The

Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board"), is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland ...

O'Byrne Cup is a

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 ...

competition organised by the

Leinster GAA The Leinster Council is a provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, rounders and handball in the province of Leinster. The Leinster Council has been partnered with the European Count ...

and first staged in 1954. The competition is named after Matt Byrne, a former

Wicklow GAA The Wicklow County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Chontae Cill Mhantáin) or Wicklow GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in Count ...

club and county officer. By virtue of a quirk in translation, the Corn Uí Bhroin became known as the O'Byrne cup even though Matt had never used an 'O' in his surname. Byrne was born on February 14, 1870, was a native of Baltinglass and taught at the local national school on Chapel Hill. Deeply involved in GAA activities at any levels throughout his life, he was regarded as a good footballer in his youth as well as an excellent handballer. He was the first secretary of the Maurice Davins' club in Baltinglass and served as a member of the Wicklow County Board for over 50 years, mostly as county registrar. He was also his county's representative on Leinster and Central Councils and served as President of the Irish Handball Council from 1941-1944. He died on September 21, 1947. The competition participants are the eleven Leinster county teams (excluding

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 ...

). Formerly third-level teams competed, but from 2018 onward only county teams play. The competition is, together with the Walsh Cup and Kehoe Cup, part of the Bord na Móna Leinster GAA Series which takes place each January. The current O'Byrne Cup champions are

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 ...

, who beat

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 ...

in the 2022 final. The O'Byrne Shield was introduced for teams knocked out of the first stage of the Cup but was later abandoned in 2013 due to the introduction of group stages in the competition.The Bord Na Mona O'Byrne Cup S.F. 2013

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Top winners

The competition was not played in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1984, 1985 or 2021.

Previous finals

*''Wexford awarded title as Westmeath refused to play extra time''

The O'Byrne Shield

The O'Byrne Shield was an inter county competition between the losers of the first round of the O'Byrne Cup. The competition began in

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 ...

with

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 mee ...

winning in the final. The 2007 final was contested by

and Athlone IT and Longford won the game on a scoreline of 2–10 to 1–7, while the 2008 title was awarded to

after the competition was never completed. The O'Byrne Shield ended as a competition prior to the 2013 season and will no longer be played due to the group stages of the O'Byrne Cup which gives each team a minimum of 3 matches.

Top winners

References

{{Leinster Council Leinster GAA inter-county football competitions Gaelic football cup competitions