Lory Meagher Cup


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

    Format

Group stage

Group stage: Six of the seven teams start at group stage. 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 first placed team in the group advance straight to the Lory Meagher Cup final while second place play New York 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 :
  • 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

2026 Cup

Six counties will compete in the 2026 Lory Meagher Cup, with no team relegated last year from the Nicky Rackard Cup:
CountyLocationStadiumProvincePosition in 2024 ChampionshipFirst year in ChampionshipIn Championship sinceChampionship TitlesLast Championship Title
CavanCavanBreffni ParkUlster3rd200920170—
LancashireEast DidsburyOld BediansBritain6th201520220—
LeitrimCarrick-on-ShannonPáirc Seán Mac DiarmadaConnacht4th2009202212019
LongfordLongfordPearse ParkLeinsterRunners-up2009202122014
MonaghanCounty Monaghan|Clones]St Tiernach's ParkUlster6th 2009202522023
WarwickshireSolihullPáirc na hÉireannBritain5th2009202322017

List of finals

List of Lory Meagher Cup finals

Roll of honour

Performances by county

Performances by province

Team records and statistics

Legend
For each championship, the number of teams 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 and 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.
YearsCounties
14Leitrim
13Fermanagh
12Warwickshire
11Cavan, Longford
9Lancashire
4Louth, [Monaghan GAA|Monaghan], Sligo
3Donegal, South Down, Tyrone
1New York

List of Lory Meagher Cup counties

The following teams have competed in the Lory Meagher Cup for at least one season.
CountyAppearancesDebutMost recentChampionship titlesLast Championship titleBest Lory Meagher Cup result
Cavan11200920250—2nd
Donegal320092011120111st
Fermanagh1320092024320241st
Lancashire9201520250—2nd
Leitrim1420092025120191st
Longford1120092025220141st
Louth420162022320221st
Monaghan420212025020231st
New York120252025120251st
Sligo420152018120181st
South Down3200920110—Semi-finals
Tyrone320092012120121st
Warwickshire1120092025220171st

All-time table

Legend
Colours
Currently competing in the Christy Ring Cup
Currently competing in the Nicky Rackard Cup
Currently competing in the Lory Meagher Cup

As of 20 May 2025.
RankingTeam
1 Longford4523616521.15
2 Fermanagh4722619501.06
3 Leitrim5622232460.82
4 Warwickshire4722124450.95
5 Cavan4113424300.73
6 Monaghan201136251.25
7 Louth171205241.41
8 Sligo191207241.26
9 Lancashire4211031220.52
10 Tyrone121002201.66
11 Donegal131003201.53
12 South Down940580.88
13 New York220042.00

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:

Finishing positions

The group stage of the cup has resulted in 9 'back-door' Lory Meagher Cup champions:
On 2 occasions a team was defeated twice but have remained in the championship:
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:
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: Fermanagh 3-26 - 1-17 Cavan
  • * 13 points – 2022: Louth 3-27 - 3-14 Longford
  • * 12 points – 2013: Warwickshire 2-16 - 0-10 Longford
  • * 11 points – 2020: Louth 2-19 - 2-08 Fermanagh
  • * 8 points – 2010: Longford 1-20 - 1-12 Donegal
  • The most one sided other matches:
  • * 29 points – 2011: South Down 4-25 - 0-08 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 on 0 attempts out of 1
  • Warwickshire on 0 attempts out of 1
  • Louth on 0 attempts out of 1
Usually defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the Nicky Rackard Cup. These are:

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 7 games held by Tyrone.

Miscellaneous