Lory Meagher Cup

The Lory Meagher Cup (; often referred to as the Meagher Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fifth-tier of hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by the six county teams ranked 30–36 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Lory Meagher Cup are promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The competition is named in honour of former Kilkenny GAA, Kilkenny hurler Lory Meagher who many regard as one of the greatest hurlers of all time.

The Lory Meagher Cup, which was introduced for the 2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009 season, provides a championship for fifth tier teams deemed "too weak" for the fourth tier Nicky Rackard Cup.

The title has been won by 10 different counties, 5 of whom have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh and Louth GAA, Louth, who have won the cup on 3 occasions. New York are the current Lory Meagher Cup champions. They beat Cavan by 4-17 to 2-17 in their first season in the competition.

History

Creation

Following the success of the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup for the lower tier hurling teams, it was decided in 2008 to investigate the possibility of introducing a fourth tier. The Hurling Development Committee (HDC) proposed the new four-tier structure in place of the existing three-tier model. It, and the second and third-tier competitions, were to consist of eight teams. The proposals were accepted at a special GAA Congress in October 2008. Another second tier competition, the Joe McDonagh Cup, was added in 2018, moving the Lory Meagher Cup down into tier 5.

Development

Team changes

12 county teams have participated in at least one edition of the Lory Meagher Cup. Fermanagh and Leitrim have participated in the most editions. South Down, although not an official county entered a team the first three seasons of the Cup but withdrew after 2011. New York became the most recent county to make their debut in the Cup in 2025.

Team dominance

Summary of champions

Format history

Double elimination (2009–2011)

In 2009, a double elimination format was introduced, thus guaranteeing each team at least two games before being eliminated from the competition.

Group stage (2013–present)

Since 2013, a group stage has been included in the cup. The teams within the group stage has varied between 3 and 6 teams throughout the years.

Lory Meagher Cup moments

* Warwickshire 2-16 - 0-10 Longford (8 June 2013 Lory Meagher Cup, 2013): Warwickshire became the first and only overseas team to win the Lory Meagher Cup
* Leitrim 2-23 - 2-22 Lancashire (22 June 2019 Lory Meagher Cup, 2019): Leitrim won their first ever All-Ireland title, defeating Lancashire after extra time in Croke Park. This match also saw history with the first ever use of “Hawkeye” in a hurling match, Warwickshire's Sean Hennessey having a 65 yard free denied by the technology

Format

Group stage

Group stage: Six of the seven teams start at group stage (New York only enter from the semi-finals on, due to travel costs). During the course of a season (from May to June) each team plays the others once (a single Round-robin tournament, round-robin system) for a total of five games. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points. The first placed team in the group advance straight to the Lory Meagher Cup final while second place play New York (in Ireland) in the Lory Meagher Cup semi-final. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth-placed teams are eliminated from the championship.

Tie-breakers

In the event of teams finishing on equal points, the tie shall be decided by the following means (in the order specified):

* Where two teams only are involved – the outcome of the meeting of the two teams
* Score difference – subtracting the total "Scores Against" from the total "Scores For"
* Highest Total "Score For"
* Highest Total "Goals For"
* A Play-Off

Knockout stage

Final: The top two teams in the group stage contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

The Lory Meagher has no direct entry route to compete in that year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Promotion

At the end of the championship, the winning team is promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup for the following season.

Relegation

There is no relegation from the Lory Meagher Cup as it is the bottom of five tiers in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Group stage qualifications

Teams

2025 Cup

Seven counties will compete in the 2025 Lory Meagher Cup, with Monaghan GAA, Monaghan relegated from the Nicky Rackard Cup and New York GAA, New York entering the competition:

List of finals

List of Lory Meagher Cup finals

Roll of honour

Performances by county

Performances by province

Team records and statistics

Legend
* – Champions
* – Runners-up
* – Semi-finals/Quarter-finals/Round 2
* – Group Stage
* CR – Christy Ring Cup
* NR – Nicky Rackard Cup
* — – Inactive

For each championship, the number of teams (in brackets) are shown

Debut of teams

Seasons in Lory Meagher Cup

The number of years that each county has played in the Lory Meagher Cup between 2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009 and 2025 Lory Meagher Cup, 2025. A total of 13 counties have competed in at least one season of the Lory Meagher Cup. Leitrim have participated in the most championships. The counties in bold participate in the 2025 Lory Meagher Cup.

List of Lory Meagher Cup counties

The following teams have competed in the Lory Meagher Cup for at least one season.

All-time table

Legend

''As of 20 May 2025 (After 2025 Lory Meagher Cup, 2025 group stage).''

By Semi-Final/Top 4 Appearances

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Lory Meagher Cup titles, is as follows:

* 2000s: 1 for Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009)
* 2010s: 2 each for Longford GAA, Longford (2010 Lory Meagher Cup, 2010, 2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014) and Warwickshire (2013 Lory Meagher Cup, 2013, 2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017)
* 2020s: 2 each for Louth GAA, Louth (2020 Lory Meagher Cup, 2020, 2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022) and Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021, 2024 Lory Meagher Cup, 2024)

Match records

* Most matches played
** 56, Leitrim GAA, Leitrim

* Most wins
** 23, Longford

* Most losses
** 32, Leitrim GAA, Leitrim

* Most draws
** 6, Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh
** 6, Longford

Other records

Finishing positions

* Most championships
** 3, Louth GAA, Louth (2016 Lory Meagher Cup, 2016, 2020 Lory Meagher Cup, 2020, 2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022)
** 3, Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2015, 2021, 2024)

* Most second-place finishes
** 3, Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012, 2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014, 2020 Lory Meagher Cup, 2020)
** 3, Lancashire GAA, Lancashire (2018 Lory Meagher Cup, 2018, 2019 Lory Meagher Cup, 2019, 2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023)
** 3, Longford GAA, Longford (2013, 2022, 2024)

* Most third-place finishes
** 4, Cavan GAA, Cavan (2018 Lory Meagher Cup, 2018, 2020 Lory Meagher Cup, 2020, 2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023, 2024)
* Most fourth-place finishes
** 5, Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2013 Lory Meagher Cup, 2013, 2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014, 2016 Lory Meagher Cup, 2016, 2024, 2025)
*Most fifth-place finishes
** 4, Lancashire GAA, Lancashire (2015 Lory Meagher Cup, 2015, 2016 Lory Meagher Cup, 2016, 2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022, 2025)

* Most sixth-place finishes
** 2, Warwickshire (2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023, 2025)
* Most semi-final finishes
** 2, Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2010 Lory Meagher Cup, 2010, 2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012)
** 2, Longford GAA, Longford (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009, 2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021)
** 2, Down GAA, South Down (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009, 2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011)
** 2, Warwickshire (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011, 2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012)
* Most quarter-final finishes
** 2, Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009, 2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011)
* Most round 2 or round 3 finishes
** 1, Cavan GAA, Cavan (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009)
** 1, Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011)
** 1, Longford GAA, Longford (2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012)
** 1, Down GAA, South Down (2010 Lory Meagher Cup, 2010)
** 1, Warwickshire (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009)

Unbeaten sides

* 6 teams have won the Lory Meagher Cup unbeaten:
** Donegal GAA, Donegal had 4 wins in 2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011
** Tyrone GAA, Tyrone had 3 wins in 2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012
** Warwickshire GAA, Warwickshire had 3 wins and 1 draw in 2013 Lory Meagher Cup, 2013
** Longford GAA, Longford had 3 wins and 1 draw in 2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014
** Louth GAA, Louth had 5 wins in 2016 Lory Meagher Cup, 2016
** Warwickshire GAA, Warwickshire had 6 wins in 2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017
** Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh had 4 wins and 2 draws in 2024 Lory Meagher Cup, 2024

Beaten sides

The group stage of the cup has resulted in 9 'back-door' Lory Meagher Cup champions:

* Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009) were beaten by Down GAA, South Down in round 1.
* Longford GAA, Longford (2010 Lory Meagher Cup, 2010) were beaten by Donegal GAA, Donegal in round 1.
* Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2015 Lory Meagher Cup, 2015) were beaten by Sligo GAA, Sligo in round 5.
* Sligo GAA, Sligo (2018 Lory Meagher Cup, 2018) were beaten by Cavan GAA, Cavan in round 3.
* Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2019 Lory Meagher Cup, 2019) were beaten by Lancashire GAA, Lancashire in round 1.
* Louth GAA, Louth (2020 Lory Meagher Cup, 2020) were beaten by Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh in round 1.
* Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021) were beaten by Cavan GAA, Cavan in round 1.
* Louth GAA, Louth (2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022) were beaten by Monaghan GAA, Monaghan in round 2 and Longford GAA, Longford in round 3.
* Monaghan GAA, Monaghan (2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023) were beaten by Cavan GAA, Cavan in round 2.

On 2 occasions a team was defeated twice but have remained in the championship:

* Louth GAA, Louth (2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022) were beaten by Monaghan GAA, Monaghan and Longford GAA, Longford but still qualified for the final.
* Lancashire GAA, Lancashire (2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023) were beaten by Cavan GAA, Cavan and by Monaghan GAA, Monaghan but still qualified for the final.

Final success rate

Only two counties have appeared in the final more than once, being victorious on all occasions:

* Louth GAA, Louth
* Warwickshire

On the opposite end of the scale, only one county has appeared in the final more than once, losing on each occasion:

* Lancashire GAA, Lancashire

Consecutive participations

* 9, Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009–2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017)
* 9, Warwickshire (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009–2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017)

Leitrim and Warwickshire have the record number of consecutive participations in the Lory Meagher Cup, taking part in 9 seasons.

Winning other trophies

Although not an officially recognised achievement, no team have ever achieved the distinction of winning the Lory Meagher Cup and their respective Division in the National Hurling League.

Biggest wins

* The most one sided finals:
** 15 points – 2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021: Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh 3-26 - 1-17 Cavan GAA, Cavan
** 13 points – 2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022: Louth GAA, Louth 3-27 - 3-14 Longford GAA, Longford
** 12 points – 2013 Lory Meagher Cup, 2013: Warwickshire 2-16 - 0-10 Longford GAA, Longford
** 11 points – 2020 Lory Meagher Cup, 2020: Louth GAA, Louth 2-19 - 2-08 Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh
** 8 points – 2010 Lory Meagher Cup, 2010: Longford GAA, Longford 1-20 - 1-12 Donegal GAA, Donegal
* The most one sided other matches:
** 29 points – 2011: Down GAA, South Down 4-25 - 0-08 Leitrim GAA, Leitrim

Scoring Events

* Most goals in a match:
** 11 – 2021: Longford 8-25 - 3-19 Louth
* Most points in a match:
** 46 – 2024: Lancashire 0-21 - 2-25 Cavan
** 46 – 2024: Lancashire 2-24 - 6-22 Warwickshire
** 46 – 2025: Longford 3-17 - 3-29 Cavan
* Most goals by one team in a match:
** 8 – 2021: Longford 8-25 - 3-19 Louth
* Most points by one team in a match:
** 32 – 2025: Warwickshire 1-11 - 4-32 Cavan
* Highest aggregate score:
** 77 – 2021: Longford 8-25 - 3-19 Louth
* Lowest aggregate score:
** 20 – 2023: Leitrim 0-08 - 0-12 Longford

Successful defending

Only three teams were able to defend their title the following year. None of these teams were able to do so. These are:
* Longford GAA, Longford on 0 attempts out of 1 (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011)
* Warwickshire on 0 attempts out of 1 (2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014)
* Louth GAA, Louth on 0 attempts out of 1 (2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021)
Usually defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the Nicky Rackard Cup. These are:

* 00 on 00 attempts out of 00 (0000)

Gaps

* Longest gaps between successive cup titles:
** 6 years: Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2015 Lory Meagher Cup, 2015–2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021)
* Longest gaps between successive Lory Meagher Cup final appearances:
** 8 years: Longford GAA, Longford (2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014–2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022)
* Longest gap between successive championship appearances
** 7 years: Cavan GAA, Cavan (2010 Lory Meagher Cup, 2010–2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017)
** 7 years: Longford GAA, Longford (2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014–2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021)

Active gaps

* Longest active gaps between since last title:
** 14 years: Donegal GAA, Donegal (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011–)
** 13 years: Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012–)
** 11 years: Longford GAA, Longford (2014 Lory Meagher Cup, 2014–)
** 8 years: Warwickshire GAA, Warwickshire (2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017–)
** 7 years: Sligo GAA, Sligo (2018 Lory Meagher Cup, 2018–)
** 6 years: Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2019 Lory Meagher Cup, 2019–)
** 3 years: Louth GAA, Louth (2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022–)
** 2 years: Monaghan GAA, Monaghan (2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023–)
** 1 year: Fermanagh (2024 Lory Meagher Cup, 2024–)
* Longest active gaps since last cup final appearance:
** 14 years: Donegal GAA, Donegal (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011–)
** 13 years: Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012–)
** 8 years: Warwickshire GAA, Warwickshire (2017 Lory Meagher Cup, 2017–)
** 7 years: Sligo GAA, Sligo (2018 Lory Meagher Cup, 2018–)
** 6 years: Leitrim GAA, Leitrim (2019 Lory Meagher Cup, 2019–)
** 3 years: Louth GAA, Louth (2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022–)
** 2 years: Lancashire GAA, Lancashire (2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023–)
** 2 years: Monaghan GAA, Monaghan (2023 Lory Meagher Cup, 2023–)
** 1 year: Fermanagh (2024 Lory Meagher Cup, 2024–)
** 1 year: Longford GAA, Longford (2024 Lory Meagher Cup, 2024–)
** 0 years: Cavan GAA, Cavan (2025–)
* Longest active gap since last cup appearance
** 14 years: Donegal GAA, Donegal (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011–)
** 14 years: Down GAA, South Down (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011–)

Provinces

* Only on 5 occasions has the Lory Meagher Cup final involved two teams from the same province:
** Tyrone GAA, Tyrone vs Donegal GAA, Donegal (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009)
** Donegal GAA, Donegal vs Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011)
** Tyrone GAA, Tyrone vs Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh (2012 Lory Meagher Cup, 2012)
** Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh vs Cavan GAA, Cavan (2021 Lory Meagher Cup, 2021)
** Louth GAA, Louth vs Longford GAA, Longford (2022 Lory Meagher Cup, 2022)
* The province providing the highest number of different winning teams is Ulster, with four:
** Donegal GAA, Donegal
** Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh
** Monaghan GAA, Monaghan
** Tyrone GAA, Tyrone
*Province success rates
** Ulster GAA, Ulster 44% (4 out of 9 counties)
** Connacht GAA, Connacht 40% (2 out of 5 counties)
** British GAA, Britain 33% (1 out of 3 counties)
** Leinster GAA, Leinster 17% (2 out of 12 counties)
** Munster GAA, Munster 0% (0 out of 6 counties)

Lory Meagher Cup final pairings

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 7 games held by Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009–2011 Lory Meagher Cup, 2011).

Miscellaneous

* Best finish by a debuting team
** Champions, Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (2009 Lory Meagher Cup, 2009)
* Best finish by a debuting team (after 2009)
** Champions, Louth GAA, Louth (2016 Lory Meagher Cup, 2016)
* Highest winning record
** 83%, Tyrone GAA, Tyrone (10 wins in 12 matches)
* Lowest winning record
** 26%, Cavan GAA, Cavan (9 wins in 35 matches)
* Most played match
** Fermanagh GAA, Fermanagh vs Leitrim GAA, Leitrim

See also

*All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (Tier 1)
*Joe McDonagh Cup (Tier 2)
*Christy Ring Cup (Tier 3)
*Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 4)

References

{{Hurling

Lory Meagher Cup,
All-Ireland inter-county hurling championships
Hurling cup competitions
Recurring sporting events established in 2009
2009 establishments in Ireland