Four knockout (single elimination format) provincial championships are played. London and New York compete in Connacht. The 4 provincial champions advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
The 16 teams eliminated before reaching a provincial semi-final compete in Round One of the Qualifiers (New York do not compete in the Qualifiers). The 8 Round One winners advance to Round Two.
Qualifiers, Round Two: The 8 teams eliminated in provincial semi-finals each play one of the 8 Round One winners.
Qualifiers, Round Three: The 8 Round Two winners play off to reduce the number to 4.
Qualifiers, Round Four: The 4 teams eliminated in provincial finals each play one of the 4 Round Three winners.
All-Ireland Quarter-finals: The 4 provincial champions each play one of the 4 Round Four winners.
The winners of the All-Ireland Quarter-finals then advance to the Semi-finals, and the winners of the Semi-finals go on to the 2009 All-Ireland final.
C Cooper 1-7, Declan O'Sullivan, Darren O'Sullivan 0-3 each, T O'Se, P Galvin, T Kennelly, P O'Connor 0-2 each, T O'Sullivan, S Scanlon, D Walsh 0-1 each