Joe McDonagh Cup


The Joe McDonagh Cup is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams. It is contested by the six county teams ranked 12–17 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Joe McDonagh Cup are promoted to their provincial championship, and the lowest finishing team is relegated to the Christy Ring Cup. The cup is named in honour of Joe McDonagh, the former president of the GAA who died in 2016. The last of the five tiers to be established, the competition was contested for the first time in 2018.
The title has been won by six different counties, two of whom have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Antrim and Carlow, who have won the championship on two occasions. Kildare are the title holders, defeating Laois by 2-26 to 1-19 in the 2025 final.

History

Creation

At the GAA's Special Congress on 30 September 2017, a new provincial hurling championship system featuring five-team round-robin groups in both Leinster and Munster was accepted. This restructure necessitated the removal of four counties from the Leinster Championship. These four teams joined the 2017 Christy Ring Cup finalists - Antrim and Carlow - in creating the new Tier 2 Championship. The proposal was carried by a narrow margin with 62% voting in favour.
An amendment to the motion from Laois, Offaly and Meath was carried by 87%. This would see the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists participating in preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals against the third-placed team in both Leinster and Munster with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.

Development

The competition has reduced and increased its participants between 5 and 6 teams throughout its history.

Team changes

9 county teams have participated in at least one edition of the McDonagh Cup. Kerry have been ever-presents, never being promoted or relegated, while Offaly hold the dubious distinction of being the only team to fall from the tier-one Leinster championship into the Joe McDonagh and immediately into the hurling's third-tier, the Christy Ring Cup, in successive seasons — in 2018 and 2019.

Format history

2021

In 2021, teams were divided into 2 groups to lessen the fixtures due to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.

Joe McDonagh Cup moments

Carlow 2-26 - 1-24 Westmeath : Carlow won the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup, defeating Westmeath in Croke Park.Kerry 1-18 - 1-16 Offaly : Kerry relegated Offaly in round 5 of the group stage. This was Offaly's second relegation in a row, previously being relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.Down 3-16 - 6-22 Antrim : This was the first championship meeting between the counties since the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was suspended. The [2015 Ulster GAA|Ulster Senior Hurling Championship|2015 Ulster final] was their last meeting, Antrim also being victorious on that day.Offaly 2-23 - 0-26 Laois : Offaly won their first ever Joe McDonagh Cup in what was a historical week for the county as they also won the 2024 All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship against Tipperary with many dual players.

Format

Group stage

Group stage: There are six teams in the Cup. During the course of a season each team plays the others once 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 top two teams in the group contest the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The third, fourth and fifth-placed team are eliminated from the championship and the 6th-placed team is relegated to the Christy Ring Cup.

Tie-breakers

In the event of teams finishing on equal points, the tie shall be decided by the following means :
  • 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 Joe McDonagh Cup is unique among the four lower-tier hurling competitions in that it also currently provides a direct entry route for the top two teams to compete in that year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship; the two top-placed teams, in addition to contesting the Joe McDonagh Cup final, are rewarded with immediate entry into the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage. There are reports that this same-year link between the competitions may be severed in the future.

Promotion

At the end of the championship, the winning team is promoted to the provincial championship for the following season. Which provincial championship depends on the provincial allegiance of the winner:
  • if the winners are from Connacht, Leinster or Ulster, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, with their place in the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup taken by the bottom-placed team in that year's Leinster Championship.
  • From 2023 onwards, if the winners are from Munster, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Munster Senior Hurling Championship, with their place in the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup taken by the bottom-placed team in the provincial championship that contains six teams. The previous format only allowed Kerry access to the Munster Championship via a playoff if they won the Joe McDonagh Cup.

Relegation

The bottom team in the Joe McDonagh group stage is relegated to the third-tier Christy Ring Cup for the following year, being replaced by the champions of the Christy Ring Cup for that year. Since 2018 there has been no promotion/relegation playoff between tiers two and three.
TeamQualification
1st in GroupAdvance to Joe McDonagh Cup Final and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals
Winner of Cup Final Promoted to Leinster or Munster Hurling Championship.
2nd in GroupAdvance to Joe McDonagh Cup Final and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals
Winner of Cup Final Promoted to Leinster or Munster Hurling Championship.
3rd in Group
4th in Group
5th in Group
6th in GroupRelegated to Christy Ring Cup

Teams

2026 Cup

Six counties will compete in the 2026 Joe McDonagh Cup, with Antrim relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and London promoted from the Christy Ring Cup:
CountyLocationStadiumProvincePosition in 2024 championshipFirst year in ChampionshipIn Championship SinceChampionship TitlesLast Championship Title
AntrimBelfastCorrigan ParkUlster6th 2018202622022
CarlowCarlowDr Cullen ParkLeinster3rd2018202522023
DownNewryPáirc EslerUlster5th202120210—
LaoisPortlaoiseO'Moore ParkLeinsterRunners-up2018202312019
LondonSouth RuislipMcGovern ParkBritainChampions 202620260—
WestmeathMullingarCusack ParkLeinster4th2018202412021

Seasons in Joe McDonagh Cup

The number of years that each county has played in the Joe McDonagh Cup between 2018 and 2025. A total of 9 counties have competed in at least one season of the Joe McDonagh Cup. Kerry have participated in all 8 seasons. The counties in bold participate in the 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup.
YearsCounties
8Kerry
6Carlow, Westmeath
5Down, Laois, Meath
4Antrim, Offaly
3[Kildare GAA|Kildare county hurling team|Kildare]

Qualification for subsequent competitions

Qualification for the All-Ireland Championship

The Joe McDonagh Cup winners and runners-up qualify for the subsequent All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage. The teams plays the third-placed teams in the Leinster and Munster championships.

Venues

Group stage

Fixtures in the five group stage rounds of the cup are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed at least two home games. During the inaugural staging of the competition some teams had three home games.

Final

The Joe McDonagh Cup final is played at Croke Park as the curtain-raiser to the Leinster final on the first Sunday in July.

Trophy and medals

At the end of the cup final, the winning team are presented with a trophy. The Joe McDonagh Cup is held by the winning team until the following year's final. The presentation is made at a special rostrum in the Ard Chomairle section of the Hogan Stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match.
The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup.
The cup is named after Joe McDonagh. He was an All-Ireland medal winner with Galway in 1980 before later serving as President of the Gaelic Athletic Association. McDonagh, who died in May 2016, was one of the most respected figures within the GAA.
The winning team is presented with a set of gold medals.

Team records and statistics

Team results

Legend
For year, the number of teams are shown.
Team2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Years
Antrim5th3rd1stL1stLLL4
Carlow1stL4th4th3rd1stL3rd6
DownCRCRCR3rd5th5th5th5th5
Kerry3rd4th2nd2nd2nd4th3rd6th8
KildareCRCRCR6thCR6thCR1st3
Laois4th1stLLL3rd2nd2nd5
Meath6thCR5th5th6thCR6thCR5
OffalyL5thCRCR4th2nd1stL4
Westmeath2nd2nd3rd1stLL4th4th6

List of Joe McDonagh Cup counties

The following teams have competed in the McDonagh Cup for at least one season.
CountyAppearancesDebutMost recentChampionship titlesLast Championship titleBest Joe McDonagh Cup result
Antrim420182022220221st
Carlow620182025220231st
Down5202120250—3rd
Kerry8201820250—2nd
Kildare3202120250—1st
Laois520182025120191st
Meath5201820240—5th
Offaly420192024120241st
Westmeath620182025120211st

All time table

Legend
Colours
Currently competing in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Currently competing in the Joe McDonagh Cup
Currently competing in the Christy Ring Cup

As of 2025 Cup. Includes Relegation Playoffs.
#TeamPart
1 Carlow628174738
2 Kerry8381811937
3 Laois527163835
4 Westmeath6281521132
5 Antrim421141629
6 Offaly421120924
7 Down522611513
8 Kildare315501010
9 Meath52220204

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Joe McDonagh Cup titles, is as follows:2010s: 1 each for Carlow and Laois 2020s: 2 for Antrim

Match records

Other records

Finishing positions

Unbeaten sides

Beaten sides

The group stage of the cup has resulted in 3 'back-door' Joe McDonagh Cup champions:
On one occasion a team was defeated twice but have remained in the championship:

Final success rate

Only two counties have appeared in the final more than once, being victorious on all occasions:
On the opposite end of the scale, only one county has appeared in the final more than once, losing on each occasion:

Consecutive participations

Kerry have the record number of consecutive participations in the Joe McDonagh Cup, taking part in the first 8 seasons.

Winning other trophies

Although not an officially recognised achievement, a number of teams have achieved the distinction of winning the Joe McDonagh Cup and their respective Division in the National Hurling League:

Biggest wins

Scoring Events

Successful defending

Defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship. These are:

Gaps

  • Longest gaps between successive cup titles:
  • * 5 years: Carlow
  • * 2 years: Antrim
  • Longest gaps between successive Joe McDonagh Cup final appearances:
  • * 5 years: Carlow
  • * 5 years: Laois
  • * 2 years: Westmeath
  • * 2 years: Antrim
  • * 1 year: Kerry
  • * 1 year: Kerry
  • * 1 year: Offaly
  • Longest gap between successive championship appearances
  • * 4 years: Laois

Active gaps

Provinces

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 9 games held by Antrim.

Miscellaneous

  • Best finish by a debuting team
  • * Champions, Carlow
  • Best finish by a debuting team
  • * 3rd, Down
  • Highest winning record
  • * 66.7%, Antrim
  • Lowest winning record
  • * 0%, Kildare
  • Most played match
  • * 6, Antrim v Kerry, 2022 )

Player records

Top scorers

All time

#NameCountyGoalsPointsTotal
1 Kerry6188206
2 Carlow6151169
3 Meath5109124
4 Antrim6105123
5 Kerry5107122
6 Offaly4108120
7 Antrim116194
8 Carlow57590
9 Westmeath36170
10 Laois16366
11 Antrim25662
11 Laois25662

By year

YearTop scorerCountyScoreTotal
2018 Neil McManusAntrim3-6776
2019 Killian DoyleWestmeath3-6170
2020 Ciarán ClarkeAntrim4-4759
2021 Jack ReganMeath1-3639
2022 Pádraig BoyleKerry3-6473
2023 Martin KavanaghCarlow3-7180

In a single game

YearTop scorerCountyScoreTotal
2018 Neil McManusAntrim0-1717
2019 Killian DoyleWestmeath0-1717
2020 Martin KavanaghCarlow1-1316
2021 Jack ReganMeath0-1717
2022 Pádraig BoyleKerry2-1117
2023 Offaly2-1117

In finals

YearTop scorerCountyScoreTotal
2018 Denis MurphyCarlow0-1010
2019 Killian DoyleWestmeath1-1114
2020 Ciarán ClarkeAntrim0-1111
2021 Niall MitchellWestmeath0-077
2021 Pádraig BoyleKerry1-047
2022 Pádraig BoyleKerry2-1117
2023 Martin KavanaghCarlow1-0811