The 2025 Nicky Rackard Cup was the twenty-first edition of the Nicky Rackard Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005 and is the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 24–29 in the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The competition ran from 12 April to 1 June 2025.
Donegal, winner of the 2024 final, were promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, replaced by Sligo who were relegated back to this competition. Fermanagh were promoted from the Lory Meagher Cup.
The top 2 teams from the round robin stage will play off in the final to decide the winner. The Nicky Rackard Cup Final will be played on 31 May 2025 at Croke Park in Dublin. Roscommon defeated Mayo by 3-16 to 1-24.
Team changes
To Championship Relegated from the Christy Ring Cup
Sligo
Promoted from the Lory Meagher Cup
Fermanagh
From Championship Promoted to the Christy Ring Cup
Donegal
Relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup
Monaghan
Format
Cup format Initially each of the six teams play the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games compete in the Nicky Rackard Cup Final.
Promotion The Nicky Rackard Cup champions are automatically promoted to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the bottom-placed team in the Christy Ring Cup.
Relegation The bottom-placed team in the Nicky Rackard Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Lory Meagher Cup and are replaced by the Lory Meagher Cup champions. However, if New York are the Lory Meagher Cup champions, no team will be relegated from the Nicky Rackard Cup.
Teams by province The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2025 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Connacht (3)
Mayo (23) Roscommon (25) Sligo (28)
Leinster (1)
Louth (29)
Munster (0)
None participated
Ulster (2)
Armagh (26) Fermanagh (30)
Teams
General Information CountyLast Cup TitleLast Provincial TitleLast All-Ireland TitlePosition in 2024 ChampionshipAppearance Armagh2012——4th16th Fermanagh———Champions (Lory Meagher Cup)8th Louth———5th17th Mayo20211909—Runners-up6th Roscommon20151913—3rd12th Sligo2019——6th (Christy Ring Cup)12th
Personnel and kits CountyManagerCaptain(s)Sponsor ArmaghKarl McKeeganBarry ShorttSimplyfruit FermanaghJoe BaldwinRory Porteous and Tom KeenanBelter Tech LouthTrevor HilliardConor ClancySTATSports MayoRay LarkinDavid KennyIntersport Elverys RoscommonKevin SammonConor CosgroveBallymore Group SligoStephen SheilKevin O'KennedyClayton Hotels
Group stage
Table TeamQualification1 Mayo54108-1235-82 +509Advance to Final2 Roscommon531111-871-95 +2273 Armagh53023-775-91 -2064 Sligo521211-874-102 +655 Louth51045-928-92 -926 Fermanagh50143-9318-96 -481Potentially relegated to Lory Meagher Cup
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Knockout stage
Final wins the Nicky Rackard Cup.
Stadia and locations
CountyLocationProvinceStadium(s)CapacityNeutralDublinLeinsterCroke Park82,300 ArmaghArmaghUlsterAthletic Grounds18,500 FermanaghEnniskillenUlsterBrewster Park20,000 LouthDroghedaLeinsterDrogheda Park3,500 MayoCastlebarConnachtMacHale Park25,369 RoscommonRoscommonConnachtDr Hyde Park25,000 SligoSligoConnachtMarkievicz Park18,558
Statistics
Top scorers
Overall
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage1Andrew Kilcullen Sligo6-4361512.202Darren Geoghegan Louth1-394258.403Shane Boland Mayo0-343456.804Sheá Harvey Armagh0-282855.605Eoin Delaney Mayo3-182764.506Leon Fox Louth3-162555.007Seán Corrigan Fermanagh1-212446.00Liam Lavin Mayo0-242464.009Seán Canning Roscommon6-052345.75Robbie Fallon Roscommon3-142363.83 In a single game RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition1Andrew Kilcullen Sligo4-0719 Fermanagh2Andrew Kilcullen Sligo2-0915 Armagh3Seán Canning Roscommon3-0211 Louth4Andrew Kilcullen Sligo0-1010 Louth5Andrew Kilcullen Sligo0-099 RoscommonDarren Geoghegan Louth0-099 MayoLeon Fox Louth2-039 MayoShane Boland Mayo0-099 SligoJohn Duffy Fermanagh1-069 MayoSheá Harvey Armagh0-099 SligoDarren Geoghegan Louth0-099 Roscommon
Scoring events
Widest winning margin: 21 points Armagh 0-11 - 1-29 Mayo (Round 2) Most goals in a match: 9 Fermanagh 2-18 - 7-20 Sligo (Round 3) Most points in a match: 49 Mayo 1-32 - 1-17 Sligo (Round 4) Roscommon 4-27 - 0-22 Fermanagh (Round 4) Most goals by one team in a match: 7 Fermanagh 2-18 - 7-20 Sligo (Round 3) Most points by one team in a match: 32 Mayo 1-32 - 1-17 Sligo (Round 4) Highest aggregate score: 65 points Fermanagh 2-18 - 7-20 Sligo (Round 3) Lowest aggregate score: 31 points Fermanagh 0-15 - 1-13 Armagh (Round 1) Hat-trick Heros: Andrew Kilcullen (Sligo) 4-07 vs Fermanagh (Round 3) Seán Canning (Roscommon) 3-02 vs Louth (Round 5)
See also
2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2025 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 2025 Munster Senior Hurling Championship 2025 Joe McDonagh Cup (Tier 2) 2025 Christy Ring Cup (Tier 3) 2025 Lory Meagher Cup (Tier 5)
References