The Oireachtas Cup was an annual
hurling competition organised by the
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...
between 1939 and 1999 for the top inter-county teams in Ireland.
The series of games were usually played in the autumn months after the completion of the
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The prize for the winning team was the Oireachtas Cup and a special set of gold medals for the winning team. The tournament was initially a one-off challenge game between two top teams, however, as more teams entered a straight knock-out tournament developed.
The Oireachtas Cup was a post-championship hurling competition, with large crowds at
Croke Park on the day of the final. Over time, however, it fell out of favour with both players and supporters and was eventually scrapped.
The title was won at least once by eleven different counties, eight of which have won the title more than once. The all-time joint record-holders are
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
and
Tipperary
Tipperary is the name of:
Places
*County Tipperary, a county in Ireland
**North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh
**South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel
*Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...
, who won the competition eleven times.
General statistics
Performance by county
List of Oireachtas Finals
References
{{Hurling
All-Ireland inter-county hurling championships
Defunct hurling competitions
1939 establishments in Ireland