The Hurling Development Committee (HDC) proposed the new four-tier structure in place of the existing three-tier model.

South Down, although not an official county entered a team the first 3 seasons of the Cup but withdrew after 2011.

During the course of a season (from May to June) each team plays the others once (a single round-robin system) for a total of five games.

The top two teams in the group contest the Lory Meagher Cup final.

The Lory Meagher has no direct entry route to compete in that year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

At the end of the championship, the winning team is promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup for the following season.

There is no relegation from the Lory Meagher Cup as it is the bottom of five tiers in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Lory Meagher Cup titles, is as follows: The group stage of the cup has resulted in 9 'back-door' Lory Meagher Cup champions: On 2 occasions a team was defeated twice but have remained in the championship: Only two counties have appeared in the final more than once, being victorious on all occasions: On the opposite end of the scale, only one county has appeared in the final more than once, losing on each occasion: Leitrim and Warwickshire have the record number of consecutive participations in the Lory Meagher Cup, taking part in 9 seasons.

These are: Usually defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the Nicky Rackard Cup.