The Women's Irish Senior Cup is the premier knockout trophy played for by the top women's

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

clubs in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The competition is held under the auspices of the

Irish Hockey Association Hockey Ireland, previously known as the Irish Hockey Association, is the governing body for field hockey in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organising both the Ireland men's national field hockey team and t ...

, a body that was formed with the merger of the men's and women's Unions in 2000. The Irish Ladies Hockey Union was the first women's hockey organisation in the world.

Historical format

From its start in 1903, the tournament was played through regional tournaments. The winners of the regional tournaments in

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

would proceed through to an open draw. Occasionally representatives from the South East Branch and the

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

Branch also took part. In 1990, it was decided to change the format to an open draw with the top four sides from each of the provinces competing.

Current format

In 1995 the decision was made to open the competition to all Senior Clubs in

with seeding for the elite clubs introduced in 2000, exempting them from playing in the first two rounds, and going a long way to avoid mismatches. The Final is played in Dublin and is normally broadcast by the Irish national television broadcaster

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Finals

(''Records are incomplete'')

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Notes: * ^a Alexandra College/Old College would later be named Old Alexandra

2020s

Sources

External links

The Irish Hockey Association Website
{{Ireland field hockey links Senior Cup 1903 establishments in Ireland