<Tr> <Th> Weather </Th> <Td> Rain clearing to sun 16 ° C (61 ° F) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> ← 2010 2012 → </Td> </Tr> <P> The 2011 All - Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final took place in Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday, 4 September 2011 . The final was contested by Kilkenny and defending champions, Tipperary . Kilkenny were playing in their sixth final in a row, while the pairing of Kilkenny and Tipperary was the first ever time that the same two teams have played in the All - Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final for three years in a row . Kilkenny won their fifth title in six years after a four - point win against Tipperary . The final which was shown live in Ireland on RTÉ Two attracted the second highest ever viewership for an All Ireland Hurling Final, peaking at 1.1 million viewers in the final minutes . An average audience of 971,000 viewers tuned into the game overall . </P> <P> Kilkenny were Leinster champions, having beaten Wexford by 1--26 to 1--15 and Dublin by 4--17 to 1--15 in the final to earn that title . They then beat Waterford in the semi-final on 7 August by 2--19 to 1--16 to reach the final . Tipperary opened their campaign as defending champion's against Cork in the first round on 29 May and won by a scoreline of 3--22 to 0--23 . They then defeated Clare by 4--19 o 1--19 to set up a Munster Final meeting with Waterford . Tipperary defeated Waterford by 7--19 to 0--19 to win their third Munster title in four years . Dublin were then defeated by 1--19 to 0--18 to set up a third All Ireland final in a row against Kilkenny . </P>

Who won the all ireland hurling final 2011