1976 All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship

Connacht was the only province to stage a junior hurling championship in 1976, which was won by Leitrim.^[2] This was a standalone competition which had no bearing on the All-Ireland series. Instead, the winners of the respective 'A' and 'B' sections of the 1976 National Hurling League Division 3 would go forward to contest the All-Ireland final.^[3]

Louth secured a place in the final by beating Derry in the Division 3B play-off.^[4] Mayo topped Division 3A to automatically qualify for the decider.^[5]

Louth led by eleven points at half-time (4-06 to 1-04) and stretched their lead to fourteen early in the second period. Despite a Mayo resurgence, they held on to win by a five-point margin.^[3]

Louth v Mayo

18 July 1976[3][6][7][8]	Louth	6-08 - 4-09	Mayo	Páirc Chiaráin, Athlone
	Lowry (3-2), Murphy (1-1), McEneaney, Rice (1-0 each), Mulkearns (0-3), Toal, Byrne (0-1 each)		Higgins (2-0), J. Henry, T. Henry (1-2 each), O'Keeffe (0-3), V. Henry, Murphy (0-1 each)	Referee: Gerry Kirwan (Offaly)