The Louth Junior 2A Football League, or Division 4 of the county football Leagues, is an annual

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

competition that was introduced by

Louth GAA The Louth County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Louth GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Louth. It oversees competitions such as the Louth Senior Fo ...

in 1941 and contested by the second teams of Senior clubs in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

. The captain of the winning team is presented with the Cairnes Cup.

Format

A Final to determine the winner was held annually until 2015, when the format changed. At the end of the league programme, the team with the most points is now awarded the trophy. If two or more teams finish level on points at the top of the table, a play-off will decide the winner. The team that finishes bottom of the league is relegated to Division 5.

Trophy

The Ranafast Cup was presented to each winning team from 1944 until 1999. This trophy was purchased with money from the Fr Larry Murray Memorial Fund and is named in memory of the

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

and

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

enthusiast priest's close association with

Coláiste Bhríde Coláiste Bhríde is an Irish language college in Ranafast, Rann na Feirste, County Donegal. It was originally founded in 1912 in Omeath but Fr Lorcán Ó Muireadhaigh moved it to the Donegal Gaeltacht in 1926. People to have visited or attend ...

Ranafast Ranafast or Rinnafarset, officially only known by its Irish name Rann na Feirste (), is a Gaeltacht village and townland in the Rosses district in the west of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Name Ranafast, or someti ...

. The Cairnes Cup was presented to the winners for the first time in 2000.

Winners by Year

''(R) = Replay''

References

External links

Louth GAA official website
{{Louth GAA, state=expanded

Competitions Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individ ...

1941 establishments in Ireland Sports leagues established in 1941 Louth GAA club championships Gaelic football leagues in Ireland