The Lory Meagher Cup (; often referred to as the Meagher Cup) is the fifth-highest inter-county senior championship in

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

. Each year, the champion team in the Lory Meagher Cup is promoted to the

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is the fourth tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champion team in the Nicky Rackard Cup is promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishing ...

. The Lory Meagher Cup, which was introduced for the 2009 season, provides a meaningful championship for fifth tier teams deemed "too weak" for the fourth tier Nicky Rackard Cup. The winners of the championship receive the Lory Meagher Cup, named after former

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

hurler

Lory Meagher Lorenzo Ignatius "Lory" Meagher (25 May 1899 – 17 May 1973) was an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder at senior level for the Kilkenny county team. Born in Tullaroan, County Kilkenny, Meagher arrived on the inter-county scene at the ag ...

who many regard as one of the greatest hurlers of all time.

History

Following the success of the

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Originally introduced as a second-tier competition, it is currently the third tier overall in the inter-county hurling championship system. Eac ...

and

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 The GAA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ), commonly known by its acronymic, the ''GAA''. The GAA is the international governing body of Gaelic games such as football and hurl ...

in October 2008.

2023 Teams

Winners listed by year

Roll of Honour

General Statistics

; Legend * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Semi-Finals/Quarter-Finals/Round 2 * – Group Stage * CR –

* NR –

* - – Inactive For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown. The most one sided Finals: * 15 points - 2021:

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

3-26 - 1-17

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

* 13 points - 2022:

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

3-27 - 3-14

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

* 12 points - 2013:

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

2-16 - 0-10

* 11 points - 2020:

2-19 - 2-08

* 8 points - 2010:

1-20 - 1-12

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

Debut of teams

References

{{Hurling All-Ireland inter-county hurling championships Hurling cup competitions