Kilkenny turn thoughts to 2009 after the Liam McCarthy hatrick.

Thousands turned out in the marble city to welcome home hurling's historymakers. Kilkenny moved to the top of the All-Ireland senior hurling honours list on 31 titles after turning in a sensational final performance which proved far too much for Waterford.

The Cats 3-30 to 1-13 win also clinched the All-Ireland treble, Kilkenny’s first since 1911-12-13 and the first by any county since Cork in 1976-77-78. It completed a superb championship campaign by Kilkenny who beat Offaly by 18 points, Wexford by 19 points, Cork by nine points and Waterford by 23 points. Their winning margin against Waterford was the highest in an All-Ireland final since Cork beat Antrim by 27 points in 1943 while their 3-30 total was the highest since Cork scored 6-21 against Wexford in 1970. However, that game was played over 70 minutes. Eoin Kelly (Waterford) topped the championship scoring lists on 7-43 (64 points) from five games, followed by Galway’s Joe Canning on 4-27 (39 points) from three games. Brian Carroll (Offaly) and Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny) finished in joint third place on 0-38 and 1-35 respectively, each from four games, one point ahead of David O'Callaghan (Dublin) on 2-31 (37 points) from four games. A 25 thousand strong crowd turned out to welcome the players and trophy's home.