kilkenny.
Last year certainly didn't witness a major deterioration and they looked capable of mounting a promotion push after a shock win over Waterford in Peter Queally's first game as Déise manager. Waterford, however, regrouped enough to seal the Division 1B title, while Carlow slipped up late on with a draw at home to Antrim and a loss to Westmeath.
Prediction: 6th
Clare
2025 league: Seventh in Division 1A
2025 championship: Fourth in Munster SHC, elimination at provincial stage
Manager: Brian Lohan (seventh year)
Squad news: There's some carry over from last year with the door apparently slammed on any involvement for Aidan McCarthy in 2026. The free-taker was excluded from the squad for the crucial Munster SHC game against Tipperary last year and then went on social media to stress he did not walk away from the panel and was available if selected.
Lohan gave short shrift to questions on the matter after they won their final championship game in Limerick the following week: "He's not on the panel. We've loads of guys on the panel and that's who we're going to talk about."
The Inagh-Kilnamona star has been left off the panel, as have four others, though only Patrick Crotty has any experience of championship action.
2024 Hurler of the Year Shane O'Donnell has committed for 2026, though as ever, is expected to remain in hibernation for the league.
Lie of the land
As in 2014, Clare experienced a fallow year after winning the All-Ireland, suffering relegation from the top tier and then becoming one of the first contenders to officially exit the championship, following their defeat to Tipperary in Round 3 and Limerick's win over Cork the next day.
The psychology required to stack All-Ireland titles one after another evidently doesn't yet exist in the county, though they did go seriously close in 1998.
Relegation to the second tier is hardly the end of the world. Certainly, residing in the second tier didn't hamper Galway's progress in 2017, nor Limerick's in 2018. Nor did it have a major adverse impact on Dublin last year.
They host Dublin in the opening weekend in Ennis in a match between the two clear promotion favourites.
Prediction: 1st
Dublin
2025 league: Third in Division 1B
2025 championship: All-Ireland semi-finalists
Manager: Niall Ó Ceallachain (2nd year)
Squad news: Danny Sutcliffe's retirement from inter-county hurling was confirmed last week after a 15-year career.
On the other side, Eoghan O'Donnell, after a fairly unproductive year with the football panel, has returned to the warm embrace of the hurling squad for 2026.
Lie of the land
Niall O Ceallachain had a strong first campaign in charge, even if it ended with a seven-goal pasting.
The high point was their remarkable victory over Limerick, probably the biggest championship shock since the 1989 Antrim-Offaly semi-final and Dublin hurling's greatest day since 2013.
O Ceallachain's insistence afterwards that there was little that could be done to shackle the Cork full-forward line didn't age terribly well.
With Clare favourites to top the table, depending on their attitude, it's anticipated that Dublin will be in a straight battle with Wexford - something they're used to in summertime - for the other promotion spot.
The Dubs have had the edge in this match-up in recent years, having won three of the past five Leinster SHC games between the pair and drawing the other two.
Prediction: 2nd
Down
2025 league: Division 2 champions
2025 championship: Fifth in Joe McDonagh Cup
Manager: Ronan Sheehan (Eighth year)
Squad news: Key man Tom McGrattan's recovery from a cruciate injury is on track, but the player will be doing well to see any league action at all. John McManus and Tim Prenter also carry knocks, although they are minor in comparison. Most of the panel remains as is, with Carryduff youngster Liam Blaney one to watch.
Lie of the land
A rather peculiar 2025 season for Down, which ultimately ended with them in a stronger position than they started. Early on in the year, they roared to the Division 2 title, defeating Kildare in the final, burying four goals.
They then proceeded to stink out the joint in the Joe McDonagh, conceding 6-23 and 6-36 in their opening two games against Carlow and Laois. The drop-off was hard to fathom for outsiders but it wasn't fatal. Down came good against Kerry in the penultimate game and stayed in the championship second tier on the head-to-head despite a significantly worse score difference.
Sheehan has been Down manager since 2018, when the county were in Division 2B. They secured promotion back in 2020 and last year's Division 2 triumph was their first since 2004.
Prediction: 7th
Kildare
2025 league: Runner-up in Division 2
2025 championship: Joe McDonagh champions
Manager: Brian Dowling (third year)
Squad news: Kildare are boosted by the return of Naas's Conan Boran, who missed the entirety of the landmark 2025 season after his injury suffered in the 2024 Kildare SHC final. He was named at centre-back for their Walsh Cup shield final against Kilkenny.
Lie of the land
Kildare hurling faces into its biggest year yet after a near-perfect 2025, which yielded promotion to Division 1 and, more significantly, Joe McDonagh success.
In modern times, the county had spent much time bobbing about between the Christy Ring and Joe McDonagh, winning the former five times between 2014 and 2024.
Under former Kilkenny hurler and All-Ireland camogie championship winning manager Brian Dowling, they've taken an enormous leap, securing the third and second tier championship titles in successive seasons.
The year has started promisingly, after the weather and a coin toss went against them for the visit of Galway. They pipped Antrim and lost narrowly to Kilkenny in the Walsh Cup Shield. James Dolan hit 1-01, while Gerry Keegan landed 0-05, with Jack Sheridan chipping away from placed balls.
Survival and consolidation will be the aim, needless to say.
Prediction: 4th
Wexford
2025 league: Sixth in Division 1A
2025 championship: Fourth in Leinster SHC, eliminated at provincial stage
Manager: Keith Rossiter (third year)
Squad news: The absence of Rory O'Connor, following his heroics in the club championship, is an extra-special sickener for Wexford, the St Martin's star likely to miss most, if not all, of the 2026 season due to travel plans.
Charlie McGuckin and Eoin Ryan have also opted out, as have Padraig and Oisín Foley. There is still uncertainty over the involvement of Liam Ryan, Cathal Dunbar and Conor McDonald, though Rossiter is hopeful the trio will return.
They remain heavily dependent on Lee Chin, who turned 33 in October and was as inspirational as ever in a doomed cause last summer. But on top of everything else, he's recovering from a muscle injury.
In better news, Conor Hearne has rejoined the panel and Damien and Shane Reck are back.
Lie of the land
Rare shaft of light for Wexford hurling in what has been a lean half-decade, with St Martin's rousing Leinster championship victory, beating Ballyhale Shamrocks in the final. It's only the second time a Wexford club have won Leinster in the 21st century, following Oulart-the-Balagh, who got there - after numerous heartbreaks - in 2015. At least one of the O'Connor brothers, Jack, looks like being around for this campaign.
Keith Rossiter had a decent first year in charge, in which they recovered from the jolt of an away loss to Antrim to record their first championship win over Galway since 1996 and qualify for the All-Ireland quarter-finals. However, last summer's showing had little to recommend to it. They lost to Dublin and then, badly, in Salthill, essentially guaranteeing an early exit. It was apparent to everyone that their final round win over a Leinster final-bound Kilkenny wasn't of any real relevance.
Significantly, they're away to both of their promotion rivals, with trips to both Croke Park and Ennis coming up late in the campaign.
Prediction: 3rd
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