The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1975 was the 89th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Kilkenny won the championship, beating Galway 2-22 to 2-10 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.
Rule change
As a result of a decision taken at the Gaelic Athletic Association's (GAA) annual congress the previous year, as of 1975 all provincial finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and the All-Ireland final itself were reduced to 70 minutes playing time. Prior to this all championship matches were eighty minutes in duration for the past 5 years.
The championship
Format
Munster Championship
First round: (1 match) This is a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the first round joins the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contest this game. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final.
Leinster Championship
First round: (2 matches) These are two matches between the first four teams drawn from the province of Leinster. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two first round games join the other two Leinster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final.
All-Ireland Championship
Quarter-final: (1 match) This is a single match between Galway and the winners of the All-Ireland 'B' championship. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-final.
Semi-final: (1 match) This is a single match between the Munster champions and the winners of the quarter-final. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final: (1 match) The winners of the semi-final and the Leinster champions contest this game.
S. Kinsella (1-8), M. Quigley (0-5), J. Quigley (0-4), T. Byrne (0-3), M. Casey (0-3), T. Doran (0-2), D. Bernie (0-2), C. Kehoe (0-1), C. Doran (0-1).
B. Moylan (0-9), G. Mooney (1-2), B. Coolahan (0-2), P. Horan (0-1), J. Kelly (0-1), M. Clarke (0-1), D. Hanniffy (0-1), P. Mulhaire (0-1).
G. Coone (1-3), P. J. Qualter (1-2), J. Connolly (1-1), F. Burke (1-0), P. J. Molloy (0-3), P. Fahy (0-3), M. Connolly (0-3).
C. Roche (1-5), J. Barry-Murphy (1-1), S. O'Leary (0-4), G. McCarthy (0-3), C. McCarthy (0-2), E. O'Donoghue (0-1), R. Cummins (0-1), W. Walsh (0-1), D. Allen (0-1).
All championship games were reduced from eighty to seventy minutes.
The All-Ireland semi-final saw Galway defeat Cork for the very first time in the history of the championship. It was also Cork's first-ever defeat in an All-Ireland semi-final.
The All-Ireland final between Galway and Kilkenny was the first time that these two sides met at this stage of the championship.
It was revealed after the All-Ireland final that Kilkenny's Liam 'Chunky' O'Brien had two teeth extracted on the day before the final and had to call a doctor to his home at 1 a.m. on the Sunday morning to stop a gum haemorrhage.