Offaly won the championship, beating Kilkenny 2–16 to 1–13 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

When the whistle blew there was disarray in Croke Park as the disgruntled Offaly supporters began a sit-down protest on the pitch.

In the re-fixture in Thurles 6 days later, the result was reversed with Offaly winning the game on a score of 0–16 to 0–13.

As a result of the new qualifier system of games for the second year in a row, the All-Ireland final was contested by two teams from the same province.

Offaly were playing in their Third All-Ireland Final of the 1990s(having won against Limerick in 1994 and lost to Clare in 1995).