The Leinster Council is a provincial council of 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 ...

sports of

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 ...

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 ki ...

, camogie, rounders and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

in the province of

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 ...

. The Leinster Council has been partnered with the European County Board to help develop Gaelic Games in Europe. Leinster Council's main contribution to this goal is the provision of referees. As of 2008, there were 834 clubs affiliated to the county boards of the Leinster Council.

County boards

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic boundar ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

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 ...

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

* Longford * Louth * Meath *

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...

* Westmeath * Wexford * Wicklow

Football

Provincial team

The Leinster provincial football team represents the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

in Gaelic football. The team competes in the

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

Players

Players from the following county teams represent Leinster:

, Longford, Louth,

, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

Competitions

Inter-county

* Leinster Senior Football Championship * O'Byrne Cup *

Leinster Junior Football Championship The Leinster Junior Football Championship is a junior "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in the province of Leinster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Leinster Council. The competition began in 1906, w ...

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highe ...

* Leinster Minor Football Championship

heads the roll of honour in football, having won 54 Leinster Senior Football Championship titles as of 2015.

Club

* Leinster Senior Club Football Championship *

Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship The Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between the Intermediate football champions of the 12 counties of Leinster. The winners will represent the province in the semi-final of the All- ...

* Leinster Junior Club Football Championship * Leinster Minor Club Football Championship

Hurling

Provincial team

The Leinster provincial hurling team represents the

in hurling. The team competes in the

Players

Competitions

Inter-county

* Leinster Senior Hurling Championship * Walsh Cup * Kehoe Cup *

Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship The Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship is an inter county competition between the Intermediate Hurling county teams in the province of Leinster. The Leinster Council organizes the series of games. The winners of the championship each y ...

Leinster Junior Hurling Championship The Leinster Junior Hurling Championship is a junior "knockout" competition in the game of Hurling played in the province of Leinster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Leinster Council. The winners of the Leinster Junior H ...

* Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship *

Leinster Minor Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Leinster GAA Hurling Minor Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic A ...

is the most successful county hurling team at senior level in the province, having won the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship on 74 occasions as of 2022.

Club

Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and con ...

Leinster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship ''For the senior hurling equivalent see: Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship'' The Leinster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship is an annual hurling tournament played between the county champions on intermediate level within the provinc ...

Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship ''For the senior hurling equivalent see: Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship'' The Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Junior Club Championship) is an annual hurling comp ...

Grades

Camogie

Gael Linn Cup

The Leinster camogie team won the premier representative competition in the women’s team field sport of camogie, the

Gael Linn Cup The Gael Linn Cup is a bi-ennial tournament, representative competition for elite level participants in the women's team field sport of camogie, contested by Ireland's four provincial teams with competitions at senior and junior level on alternat ...

on 26 occasions in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

, 1957,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, 1959,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, 1962,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, 1970,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

, 1972,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, 1987, 1988,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, 1991, 1993,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Gael Linn Trophy

The Leinster provincial junior camogie team won the Gael Linn Trophy on seven occasions in 1976,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, 1984,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

County Honours

Governance

Past chairmen

:''Source:'' *

James Nowlan James Nowlan (1862 – June 1924) was president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) from 1901 to 1921 and is the longest serving president of that organisation. He was also a Sinn Féin representative and member of the Gaelic League. In 20 ...

- 1900–1904 * John Fitzgerald - 1905–1908 * Dan McCarthy - 1909–1910, 1919–1921 * John J. Hogan - 1911–1918 * Patrick D. Breen - 1922–1923 * Bob O'Keeffe - 1924–1935 * Sean Robbins - 1936–1938 * Seamus Flood - 1939–1941 * Michael Kehoe - 1942–1944 * Fintan Brennan - 1945–1947 * Tom Walsh - 1948–1950 * Jack Fitzgerald - 1951–1953 * Dr. J. J. Stuart - 1954–1956 * Hugh Byrne - 1957–1959 * Brendan Breathnach - 1960–1962 * Liam Geraghty - 1963–1965 * - 1966–1968 * Jack Conroy - 1969–1971 *

Tom Loftus Thomas Joseph Loftus (November 15, 1856 – April 16, 1910) was a manager in the American Association, the National League, and the American League. His playing career began in 1877 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the National League ...

- 1972–1974 * Jimmy Roche - 1975–1977 * Paddy Buggy Kilkenny - 1978–1980 * John Dowling Offaly - 1981–1983 * Peadar Kearney Louth - 1984–1986 *

Jack Boothman John Henry "Jack" Boothman (12 October 1935 – 10 May 2016) was the 31st president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) between 1994 and 1997. He was an active member of his local Blessington GAA club in County Wicklow. He was chairman of ...

Wicklow - 1987–1989 * Jimmy Gray Dublin - 1990–1992 * Albert Fallon - Longford 1993–1995 * Jim Berry - Wexford 1996–1998 *

Seamus Aldridge Seamus Aldrdge (born 1935) is a Gaelic games administrator, Gaelic football referee and former player. He is a member of the Round Towers club in County Kildare. Career Aldridge played for the Kildare minor football team. He played until the ...

Kildare - 1999–2001 *

Nickey Brennan Nicholas "Nickey" Brennan (born 3 December 1953) is an Irish former hurler, manager and Gaelic games administrator. He played as a right wing-back at senior level for the Kilkenny county team. More recently, he served as the 35th president o ...

Kilkenny - 2002–2004 *

Liam O'Neill Liam O'Neill is a Gaelic games administrator, who served as the 37th president of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He is from County Laois. Biography A former chairman of the Leinster Council, O'Neill initially sought the GAA presidency at th ...

Laois - 2005–2007 * Sheamus Howlin - Wexford 2008–2010 * Martin Skelly Longford - 2011–2013 * John Horan Dublin - 2014–2016 * Jim Bolger Carlow - 2017–2019 * Pat Teehan Offaly - 2020–present

References

External links

Leinster Council website
{{GAA bodies Gaelic games in Leinster Provincial councils of the Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...