County Offaly which had declined following the Norman Conquest of Ireland. Both Laois (Leix) and Offaly (Uí Failghe) were petty kingdoms in Gaelic Ireland located just outside the Pale (a region around Dublin and the mid east of Ireland that remained loyal to the English Crown following the Norman Conquest). The older kingdoms of Leix and Uí Failghe are not coterminous with the present day counties that were formed. The Kingdom of Uí Failghe from which the name Offaly is derived, was ruled by the Ó Conchobhair Failghe (anglicised as: O'Conor Faly) whose territory extended from the east of the county into
2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship four matches, with Carlow confirming their place on 9 June after beating Westmeath. The top two teams at the end of the round-robin, Westmeath and Carlow, faced each other in the final on 1 July 2018. The game, which took place in Croke Park, saw Carlow emerge victorious by a margin of five points to claim the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup title. As a Leinster county, Carlow were automatically promoted to the Leinster championship for 2019, taking the place of Offaly. The preliminary quarter-finals saw the third-placed teams from the two provincial round-robins play the two teams who competed in