On 26 August 2018, Tipperary won the championship following a 3-13 to 1-16 defeat of Cork in the All-Ireland final.[2] This was their 10th All-Ireland title overall and their first in eight championship seasons. They were the first team ever to win the All-Ireland title after being defeated in the Munster Championship.
Format change
Central Council motions to alter the format of the championship were endorsed by the Gaelic Athletic Association's Special Congress on 30 September 2017. The proposal to allow Galway and Ulster teams as agreed by the Leinster and Ulster Councils into the Leinster Championship was backed by 72% of delegates. The original recommendation would have ended All-Ireland semi-finals as the Munster winners were set to face off against the Leinster winners from 2018 onwards. Cork argued that the All-Ireland semi-finals should be retained with the Munster champions taking on the runners-up in Leinster and vice versa. Their idea was endorsed by 78% of delegates.[3]
This was the final year of the under-21 championship as the GAA Congress voted on 24 February 2018 to change to an under-20 championship in 2019.
S Currie 3-2, C Currie (0-2f, 0-1 ’65) & C Dowling (0-1f) 0-4 each, F Flanagan 1-0 OG, J McGuirk, L Gannon, F Whitely, C Costello, C Ryan & C Burke 0-1 each.
E Dunne 1-3, P Crummey 1-2, C Costello 1-1, C Currie 0-4 (3f), C O'Sullivan 1-0, E Conroy 0-2, C Burke 0-1, J McGuirk 0-1, D Keogh 0-1, C Dowling 0-1, R Hayes 0-1, S McCaw 0-1.
E Niland 1-7 (7f), T Monaghan 1-2, K Cooney 1-2, C Fahy 0-5 (1'65, 1f), S Bleahene 1-0, B Concannon 0-2, S Loftus 0-1, F Burke 0-1, C Caulfield 0-1. Wexford:
D Dalton (0-7, 0-3 frees, 0-1 sc); J O’Connor (1-2); S Kingston (0-4); R O’Flynn (1-1); M Coleman (0-3, 0-1 free, 0-1 sc); L Healy (0-2); T O’Mahony, E Murphy, C Cahalane, A Myers (0-1 each).