Wikipedia

Joe McDonagh Cup

The Joe McDonagh Cup is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It forms the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and is the second highest level of inter-county championship hurling competition in Ireland. The last of the five tiers to be established, the competition was contested for the first time in 2018.[1][2][3]

Joe McDonagh Cup
Current season or competition:
2024 Joe McDonagh Cup
IrishCorn Sheosaimh Mhic Dhonnacha
CodeHurling
Founded2018; 6 years ago (2018)
RegionRepublic of Ireland Ireland (GAA)
TrophyJoe McDonagh Cup
No. of teams6
Title holders Carlow (2nd title)
Most titles Antrim, Carlow (2 titles)
SponsorsBord Gáis Energy, Centra, Littlewoods Ireland
TV partner(s)RTÉ2
MottoBe there. All the way
Official websiteOfficial website

The cup is named in honour of Joe McDonagh, the former president of the GAA who died in 2016.

The title has been won by four 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. Carlow are the title holders, defeating Offaly by 2-29 to 1-31 in the 2023 final.

History edit

Creation edit

For the history of the second-tier competition that existed before 2018, see Christy Ring Cup.

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 (a majority of at least 60% was required).[4]

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.[5]

Development edit

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

Team changes edit

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 edit

2021 edit

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 edit

  • Carlow 2-26 - 1-24 Westmeath (1 July 2018): Carlow won the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup, defeating Westmeath in Croke Park.
  • Kerry 1-18 - 1-16 Offaly (15 June 2019): 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 (24 April 2022): This was the first championship meeting between the counties since the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship was suspended. The 2015 Ulster final was their last meeting, Antrim also being victorious on that day.

Format edit

Group stage edit

Group stage: There are six teams in the Cup. During the course of a season (from May to June) each team plays the others once (a single 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 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 edit

In the event of teams finishing on equal points, the tie shall be decided by the following means (in the order specified):[6]

  • 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 edit

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[7] that this same-year link between the competitions may be severed in the future.

Promotion edit

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,[8] 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 edit

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.[9]

Team Qualification
1st in Group Advance to Joe McDonagh Cup Final and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals
2nd in Group
3rd in Group
4th in Group
5th in Group
6th in Group Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Teams edit

2024 Cup edit

Six counties will compete in the 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup, with Westmeath relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and Meath promoted from the Christy Ring Cup:

County Location Stadium Province Position in 2023 championship First year in Championship In Championship Since Championship Titles Last Championship Title
  Down Newry Páirc Esler Ulster 5th 2021 2021 0 —
  Kerry Tralee Austin Stack Park Munster 4th 2018 2018 0 —
  Laois Portlaoise O'Moore Park Leinster 3rd 2018 2023 1 2019
  Meath Navan Páirc Tailteann Leinster Champions (Christy Ring Cup) 2018 2024 0 —
  Offaly Tullamore O'Connor Park Leinster Runners-up 2019 2022 0 —
  Westmeath Mullingar Cusack Park Leinster 6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) 2018 2024 1 2021

Seasons in Joe McDonagh Cup edit

The number of years that each county has played in the Joe McDonagh Cup between 2018 and 2024. A total of 9 counties have competed in at least one season of the Joe McDonagh Cup. Kerry have participated in all 7 seasons. The counties in bold participate in the 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup.

Years Counties
7 Kerry
5 Carlow, Meath, Westmeath
4 Antrim, Down, Laois, Offaly
2 Kildare

Debut of teams edit

Year Debutants Total
2018   Antrim,   Carlow,   Kerry,   Laois,   Meath,   Westmeath 6
2019   Offaly 1
2020 None 0
2021   Down,   Kildare 2
2022 None 0
2023 None 0
Total 9

Participation by province edit

Province No. County No. Years
  Leinster 6 Carlow 5 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Westmeath 5 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024
Meath 5 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
Laois 4 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024
Offaly 4 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
Kildare 2 2021, 2023
  Ulster 2 Antrim 4 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
Down 4 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
  Munster 1 Kerry 7 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

List of Joe McDonagh Cup Counties edit

County Total years Total spells Longest spell Most recent promotion Most recent relegation Total years absent Seasons 2022 championship finish Best Joe McDonagh finish Current Status (2024) Lvl
Antrim 4 2 3 2022 Never relegated 3 2018-2020

2022

1st

(promoted)

1st Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 1
Carlow 5 2 4 2023 Never relegated 2 2018

2020-2023

3rd 1st Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 1
Down 4 1 4 Never promoted Never relegated 3 2021- 5th 3rd Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Kerry 7 1 7 Never promoted Never relegated 0 2018- 2nd 2nd Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Kildare 2 2 1 Never promoted 2023 5 2021

2023

Christy Ring Cup

1st

(promoted)

6th Christy Ring Cup 3
Laois 4 2 2 2019 Never relegated 3 2018-2019

2023-

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

6th

(relegated)

1st Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Meath 5 3 3 Never promoted 2022 2 2018

2020-2022

2024-

6th

(relegated)

5th Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Offaly 4 2 3 Never promoted 2019 3 2019

2021-

4th 2nd Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Westmeath 5 2 4 2021 Never relegated 2 2018-2021

2024-

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

5th

1st Joe McDonagh Cup 2

Qualification for subsequent competitions edit

Further information: All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Qualification for the All-Ireland Championship edit

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.

All-Ireland record of Joe McDonagh Cup teams edit

Season County Round Opponent Score
2018   Carlow Preliminary QF   Limerick 5-22 - 0-13
  Westmeath   Wexford 2-21 - 0-16
2019   Laois Preliminary QF   Dublin 0-23 - 1-22
Quarter-Finals   Tipperary 2-25 - 1-18
  Westmeath Preliminary QF   Cork 1-40 - 0-20
2020 No All-Ireland path for Joe McDonagh Cup finalists
2021 No All-Ireland path for Joe McDonagh Cup finalists
2022   Antrim Preliminary QF   Cork 2-19 - 3-27
  Kerry   Wexford 0-18 - 3-30
2023   Carlow Preliminary QF   Dublin 0-21 - 2-25
  Offaly   Tipperary 3-18 - 7-38
2024 Joe McDonagh Cup winners Preliminary QF 3rd Munster
Joe McDonagh Cup runners-up 3rd Leinster

Venues edit

See also: List of Gaelic Athletic Association stadiums
 
Croke Park in Dublin, hosted the 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup final.

Group stage edit

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 edit

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

Managers edit

Main article: Manager (Gaelic games)

Winning managers edit

# Manager(s) Winning team(s) Titles(s) Winning years
1   Darren Gleeson Antrim 2 2020, 2022
2   Colm Bonnar Carlow 1 2018
  Eddie Brennan Laois 1 2019
  Shane O'Brien Westmeath 1 2021
  Tom Mullally Carlow 1 2023

Trophy and medals edit

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.[10]

The winning team is presented with a set of gold medals.

List of finals edit

Year Date Winners Runners-up Venue Winning captain(s) Winning margin Referee
County Score County Score
2023 27 May Carlow 2-29 (35) Offaly 1-31 (34) Croke Park Paul Doyle 1 Thomas Walsh (Waterford)
2022 4 June Antrim 5-22 (37) Kerry 4-24 (36) Croke Park Conor McCann 1 Sean Stack (Dublin)
2021 17 July Westmeath 2-28 (34) Kerry 1-24 (27) Croke Park Cormac Boyle 7 Sean Cleere (Kilkenny)
2020 13 December Antrim 0-22 (22) Kerry 1-17 (20) Croke Park Conor McCann 2 Liam Gordon (Galway)
2019 30 June Laois 3-26 (35) Westmeath 1-21 (24) Croke Park Patrick Purcell 11 Colum Cunning (Antrim)
2018 1 July Carlow 2-26 (32) Westmeath 1-24 (27) Croke Park Richard Coady and Diarmuid Byrne 5 Cathal McAllister (Cork)

Roll of honour edit

Performance by county edit

County Titles Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
  Antrim 2 0 2020, 2022 —
  Carlow 2 0 2018, 2023 —
  Westmeath 1 2 2021 2018, 2019
  Laois 1 0 2019 —
  Kerry 0 3 — 2020, 2021, 2022
  Offaly 0 1 — 2023

Performance by province edit

Province Titles Runners-up Total
  Leinster 4 3 7
  Ulster 2 0 2
  Munster 0 3 3

Team records and statistics edit

Main article: Joe McDonagh Cup records and statistics

Team results edit

Legend

For year, the number of teams (in brackets) are shown.

Team 2018 (6) 2019 (5) 2020 (5) 2021 (6) 2022 (6) 2023 (6) 2024 (6) Years
  Antrim 5th 3rd 1st L 1st L L 4
  Carlow 1st L 4th 4th 3rd 1st L 5
  Down CR CR CR 3rd 5th 5th 4
  Kerry 3rd 4th 2nd 2nd 2nd 4th 7
  Kildare CR CR CR 6th CR 6th CR 2
  Laois 4th 1st L L L 3rd 4
  Meath 6th CR 5th 5th 6th CR 5
  Offaly L 5th CR CR 4th 2nd 4
  Westmeath 2nd 2nd 3rd 1st L L 5

List of Joe McDonagh Cup counties edit

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

County Total years First year in Championship Most recent year in Championship Championship titles Last Championship title 2023 championship finish Best Joe McDonagh Cup finish Current Championship Lvl
Antrim 4 2018 2022 2 2022 5th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) 1st Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 1
Carlow 5 2018 2023 2 2023 Champions 1st Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 1
Down 4 2021 2024 0 — 5th 3rd Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Kerry 7 2018 2024 0 — 4th 2nd Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Kildare 2 2021 2023 0 — 6th 6th Christy Ring Cup 3
Laois 4 2018 2024 1 2019 3rd 1st Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Meath 5 2018 2024 0 — Champions (Christy Ring Cup) 5th Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Offaly 4 2019 2024 0 — Runners-up 2nd Joe McDonagh Cup 2
Westmeath 5 2018 2024 1 2021 6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) 1st Joe McDonagh Cup 2

All time table edit

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 2023 Cup. Includes Relegation Playoffs.

# Team Part Pld W D L Points
1   Carlow 5 23 14 3 6 31
2   Antrim 4 21 14 1 6 29
3   Kerry 6 28 14 1 13 29
4   Westmeath 4 18 11 1 6 23
5   Laois 3 15 9 2 4 20
6   Offaly 3 15 7 0 8 14
7   Down 3 12 4 0 8 8
8   Meath 4 17 2 0 15 4
9   Kildare 2 9 0 0 9 0

By Semi-Final/Top 4 Appearances edit

Team No. Years
  Kerry 6 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
  Carlow 5 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
  Westmeath 4 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
  Antrim 3 2019, 2020, 2022
  Laois 3 2018, 2019, 2023
  Offaly 2 2022, 2023
  Down 1 2021

By decade edit

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

Match records edit

Other records edit

Finishing positions edit

Unbeaten sides edit

Beaten sides edit

The group stage of the cup has resulted in 2 'back-door' Joe McDonagh Cup champions:

On one occasion a team was defeated twice but have remained in the championship:

Final success rate edit

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 edit

Kerry have the record number of consecutive participations in the Joe McDonagh Cup, taking part in the all 7 seasons.

Winning other trophies edit

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 edit

Scoring Events edit

Successful defending edit

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

Gaps edit

Active gaps edit

Provinces edit

  • Only on 3 occasions has the Joe McDonagh Cup final involved two teams from the same province:
  • The province providing the highest number of different winning teams is Leinster, with three:
  • Province success rates
    • Leinster 25% (3 out of 12 counties)
    • Ulster 11% (1 out of 9 counties)
    • Connacht 0% (0 out of 5 counties)
    • Munster 0% (0 out of 6 counties)

Longest undefeated run edit

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 9 games held by   Antrim (2020-2022).

Miscellaneous edit

Player records edit

Top scorers edit

All time edit

As of 7 May 2023
# Name County Goals Points Total
1   Shane Conway Kerry 6 188 206
2   Marty Kavanagh Carlow 6 151 169
3   Jack Regan Meath 5 109 124
4   Neil McManus Antrim 6 105 123
5   Pádraig Boyle Kerry 5 107 122
6   Eoghan Cahill Offaly 4 108 120
7   Ciarán Clarke Antrim 11 61 94
8   Chris Nolan Carlow 5 75 90
9   Killian Doyle Westmeath 3 61 70
10   Stephen Maher Laois 1 63 66
11   Conal Cunning Antrim 2 56 62
  Ross King Laois 2 56 62

By year edit

Year Top scorer County Score Total
2018   Neil McManus Antrim 3-67 76
2019   Killian Doyle Westmeath 3-61 70
2020   Ciarán Clarke Antrim 4-47 59
2021   Jack Regan Meath 1-36 39
2022   Pádraig Boyle Kerry 3-64 73
2023   Martin Kavanagh Carlow 3-71 80

In a single game edit

Year Top scorer County Score Total
2018   Neil McManus Antrim 0-17 17
2019   Killian Doyle Westmeath 0-17 17
2020   Martin Kavanagh Carlow 1-13 16
2021   Jack Regan Meath 0-17 17
2022   Pádraig Boyle Kerry 2-11 17
2023   Eoghan Cahill Offaly 2-11 17

In finals edit

Year Top scorer County Score Total
2018   Denis Murphy Carlow 0-10 10
2019   Killian Doyle Westmeath 1-11 14
2020   Ciarán Clarke Antrim 0-11 11
2021   Niall Mitchell Westmeath 0-07 7
  Pádraig Boyle Kerry 1-04
2022   Pádraig Boyle Kerry 2-11 17
2023   Martin Kavanagh Carlow 1-08 11

Captains edit

Winning captain(s) County Title(s) Year(s)
  Diarmuid Byrne and Richard Coady Carlow 1 2018
  Patrick Purcell Laois 1 2019
  Conor McCann Antrim 1 2020
  Cormac Boyle Westmeath 1 2021
  Conor McCann Antrim 1 2022
  Paul Doyle Carlow 1 2023

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Hurling changes will benefit Tier 2 counties, says Westmeath boss". RTÉ News. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  2. ^ Moran, Seán (30 September 2017). "GAA Congress approve round-robin provincial hurling championships". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  3. ^ "GAA 2018: How the new season will look". Irish Examiner. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. ^ "GAA votes to change senior hurling championship". Irish Examiner. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Historic day at Croke Park as Congress votes in hurling structure changes". RTE Sport. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Official Guide - Part 1" (PDF). Gaelic Athletic Association. 23 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Joe McDonagh Cup link with All-Ireland series could be severed". The Independent. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Kerry gain Munster entry". RTÉ. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  9. ^ "New hurling competition to be named after Galway All-Ireland winner and ex-GAA President". The 42. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  10. ^ "New hurling competition to be named after Galway All-Ireland winner and ex-GAA President". The 42. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
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