The Tailteann Cup is a Gaelic football competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams, which, in the given year, have not otherwise qualified for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, and the winner is awarded the Tailteann Cup. The name 'Tailteann' comes from the ancient Tailteann Games.
The cup has been won by five different counties, none of which has won the title more than once. As the prize for the winner is automatic entry to the following year's All-Ireland championship, it is not possible for a team to defend a title. The all-time record-holders are currently Down, Meath, Westmeath, Kildare and Wicklow, who have won the cup on one occasion each. Down are also the only team to appear in the final more than once, finishing as runners-up in the 2023 and 2026 finals and champions in 2024.
History Creation
Following ongoing one-sided matches in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship between counties of differing standards, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) began considering the addition of a tournament for those counties that were eliminated in the early stages of their respective provincial championship. At a national conference in November 2018, the GAA found broad support for the introduction of this 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. However, its introduction was ultimately delayed until 2022, due the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games over that period.
Alternative championship competitions, such as the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup, had been incorporated into hurling for several years, later joined by the Joe McDonagh Cup from 2018 onwards.
Format history 2022 The first Tailteann Cup was a knockout tournament whereby once a team was defeated they were eliminated from the championship. The pairings were drawn by location. Each match was played as a single leg.
2023–2025 The Tailteann Cup emulated the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship format which includes a group stage and a knockout stage.
2026- Alongside the All-Ireland SFC, the Tailteann Cup moved to a double-elimination format from 2026 onwards.
Tailteann Cup moments Westmeath 2-14 - 1-13 Cavan (1 July 2022): Westmeath won the inaugural Tailteann Cup, defeating Cavan in Croke Park. Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois (25 June 2023): This semi-final meeting was the biggest ever Tailteann Cup winning margin in the competition's history. Wicklow 1-21 - 2-16 Down (11 July 2026): In the 2026 final after already surprising some with 4 wins on the trot Wicklow mounted a comeback for the ages, recovering from 2-13 to 0-4 behind after 36 minutes to score 1-17 to Down’s abysmal 0-3 in the final 34 minutes to clinch a rare title in their mainly uneventful history.
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, 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 play a first round against each other, with winners and losers moving into two separate brackets afterwards, 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 in Dublin.
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 to 2025, there are scheduled to be no North/South sections.
Unlike the contest for the Sam Maguire Cup, London and New York are permitted to meet each other in the contest for the Tailteann Cup.
Tailteann Cup knockout stage
Round 1 (16 teams remaining) The sixteen teams who did not qualify for the All-Ireland series are drawn at random into eight ties. The first team chosen receives home-field advantage.
Round 2A (Eight teams) Winners of the Round 1 ties play each other in this round, with fixtures chosen by open draw and the first team chosen playing at home. Three winners progress to the quarter-finals and one team moves to the preliminary quarter-final.
Round 2B (Eight teams) Losers of the Round 1 ties play each other in this round. Winners progress to Round 3 and losers are eliminated.
Round 3 (Eight teams) Losers of Round 2A ties play winners of Round 2B ties in this round. Home advantage is determined by a separate draw from the draw for fixtures and rematches from Round One are avoided where possible. Winners progress to the quarter-finals and losers are eliminated.
Preliminary quarter-final (Two teams) One Round 2A winner (selected at random) plays New York in this round. The Round 2A winner is guaranteed home advantage unless that team is London, in which case the game will be moved to a neutral site in Ireland.
Quarter-finals (Eight teams remaining) Winners from Round 2A and the preliminary quarter-final are seeded and play a Round 3 winner, with rematches avoided where possible. Round 2A/PQF winners receive home advantage unless they are New York, who will play at a neutral site in Ireland should they advance.
Semi-finals (Four teams remaining) The winners of the quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Rematches from either provincial championships or earlier in the Tailteann Cup are avoided where possible. Games are played at neutral venues determined by the Competition Committee. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game. Winning team are declared Tailteann Cup champions.
Teams 2026 teams Seventeen teams compete in the 2026 Tailteann Cup. CountyPosition in 2025Appearance Antrim—1951—5th Carlow—1944—5th Clare—1992——1st Down202419941994—4th Fermanagh———5th Laois—2003—5th Leitrim—1994—5th Limerick—189618964th London———5th Longford—1968—5th New York———5th Offaly—199719825th Sligo—2007—4th Tipperary—202019205th Waterford—1898—5th Wexford—194519185th Wicklow———5th
Venues Cup venues Group stage, preliminary quarter-finals and quarter-finals Fixtures in the three group stage rounds of the cup are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed at least one home game.
Semi-finals and final The Tailteann Cup semi-finals and final are played at Croke Park.
2023 venues CountyLocationProvinceStadiumCapacity AntrimBelfastUlsterCorrigan Park3,700 CarlowCarlowLeinsterDr Cullen Park21,000 CavanCavanUlsterBreffni Park32,000 DownNewryUlsterPáirc Esler20,000 FermanaghEnniskillenUlsterBrewster Park20,000 LaoisPortlaoiseLeinsterO'Moore Park27,000 LeitrimCarrick-on-ShannonConnachtPáirc Seán Mac Diarmada9,331 LimerickLimerickMunsterGaelic Grounds44,023 LondonSouth RuislipBritainMcGovern Park3,000 LongfordLongfordLeinsterPearse Park10,000 MeathNavanLeinsterPáirc Tailteann11,000 New YorkBronxNorth AmericaGaelic Park2,000 OffalyTullamoreLeinsterO'Connor Park20,000 TipperaryThurlesMunsterSemple Stadium45,690 WaterfordWaterfordMunsterFraher Field15,000 WexfordWexfordLeinsterChadwicks Wexford Park20,000 WicklowAughrimLeinsterAughrim County Ground7,000
Managers Winning managers #Manager(s)Winning team(s)Titles(s)Winning years1 Jack CooneyWestmeath12022 Colm O'RourkeMeath12023 Conor LavertyDown12024 Brian FlanaganKildare12025 Oisín McConvilleWicklow12026
List of finals YearDateWinnerRunner-upVenueWinning captain(s)Winning marginRefereeCountyScoreCountyScore20229 JulyWestmeath 2–14 (20) Cavan 1–13 (16)Croke ParkKevin Maguire4Barry Cassidy (Derry)202315 JulyMeath2–13 (19)Down0–14 (14)Croke ParkDonal Keogan5Noel Mooney (Cavan)202413 JulyDown0–14 (14)Laois2–6 (12)Croke ParkPierce Laverty2Brendan Griffin (Kerry)202512 JulyKildare1–24 (27)Limerick2–19 (25)Croke Park Kevin Feely2Liam Devenney (Mayo)202611 JulyWicklow1-21 (24)Down2-16 (22)Croke Park Dean Healy2Barry Tiernan (Dublin)
Roll of honour Performances by county team County teamTitle(s)Runner-upYears won Years runner-up Down 1 2 2024 2023, 2026 Westmeath 1 0 2022 — Meath 1 0 2023 — Kildare 1 0 2025 — Wicklow 1 0 2026 — Cavan 0 1 — 2022 Laois 0 1 — 2024 Limerick 0 1 — 2025
Performances by province ProvinceWinnerRunner-up Leinster41 Ulster13 Munster01 Connacht00
Team records and statistics Team results Legend – Champion – Runner-up – Semi-finalist – Preliminary Round/Round {1/2/3}/Group Stage/Preliminary Quarter-final/Quarter-final AI – All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
For each year, the number of teams in each championship (in brackets) are shown. Team2022 (17)2023 (17)2024 (17)2025 (17)2026 (17)Years Antrim R1 SF SF PQF QF5 Carlow QF QF GS PQF R25 Cavan 2nd QFAIAIAI2 ClareAIAIAIAI R21 Down R1 2nd 1stAI 2nd4 Fermanagh QF PQF QF SF SF5 KildareAIAI QF 1stAI3 Laois R1 SF 2nd PQF QF5 Leitrim QF GS PQF GS R35 LimerickAI QF QF 2nd R24 London R1 GS PQF GS R35 Longford R1 PQF GS GS R35 MeathAI 1stAIAIAI1 New York QF PQF PQF PQF PQF5 Offaly SF PQF GS QF SF5 Sligo SFAI SF QF QF4 Tipperary R1 GS PQF GS R35 Waterford PR GS GS GS R25 Westmeath 1stAIAI QFAI2 Wexford PR QF GS QF QF5 Wicklow R1 GS QF SF 1st5
Seasons in Tailteann Cup The number of years that each county team has played in the Tailteann Cup (between 2022 and 2025). A total of 21 county teams have competed in at least one season of the Tailteann Cup. The county teams in bold participated in the 2026 Tailteann Cup. YearsCounties5Antrim, Carlow, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, London, Longford, New York, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow4Down, Limerick, Sligo2Cavan, Kildare, Westmeath1Clare, Meath
Debut of county teams YearDebutantsTotal2022 Antrim, Carlow, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, London, Longford, New York, Offaly, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow172023 Limerick, Meath22024 Kildare12025 No débutants02026 Clare1Total21
All-time table Legend ColoursCurrently competing in the All-Ireland Senior Football ChampionshipCurrently competing in the Tailteann Cup After 2026 final #Team1 Down201505301.5002 Fermanagh201217251.2503 Wicklow211209241.1434 Antrim191117231.211= Laois211038231.0956 Sligo171016211.235= Offaly201019211.0507 Limerick171007201.1769 Kildare10901181.80010 Westmeath9702141.556= Wexford186210140.77812 Meath6600122.000= Cavan8602121.500= Carlow16529120.75015 Leitrim155010100.66716 Tipperary14301160.429= Longford14301160.42918 London14211150.33319 Waterford12101120.16720 Clare200200.000= New York500500.000
By decade The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Tailteann Cup titles, is as follows:
2020s: 1 each for Westmeath (2022), Meath (2023), Down (2024), Kildare (2025) and Wicklow (2026).
Match records Most matches played 21, Laois, Wicklow Most wins 15, Down Most losses 11, Longford, Waterford, Tipperary, London Most draws 3, Laois
Other records Finishing positions Most championships 1, Westmeath (2022) 1, Meath (2023) 1, Down (2024) 1, Kildare (2025) 1, Wicklow (2026) Most second-place finishes 2, Down (2023, 2026) Most semi-final finishes 2, Sligo (2022, 2024) 2, Antrim (2023, 2024) 2, Offaly (2022, 2026) 2, Fermanagh (2025, 2026) Most quarter-final finishes 3, Wexford (2024, 2025, 2026) Most preliminary quarter-final finishes 4, New York (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026) Most group stage finishes 3, Waterford (2023, 2024, 2025)
Unbeaten sides