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O'Byrne Cup

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O'Byrne Cup
Current season or competition:
2024 O'Byrne Cup
IrishCorn Uí Bhroin
CodeGaelic football
Founded1954; 70 years ago (1954)
RegionLeinster (GAA)
TrophyO'Byrne Cup
No. of teams11
Title holdersLongford (5th title)
Most titlesKildare (11 titles)
SponsorsDioralyte
Official websitehttps://leinstergaa.ie/competitions/obyrne-cup-s-f-2023/
Donal Keogan (Meath) lifts the O'Byrne Cup in 2016

The O'Byrne Cup is a Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster GAA and first staged in 1954. The competition has been sponsored by Dioralyte since 2024.

The competition is named after Matt Byrne, a former Wicklow GAA club and county officer. By virtue of a quirk in translation, the Corn Uí Bhroin became known as the O'Byrne cup even though Matt had never used an 'O' in his surname. Byrne was born on February 14, 1870, was a native of Baltinglass and taught at the local national school on Chapel Hill. Deeply involved in GAA activities at any levels throughout his life, he was regarded as a good footballer in his youth as well as an excellent handballer. He was the first secretary of the Maurice Davins' club in Baltinglass and served as a member of the Wicklow County Board for over 50 years, mostly as county registrar. He was also his county's representative on Leinster and Central Councils and served as President of the Irish Handball Council from 1941-1944. He died on September 21, 1947. The competition participants are the eleven Leinster county teams (excluding Kilkenny). Formerly third-level teams competed, but from 2018 onward only county teams play. The competition is, together with the Walsh Cup and Kehoe Cup, part of a Leinster GAA Series which takes place each January.

The current O'Byrne Cup champions are Longford, who beat Dublin in the 2024 final.[1]

The O'Byrne Shield was introduced for teams knocked out of the first stage of the Cup but was later abandoned in 2013 due to the introduction of group stages in the competition. It was re-introduced in 2024 when the O'Byrne Cup reverted to straight knockout format.[2][3]

Top winners

[edit]
Team Wins Years won
1 Kildare 11 1962, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1982, 1989, 2003, 2011, 2013, 2014
2 Dublin 10 1956, 1958, 1960, 1966, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2017, 2022
Meath 10 1967, 1974, 1977, 1983, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2016, 2018
4 Offaly 6 1954, 1961, 1981, 1993, 1997, 1998
5 Laois 5 1978, 1987, 1991, 1994, 2005
Longford 5 1965, 2000, 2020, 2023, 2024
7 Westmeath 4 1959, 1964, 1988, 2019
Louth 4 1963, 1980, 1990, 2009
Wicklow 4 1955, 1957, 1986, 1996
10 DCU 2 2010, 2012
11 Carlow 1 2002
Wexford 1 1995

The competition was not played in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1984, 1985 or 2021.

Previous finals

[edit]
Dublin1-13 – 0-11Laois
Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath)
Westmeath1-12 – 0-10Dublin
Referee: David Hickey (Carlow)
Dublin2-12 – 1-14Longford
Referee: Maurice Deegan
Dublin1-18 – 2-13Laois
Referee: Derek Fahy
Wexford0-09 – 1-06*Westmeath
*Wexford awarded title as Westmeath refused to play extra time
Meath1-11 – 0-07Wexford
Gorey
Kildare2-08 – 0-09Meath
Westmeath0-13 – 2-05Laois
Westmeath0-09 – 2-03Laois
Laois1-08 – 0-09Meath
Wicklow1-07 – 0-06Westmeath
Competition not playedv
Competition not playedv
Meath1-11 – 1-09Longford
Kildare2-08 – 1-05Wicklow
Offaly1-12 – 0-11Dublin
Louth0-08 – 1-04Dublin
St Brigid's Park, Drogheda
Laois3-07 – 1-08Carlow
Dr Cullen Park, Carlow
Meath2-09 – 0-09Offaly
Kildare1-09 – 0-09Wexford
Meath1-09 – 2-05Dublin
Kildare3-11 – 1-04Dublin
Kildare2-08 – 0-08Louth
Kildare2-07 – 1-06Westmeath
Meath0-10 – 1-05Dublin
Dublin1-05 – 0-06Offaly
Longford1-09 – 1-06Kildare
Westmeath1-09 – 1-05Carlow
Louth1-10 – 0-10Longford
Kildare2-06 – 1-07Louth
Offaly1-09 – 0-06Longford
Dublin1-11 – 0-07Louth
Dublin2-06 – 1-09Louth
Westmeath1-05 – 1-04Kildare
Dublin2-09 – 2-08Meath
Dublin1-06 – 1-06Meath
Wicklow1-09 – 0-10Kildare
Dublin1-10 – 1-03Kildare
Wicklow1-06 – 0-07Westmeath
Offaly0-10 – 1-05Louth

The O'Byrne Shield

[edit]

The O'Byrne Shield was an inter county competition between the losers of the first round of the O'Byrne Cup. The competition began in 2006 with Longford winning in the final. The 2007 final was contested by Longford and Athlone IT and Longford won the game on a scoreline of 2–10 to 1–7, while the 2008 title was awarded to Laois after the competition was never completed. The O'Byrne Shield ended as a competition prior to the 2013 season when the O'Byrne Cup changed to a round-robin format which gave each team a minimum of 3 matches. The Shield competition was re-introduced in 2024 when the O'Byrne Cup reverted to straight knockout format, and is limited to teams which lose their first match, except for Dublin.[2]

Top winners

[edit]
Team Wins Years won
1 Laois 3 2008, 2009, 2012
2 Longford 2 2006, 2007
3 Carlow 1 2010
3 Dublin 1 2011

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Longford - O'Byrne Cup History". Longford Gaelic Stats.
  2. ^ a b The Bord Na Mona O'Byrne Cup S.F. 2013 Archived 2012-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Friday night lights on cards for Leinster championship showdowns - Independent.ie
  4. ^ "O'Byrne Cup final: SENIOR FOOTBALLERS PROVE TO BE EXTRA SPECIAL". Hogan Stand. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  5. ^ "O'Byrne Cup final: Kildare retain crown". Hogan Stand. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.