Meath captain Bryan Menton raises the O'Byrne Cup following the final victory over Westmeath in Mullingar last May.

Meath to open defence of O'Byrne Cup against Laois

Meath will open the defence of their O'Byrne Cup with a game against Laois before then taking on Wexford in the final game in Group 3.
Dublin have received a bye into the semi-finals of the competition with the winners of the three groups joining them in the last four.
The O'Byrne Cup is expected to start on 8th December this year, with two rounds of games scheduled for before Christmas and it is hoped to have on 18th or 19th January, before the NFLs commence, unlike this year's competition which saw the final between Meath and Westmeath postponed on a number of occasions before it was eventually played in May.

Meath's senior hurlers will not compete in the Walsh Cup in 2019 and will instead play in the Kehoe Cup. The draw for the Kehoe Cup was not made at Wednesday night's Leinster Council meeting, but Meath feature in the competition alongside Antrim, Kildare, westmeath and Wicklow..

In the Walsh Cup Galway, Kilkenny and Wexford have received byes to the semi-finals with the winners of the round-robin group that includes Carlow, Dublin, Laois and Offaly joining them in the last four.

2019 Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup draws:

Group 1: Carlow, Westmeath, Offaly, Kildare

Group 2: Longford, Wicklow, Louth

Group 3: Laois, Meath, Wexford

Bye: Dublin