Beginnings The
All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship at inter-county level was created in 1964 and had proved successful in bridging the gap between the minor and senior grades. In 1973, the
Cork County Board developed their own under-21 championship. It was the fifth county championship to be created in Cork, after the
senior,
intermediate,
junior and minor championships.
Team dominance Due to the limited time frame that players compete in the grade, it has been difficult for individual clubs to dominate the championship. In spite of this, several clubs have had limited dominance over the years. Between 1990 and 1994
St. Finbarr's dominated the championship with much of the same team by winning four championships in five seasons.
Newtownshandrum ended the century by winning three successive championships between 1998 and 2000. The first decade of the new century saw
Erin's Own win three championships between 2002 and 2005.
Blackrock had a sustained period of dominance by winning three championships from five successive final appearances between 2012 and 2016.
Formats used From 1973 until 2015, the championship used a divisional format. The seven respective champions from
Avondhu,
Carbery,
Carrigdhoun,
Duhallow,
Imokilly,
Muskerry and
Seandún contested the county championship. That county-wide championship used a
single elimination format whereby once a team lost they were eliminated. In 2016, the under-21 championship underwent a major restructuring whereby the divisional system for the top tier was abolished and the strongest 22 clubs entered a new countywide championship. ==Teams==