List of Gaelic games competitions

Last updated February 20, 2025

Gaelic games competitions are competitive events, organised either by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) on its own or in association with other organisations in which Gaelic games or a set of compromise rules are played.

International

International Rules Series – Annual two-game series played between Ireland and Australia using a combination of rules from Gaelic football and Australian rules football.
Hurling/Shinty International Series – Annual competition played between Ireland and Scotland using a combination of rules from Hurling and Shinty.

Interprovincial

Martin Donnelly Interprovincial Cup – Formerly known as the Railway Cup. Contested by four teams each representing one of the Irish provinces Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.

Intercounty

The following are competitions contested by GAA county teams;

Football

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (Sam Maguire Cup) – Tier 1 inter-county competition contested by teams of players selected from clubs within a county. Includes the Provincial championships and played on an initial group basis leading to play-offs. Most prestigious competition in Gaelic Football.
Tailteann Cup – Tier 2 inter-county competition. For counties eliminated in the early stages of the All-Ireland Championship and/or unable to be promoted to Division 2 or above of the League. Commenced in 2022.
All-Ireland Junior Football Championship - Tier 3 inter-county competition.
National Football League – Played in spring, contested by representative county teams. Teams are divided into four divisions based on their performances from the previous year.
All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship – Knockout competition for players under the age of 20.
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship - Knockout competition for players under the age of 17.
Hastings Cup – Regional Under 21 football competition played from 1986 to 2017, organized by Longford County Board.^[1]
Fr. Manning Cup – Regional Juvenile football competition since 1965, organized by Longford County Board.^[2]
O'Byrne Cup – Preseason competition for Leinster counties.
Dr McKenna Cup – Preseason competition for Ulster counties.
McGrath Cup – Preseason competition for Munster counties.
FBD Insurance League – Preseason competition for Connacht counties.
Jim McGuigan Cup – League competition for county minor (U17) teams in Ulster plus Sligo. Games are played in March and April.
Tommy Murphy Cup (defunct) – Secondary competition for teams knocked out of the early rounds of the All-Ireland Senior Championship, it was abolished in 2008.^[3]
Owen Treacy Cup (defunct) – Winners of Tommy Murphy Cup v North American select team, it was only played once in 2006.

Hurling

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (Liam MacCarthy Cup) – Tier 1 inter-county competition contested by teams of players selected from all the clubs within a county. Includes the Provincial championships and played on an initial group basis leading to play-offs. Most prestigious competition in Hurling.
Joe McDonagh Cup – Tier 2 inter-county competition.
Christy Ring Cup – Tier 3 (was Tier 2 prior to 2018) inter-county competition.
Nicky Rackard Cup – Tier 4 (was Tier 3 prior to 2018) inter-county competition.
Lory Meagher Cup – Tier 5 (was Tier 4 prior to 2018) inter-county competition.
National Hurling League – Played in spring, Contested by teams selected from all the clubs within a county. Teams are divided into six divisions based on their performances from the previous year. Top 2 teams from each division enter a knockout phase.
All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship – Knockout competition for players under the age of 21 at the start of the year.
All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship - Knockout competition for players under the age of 18 at the start of the year
All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship (defunct) - Knockout competition for second teams of senior counties
Munster Senior Hurling League – Preseason competition for Munster counties.
Walsh Cup – Preseason competition for tier 1 Leinster counties plus Galway and Antrim.
Kehoe Cup – Preseason competition for tier 2 Leinster counties.
Kehoe Shield – Preseason competition for tier 3 Leinster counties.
Connacht Senior Hurling League – Preseason competition for Connacht counties.
Conor McGurk Cup – Preseason competition for Ulster counties and universities.

Interclub

Football

Hurling

Intervarsity

Competitions organised by Higher Education GAA for teams based at third-level education institutions.

Football

Sigerson Cup – All-Ireland competition for the Universities of Ireland
Trench Cup
British University Gaelic football Championship

Hurling

Fitzgibbon Cup – All-Ireland competition for the Universities of Ireland
Ryan Cup
British University Hurling Championship

Intercolleges

Dual

All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship - football and hurling competition. County teams made up of players from Vocational schools at Under-18, U-16 and U-14 levels.

Football

Hogan Cup – All-Ireland football competition for provincial school championship winners
Connacht Championship – Connacht senior A football championship for secondary schools
Leinster Championship – Leinster senior A football championship for secondary schools
Corn Uí Mhuirí (Munster Championship) – Munster senior A football championship for secondary schools
MacRory Cup (Ulster Championship) – Ulster senior A football championship for secondary schools
Frewen Cup - Munster junior football championship for secondary schools

Hurling

Dr Croke Cup - All-Ireland Senior A hurling competition for secondary schools
O'Keefe Cup - All-Ireland Senior B hurling competition for secondary schools
Leinster Colleges Senior Hurling Championship
Dr Harty Cup – Munster senior A hurling championship for secondary schools
Dean Ryan Cup – Munster schools junior hurling championship
Mageean Cup – Ulster schools senior hurling championship

Youth

Feile Peil na nÓg

Interfirm

All Ireland Interfirm Senior Football Championship
All Ireland Interfirm Junior Football Championship
All Ireland Interfirm Senior Hurling Championship
All Ireland Interfirm Junior Hurling Championship

Competitions outside Ireland

North American Youth Competitions

Continental Youth Championships (CYC)

New York City

North American Board area

The four major divisions of the North American GAA each have a divisional championship in each code and each grade. Divisional winners, and sometimes runners-up, go on to the North American finals which are played over the Labor Day weekend in September.

Britain

Colleges

Northern California Collegiate Hurling Championship
Midwest Collegiate Hurling Championship

References

↑ "Hastings Cup". Longford Gaelic Stats.
↑ "Fr. Manning Cup". Longford Gaelic Stats.
↑ "Tommy Murphy Cup 'dead in the water', says GAA boss". Irish Independent. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2011.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Hastings Cup". Longford Gaelic Stats.

[2] "Fr. Manning Cup". Longford Gaelic Stats.

[3] "Tommy Murphy Cup 'dead in the water', says GAA boss". Irish Independent. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

List of Gaelic games competitions

Contents

International

Interprovincial

Intercounty

Football

Hurling

Interclub

Football

Hurling

Intervarsity

Football

Hurling

Intercolleges

Dual

Football

Hurling

Youth

Interfirm

Competitions outside Ireland

North American Youth Competitions

New York City

North American Board area

Britain

Colleges

See also

References