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–present

The Tailteann Cup has since emulated the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship format which includes a group stage and a knockout stage.

Group stage (Sixteen teams remaining)edit

Group stage (24 matches): The 16 counties who did not qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship group stage make up the group stage teams. Teams are divided into four groups of four. The group winners advance to the quarter-finals and the group runners-up and 3 out of 4 group third placed teams advance to the preliminary quarter-finals. Five teams are eliminated at this stage while twelve teams advance to the All-Ireland knockout-stage

Preliminary quarter-finals (12 teams remaining)

Preliminary quarter-finals (4 matches): The second-placed teams from the group stage play the 3 best third-placed teams from the group stage and New York. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate preliminary quarter-finals. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals (Eight teams remaining)

Quarter-finals (4 matches): The winners of the preliminary quarter-finals join the first placed teams in the group stage. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate quarter-finals. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (Four teams remaining)

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate semi-finals. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.

Final

Final (1 match): The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game. Winning team are declared Tailteann Cup champions.

Pot 1

• Down
• Fermanagh
• Kildare
• Sligo

Pot 2

• Antrim
• Laois
• Leitrim
• Offaly

Pot 3

• Limerick
• Longford
• Wexford
• Wicklow

Pot 4

• Carlow
• London
• Tipperary
• Waterford

Preliminary quarter-final pot

• New York

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.

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Semi-Final
• PR/R1/GS/PQF/QF – Preliminary Round/Round 1/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.

More information Team, 2022 (17) ...

Team	2022 (17)	2023 (17)	2024 (17)	Years
Antrim	R1	SF		3
Carlow	QF	QF		3
Cavan	2nd	QF	AI	2
Down	R1	2nd		3
Fermanagh	QF	PQF		3
Kildare	AI	AI		1
Laois	R1	SF		3
Leitrim	QF	GS		3
Limerick	AI	QF		2
London	R1	GS		3
Longford	R1	PQF		3
Meath	AI	1st	AI	1
New York	QF	PQF		3
Offaly	SF	PQF		3
Sligo	SF	AI		2
Tipperary	R1	GS		3
Waterford	PR	GS		3
Westmeath	1st	AI	AI	1
Wexford	PR	QF		3
Wicklow	R1	GS		3

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Finishing positions

• Most championships
  • 1, Westmeath (2022)
  • 1, Meath (2023)

• Most second-place finishes
  • 1, Cavan (2022)
  • 1, Down (2023)

• Most semi-final finishes
  • 1, Offaly (2022)
  • 1, Sligo (2022)
  • 1, Antrim (2023)
  • 1, Laois (2023)

• Most quarter-final finishes
  • 2, Carlow (2022, 2023)

• Most preliminary quarter-final finishes
  • 1, Fermanagh (2023)
  • 1, Longford (2023)
  • 1, New York (2023)
  • 1, Offaly (2023)

• Most group stage finishes
  • 1, Leitrim (2023)
  • 1, London (2023)
  • 1, Tipperary (2023)
  • 1, Waterford (2023)
  • 1, Wicklow (2023)

Unbeaten sides

• Two teams have won the Tailteann Cup unbeaten:
  • Westmeath had 4 wins in 2022.
  • Meath had 6 wins in 2023.

Beaten sides

On one occasion a team was defeated twice but have remained in the knockout championship:

• Longford (2023) were beaten by Carlow and Limerick but still qualified for the knockout stage.

Final success rate

Only two counties have appeared in the final, being victorious on all occasions:

• Westmeath (2022)
• Meath (2023)

On the opposite end of the scale, only two counties has appeared in the final, losing on each occasion:

• Cavan (2022)
• Down (2023)

Consecutive participations

• 2, Antrim (2022-2023)
• 2, Carlow (2022, 2023)
• 2 Cavan (2022-2023)
• 2, Down (2022-2023)
• 2, Fermanagh (2022-2023)
• 2, Laois (2022-2023)
• 2, Leitrim (2022-2023)
• 2, London (2022-2023)
• 2, Longford (2022-2023)
• 2, New York (2022-2023)
• 2, Offaly (2022-2023)
• 2, Tipperary (2022-2023)
• 2, Waterford (2022-2023)
• 2, Wexford (2022-2023)
• 2, Wicklow (2022-2023)

15 counties have the record number of consecutive participations in the Tailteann Cup, taking part in the all 2 seasons.

Winning other trophies

Although not an officially recognised achievement, no teams have ever achieved the distinction of winning the Tailteann Cup and their respective Division in the National Football League.

Biggest wins

• The most one sided finals:
  • 5 points – 2023: Meath 2-13 - 0-14 Down
  • 4 points – 2022: Westmeath 2-14 - 1-13 Cavan
• The most one sided matches:
  • 22 points – 2023: Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois

Scoring Events

• Most goals in a match:
  • 10 – 2023: Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois
• Most points in a match:
  • 38 – 2022: Westmeath 3-22 - 2-16 Offaly
• Most goals by one team in a match:
  • 8 – 2023: Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois
• Most points by one team in a match:
  • 25 – 2023: Cavan 2-25 - 2-09 Offaly
• Highest aggregate score:
  • 58 points – 2023: Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois
• Lowest aggregate score:
  • 25 points – 2023: Carlow 0-15 - 0-10 New York

Successful defending

Defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. These are:

• Westmeath TBD attempts out of 1 (2023)
• Meath TBD attempts out of 1 (2024)

Gaps

• Longest gaps between successive cup titles:
  • 0 years: N/A
• Longest gaps between successive Tailteann Cup final appearances:
  • 0 years: N/A
• Longest gap between successive championship appearances
  • 0 years: N/A

Active gaps

• Longest active gaps between since last title:
  • 2 years: Westmeath (2022–)
  • 1 year: Meath (2023–)
• Longest active gaps since last cup final appearance:
  • 2 years: Westmeath (2022–)
  • 2 years: Cavan (2022–)
  • 1 year: Down (2023–)
  • 1 year: Meath (2023–)
• Longest active gap since last cup appearance
  • 1 year: Meath (2023–)

Provinces

• On 0 occasions has the Tailteann Cup final involved two teams from the same province.
• The province providing the highest number of different winning teams is Leinster, with two:
  • Meath
  • Westmeath
• Province success rates
  • Leinster 17% (2 out of 12 counties)
  • Connacht 0% (0 out of 5 counties)
  • Munster 0% (0 out of 6 counties)
  • Ulster 0% (0 out of 9 counties)

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 6 games held by Meath (2023-).

Miscellaneous

• Best finish by a debuting team
  • Champions, Westmeath (2022)
• Best finish by a debuting team (after 2022)
  • Champions, Meath (2023)
• Highest winning record
  • 100%, Meath (6 wins in 6 matches)
  • 100%, Westmeath (4 wins in 4 matches)
• Lowest winning record
  • 0%, London (0 wins in 4 matches)
  • 0%, New York (0 wins in 2 matches)
  • 0%, Waterford (0 wins in 4 matches)
• Most played match
  • 2, Antrim vs Leitrim (2022, 2023)
  • 2, Cavan vs Down (2022, 2023)
  • 2, Down vs Meath (2023 (2x))
  • 2, Offaly vs Wexford (2022, 2023)

Overall

More information Year, Player ...

Year	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
2024
2023	Pat Havern	Down	1–34	37	7	5.3
2022	John Heslin	Westmeath	1–25	28	4	7.0

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Final

More information Year, Player ...

Year	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
2024
2023	Jack O'Connor	Meath	1–02	5	Down
2022	Ronan O'Toole	Westmeath	0–05	5	Cavan

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