The Lory Meagher Cup (often referred to as the Meagher Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fifth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by the six county teams ranked 30–35 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champions of the Lory Meagher Cup are promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The competition is named in honour of former Kilkenny hurler Lory Meagher who many regard as one of the greatest hurlers of all time. The Lory Meagher Cup, which was introduced for the 2009 season, provides a meaningful championship for fifth tier teams deemed "too weak" for the fourth tier Nicky Rackard Cup. The title has been won by 9 different counties, 5 of whom have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Fermanagh and Louth, who have won the cup on 3 occasions. Fermanagh are the title holders, defeating Longford by 3-17 to 0-22 in the 2024 final.

History

Creation

Following the success of the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup for the lower tier hurling teams, it was decided in 2008 to investigate the possibility of introducing a fourth tier. The Hurling Development Committee (HDC) proposed the new four-tier structure in place of the existing three-tier model. It, and the second and third-tier competitions, were to consist of eight teams. The proposals were accepted at a special GAA Congress in October 2008. Another second tier competition, the Joe McDonagh Cup, was added in 2018, moving the Lory Meagher Cup down into tier 5.

Development

Team changes

12 county teams have participated in at least one edition of the Lory Meagher Cup. Fermanagh and Leitrim have participated in the most editions. South Down, although not an official county entered a team the first 3 seasons of the Cup but withdrew after 2011. Monaghan became the most recent county to make their debut in the Cup in 2021.

Team dominance

Summary of champions

Format history

Double elimination (2009–2011)

In 2009 a double elimination format was introduced, thus guaranteeing each team at least two games before being eliminated from the competition.

Group stage (2013–present)

Since 2013, a group stage has been included in the cup. The teams within the group stage has varied between 3 and 6 teams throughout the years.

Lory Meagher Cup moments

Format

Group stage

Group stage: There are six teams in the Cup. During the course of a season (from May to June) each team plays the others once (a single round-robin system) for a total of five games. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points. The top two teams in the group contest the Lory Meagher Cup final. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth-placed teams are eliminated from the championship.

Tie-breakers

In the event of teams finishing on equal points, the tie shall be decided by the following means (in the order specified):

Knockout stage

Final: The top two teams in the group stage contest the final. The winning team are declared champions. The Lory Meagher has no direct entry route to compete in that year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Promotion

At the end of the championship, the winning team is promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup for the following season.

Relegation

There is no relegation from the Lory Meagher Cup as it is the bottom of five tiers in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Group stage qualifications

Teams

2025 Cup

Seven counties will compete in the 2025 Lory Meagher Cup, with Monaghan relegated from the Nicky Rackard Cup and New York entering the competition:

List of Finals

Roll of Honour

Performances by county

Performances by province

Team records and statistics

Legend For each championship, the number of teams (in brackets) are shown.

Debut of teams

Seasons in Lory Meagher Cup

The number of years that each county has played in the Lory Meagher Cup between 2009 and 2025. A total of 13 counties have competed in at least one season of the Lory Meagher Cup. Leitrim have participated in the most championships. The counties in bold participate in the 2025 Lory Meagher Cup.

List of Lory Meagher Cup counties

The following teams have competed in the Lory Meagher Cup for at least one season.

All-time table

Legend As of 12 June 2024 (After 2024 Lory Meagher Cup).

By Semi-Final/Top 4 Appearances

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Lory Meagher Cup titles, is as follows:

Match records

Other records

Finishing positions

Unbeaten sides

Beaten sides

The group stage of the cup has resulted in 9 'back-door' Lory Meagher Cup champions: On 2 occasions a team was defeated twice but have remained in the championship:

Final success rate

Only two counties have appeared in the final more than once, being victorious on all occasions: On the opposite end of the scale, only one county has appeared in the final more than once, losing on each occasion:

Consecutive participations

Leitrim and Warwickshire have the record number of consecutive participations in the Lory Meagher Cup, taking part in 9 seasons.

Winning other trophies

Although not an officially recognised achievement, no team have ever achieved the distinction of winning the Lory Meagher Cup and their respective Division in the National Hurling League.

Biggest wins

Scoring Events

Successful defending

Only three teams were able to defend their title the following year. None of these teams were able to do so. These are: Usually defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the Nicky Rackard Cup. These are:

Gaps

Active gaps

Provinces

Lory Meagher Cup final pairings

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 7 games held by Tyrone (2009–2011).

Miscellaneous

Player records

Top scorers

In a season

In final