The 2005 Christy Ring Cup is the inaugural edition of the Christy Ring Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association and is the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy).
It is contested by ten GAA county teams ranked 13–22 in the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
The top two teams of each group qualified for the knock-out stages.
On 14 August 2005, Westmeath won the Christy Ring Cup following a 1-23 to 2-18 defeat of Down in the final.
[1] Kildare's Mattie Dowd was the Christy Ring Cup top scorer with 2-39.