| Championship details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 May – 6 September 1981 |
| Teams | 13 |
| All-Ireland champions | |
| Winning team | Offaly (1st win) |
| Captain | Pádraig Horan |
| Manager | Dermot Healy |
| All-Ireland Finalists | |
| Losing team | Galway |
| Captain | Seán Silke |
| Manager | Cyril Farrell |
| Provincial champions | |
| Munster | Limerick |
| Leinster | Offaly |
| Ulster | Not Played |
| Connacht | Not Played |
| Championship statistics | |
| No. matches played | 14 |
| Goals total | 67 (4.78 per game) |
| Points total | 381 (27.21 per game) |
| Top Scorer |  Joe McKenna (7–12) |
| Player of the Year |  Pat Delaney |
| All-Star Team | See here |
← 1980 1982 → | |
The 1981 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 95th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 1981 fixtures took place in September 1980. The championship began on 24 May 1981 and ended on 6 September 1981.
Galway were the defending champions but were defeated by Offaly in the final.[1] Westmeath re-entered the Leinster Championship after a three-year absence.
On 6 September 1981, Offaly won the championship following a 2–12 to 0–15 defeat of Galway in the All-Ireland final.[2] This was their first All-Ireland title ever.
Limerick's Joe McKenna was the championship's top scorer with 7–12. Offaly's Pat Delaney was the choice for Texaco Hurler of the Year.
- ^ "The men who changed the face of Galway hurling". Irish Independent. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- ^ "Offaly: The glory years". Irish Independent. 9 June 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2012.