Tipperary won the championship, beating Kilkenny 5–17 to 5–14 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1971 was run on a provincial basis as usual.
It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces - there were no seeds.
If both sides were still level at the end of that game another replay had to take place.
Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.