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

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

clubs in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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 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 ...

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 ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

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

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

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 (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

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