The Tailteann Cup is a second tier

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

championship competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

(GAA). It is contested by those

county teams A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland ha ...

who do not qualify for the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

and the winner is awarded the Tailteann Cup. The name 'Tailteann' comes from the ancient Tailteann Games.

Background

Following ongoing one-sided matches in the

between counties of differing standards, the

(GAA) began considering the addition of a tournament for so-called weaker

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

who were usually eliminated in the early stages of their respective

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

championship. At a national conference in November 2018, the GAA found broad support for the introduction of a second-tier championship and canvassed options for its potential structure and future inclusion within the annual calendar. One year later at a specially convened congress, 76% of delegates formally approved of the second-tier tournament. The tournament was named the Tailteann Cup in February 2020 and it was intended it would hold its inaugural season that year, though its introduction was ultimately delayed until 2022 due the

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games As with other sports, the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to Gaelic games, primarily in Ireland but also elsewhere in the world. Competitions were cancelled, postponed or restructured, while some teams were withdrawn or were unable to pa ...

over that period. Second and third-tier competitions have been incorporated 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 ...

for several years, such as 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

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 finishin ...

Format

Up to 17 teams compete in the cup. The teams are drawn from the bottom 16 rankings from that season's

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, plus New York. However, if a team in this position qualifies for the final of its provincial championship, that team continues to compete in the same year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and does not compete in the Tailteann Cup. The teams that compete in the Tailteann Cup are split into four round-robin groups, and the top two teams from each group proceed to one of four knockout quarter-finals matches, followed by semi-finals and the final. The Winners of the four Quarter Final pairings qualify for the semi-finals, with pairings decided via an open draw. The final of the Tailteann Cup is currently scheduled three weeks before the All-Ireland Football Final, and is staged at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. For the inaugural 2022 Tailteann Cup, the format was altered to a straight-knockout competition with Round 1 and the Quarter Finals organised on a geographical basis with Northern and Southern Sections. From 2023 onwards, there are scheduled to be no North/South sections. Unlike the contest for the

Sam Maguire Cup The Sam Maguire Cup ( ga, Chorn Sam Mhic Uidhir), often referred to as Sam or The Sam , is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the main competiti ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

are permitted to meet each other in the contest for the Tailteann Cup.

List of Finals

Roll of honour

Team records and statistics

Team results

Legend

* – Champions * – Runners-up * – Semi-Finals * – Quarter-Finals/Round 1/Preliminary Round * AI –

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

By semi-final appearances

Years in bold represent years qualified to final.

References

External links

GAA.ie

Tailteann Cup Hogan Stand
{{Authority control 2022 establishments in Ireland All-Ireland organisations Gaelic football leagues in Ireland Recurring sporting events established in 2022

Senior inter-county Gaelic football competitions Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...