The Ryan Cup is the tier 2 hurling championship for third level colleges, the Fitzgibbon Cup being the tier 1 hurling championship trophy. The Ryan Cup competition is administered by Comhairle Ard Oideachais Cumann Lúthchleas Gael (CLG), the GAA's Higher Education Council.
At some time either in the late 1980s or in the early 1990s, the Ryan Cup - the trophy for the Division 1 Gaelic football league - was presented to the winners of what was then the Division II Championship (non-university). As a result of this mix-up, the Division II Championship became colloquially known as the 'Ryan Cup'.Dónal McAnallen (2012) The Cups That Cheered: A History of the Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Gaelic Games, page 390, The Collins Press, Cork Unfortunately several other GAA trophy competitions bear this name, including still the Higher Education First-Division football league.
The GAA Higher Education Cup Championships are sponsored by Electric Ireland. The Ryan Cup was previously sponsored by Independent.ie [2014-2017], Irish Daily Mail [2012-2013], Ulster Bank [2007-2011], Datapac [2003-2006] and Bus Éireann [1998-2002].
Ryan Cup Tournament 2018-19 2018-19 Group A Qualifying Round Team 1 Score Team 2 Score Where Played Date Rd1 Ulster University 0-09 Galway-Mayo IT 5-09 IT Sligo Grounds 23 January 2019 Rd2 Galway Mayo IT 9-21 Institute of Technology Sligo 1-09 Carnmore Hurling Club 5 February 2019 Rd3 Institute of Technology Sligo 2-06 Ulster University 0-19 IT Sligo Grounds 13 February 2018
Qualifiers: Galway-Mayo IT; Ulster University
2018-19 Group B Qualifying Round Team 1 Score Team 2 Score Where Played Date Rd1 Institute of Technology Tralee 3-15 Athlone IT 0-03 IT Tralee GAA Pitch 23 January 2019 Rd2 Athlone IT 6-09 Queen's University of Belfast 2-08 AIT GAA Pitch 31 January 2019 Rd3 Queens University of Belfast 0-08 Institute of Technology Tralee 2-13 Ballykelly, County Londonderry 6 February 2019 Qualifiers: Institute of Technology Tralee; Athlone IT
2018-19 Finals Tournament
Roll of honour Colleges by wins Team County Wins Last win Mary Immaculate College Limerick Limerick 5 2012 Limerick Regional Technical College/Limerick Institute of Technology/TUS Limerick Limerick 5 2001 Regional Technical College Carlow/Institute of Technology Carlow/SETU Carlow Carlow 4 2010 Regional Technical College Tralee/Institute of Technology Tralee/MTU Kerry Campus Kerry 4 2022 National University of Ireland Maynooth/Maynooth University Kildare 3 2018 Dublin City University Dublin 3 2014 Regional Technical College Galway/GMIT/ATU Galway Galway 2 2019 Garda Síochána College Tipperary 2 2017 Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin Dublin 2 2016 Tipperary Institute/Limerick Institute of Technology Tipperary/TUS Tipperary Tipperary 2 2013 Regional Technical College Sligo/Institute of Technology Sligo/ATU Sligo Sligo 2 2005 St John's Central College/Cork Colleges of Further Education Cork 2 2004 Cork Regional Technical College/Cork Institute of Technology/MTU Cork Cork 2 1989 Thomond Institute of Education, Limerick (now affiliated to UL) Limerick 2 1986 MIC, St. Patrick's Campus, Thurles Tipperary 1 2023 Athlone Regional Technical College/Athlone Institute of Technology/TUS Midlands Westmeath 1 1996 Dublin Institute of Technology/TU Dublin Dublin 2 2026 Waterford Regional Technical College/Waterford Institute of Technology/SETU Waterford Waterford 1 1987 St Patrick's TC, Drumcondra (now affiliated to Dublin City University) Dublin 1 1978
Ryan Cup Champion Colleges Compiled from The Cups That Cheered.Dónal McAnallen (2012) The Cups That Cheered: A History of the Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Gaelic Games, page 518, The Collins Press, Cork The current names of academic institutions are shown in parentheses.
1976/77 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1977/78 St Patrick's TC, Drumcondra 1978/79 RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] 1979/80 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1980/81 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1981/82 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1982/83 Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] 1983/84 Thomond College [University of Limerick] 1984/85 Limerick RTC (Limerick IT) 1985/86 Thomond College [University of Limerick] 1986/87 Waterford RTC [Waterford IT] 1987/88 Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] 1988/89 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1989/90 Galway RTC [Galway-Mayo IT] 1990/91 RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] 1991/92 Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] 1992/93 RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] 1993/94 Dublin IT 1994/95 Garda Síochána College 1995/96 Athlone RTC [Athlone IT] 1996/97 RTC Tralee 1997/98 Dublin City University 1998/99 IT Sligo 1999/00 Cork Colleges of Further Education 2000/01 Limerick IT 2001/02 Dublin City University 2002/03 Tipperary Institute [Limerick IT Tipperary] 2003/04 Cork Colleges of Further Education 2004/05 IT Sligo 2005/06 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 2006/07 RTC Tralee 2007/08 Maynooth University 2008/09 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 2009/10 IT Carlow 2010/11 RTC Tralee 2011/12 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 2012/13 Limerick IT Tipperary 2013/14 NUI Maynooth [Maynooth University] 2014/15 Trinity College Dublin 2015/16 Trinity College Dublin 2016/17 Garda Síochána College 2017/18 Maynooth University 2018/19 Galway-Mayo IT 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 MTU Kerry Campus 2022/23 MIC St Patrick's Campus Thurles
Captains of winning teams Year Captain College County 1976/77 Tommy CookeData provided courtesy of Dónal McAnallen, personal communication Cork RTC [Cork IT] Galway 1977/78 St Patrick's College, Drumcondra 1978/79 RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] 1979/80 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1980/81 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1981/82 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1982/83 Brendan McNamara Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] Clare 1983/84 Thomond College of Education, Limerick 1984/85 Leo Doyle Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] Clare 1985/86 Thomond College of Education, Limerick 1986/87 Colm Bonnar Waterford RTC [Waterford IT] Tipperary 1987/88 Brendan Heffernan Limerick RTC [Limerck IT] Limerick 1988/89 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1989/90 Eddie Casey Galway RTC [Galway-Mayo IT] 1990/91 Dave Guiney Galway RTC [Galway-Mayo IT] Wexford 1991/92 Pat O'Neill Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] Kilkenny 1992/93 Dermot Lawlor RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] Kilkenny 1993/94 Feargal Cleary Dublin Institute of TechnologyClare 1994/95 John Cooper Garda Síochána College Wexford 1995/96 David BurkeTipperary Hurler gets Director's Award, Regional Technical College Athlone Newsletter (1996), Volume 1, Number 7, page 2 Athlone RTC [Athlone IT] Tipperary 1996/97 Charlie Donnellan RTC Tralee [IT Tralee] Galway 1997/98 Mick Ahern Dublin City University Cork 1998/99 Michael Finn Institute of Technology Sligo Cork 1999/00 Colm Crowley St John's Central College Cork Colleges of Further Education 2000/01 Aidan Cronin Limerick Institute of Technology Kerry 2001/02 Colin Herity Dublin City University Sligo 2002/03 Austin Cooney Tipperary Institute [LIT Tipperary] Tipperary 2003/04 Alan Lane St John's Central College Cork Colleges of Further Education Cork 2004/05 Tom Regan Institute of Technology, Sligo Galway 2005/06 Sean KennyMary Immaculate College Senior Hurling Reports: Ryan Cup Final, The Mardyke, Cork, March 4, 2006 - http://www.mic.ul.ie/sports/Pages/SeniorHurlingMatchReports.aspx Mary Immaculate College, Limerick Cork 2006/07 Pádraig Briody Institute of Technology, Tralee Clare 2007/08 Eddie CostelloNational University of Ireland Maymooth, President's Report 2007-2008, page 22 - https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/sites/default/files/assets/document/President%20report%20ENGLISH%20FINAL.pdf Maynooth University Tipperary 2008/09 Shane O'Neill Mary Immaculate College, Limerick Limerick 2009/10 Des Shaw Institute of Technology, Carlow Carlow 2010/11 Eoin O'Brien Institute of Technology, Tralee Limerick 2011/12 Shane O'Sullivan Mary Immaculate College Limerick Waterford 2012/13 Martin Fitzgerald LIT Tipperary Kildare 2013/14 David Hennessy NUI Maynooth [Maynooth University] Kilkenny 2014/15 Jesse Kennedy Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2015/16 Conor McDonnell Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2016/17 Pádraic Maher Garda Síochána College Tipperary 2017/18 Pádraig Walsh Maynooth University Kilkenny 2018/19 Declan Cronin GMIT Galway
Man of The Match awardees Year MOTM Top Scorer College County Points scored 1976/77 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1977/78 St Patrick's College, Drumcondra 1978/79 RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] 1979/80 Cork RTC [Cork IT] 1980/81 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1981/82 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1982/83 Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] 1983/84 Thomond College of Education, Limerick 1984/85 Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] 1985/86 Miceál ScullyNenagh Guardian, 17 May 1986, p. 14, Roscrea GA notes Thomond College of Education, Limerick Limerick 1-7 1986/87 None Ger Walsh Waterford RTC [Waterford IT] Kilkenny 2-1 1987/88 Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] 1988/89 David Quirke Cork RTC [Cork IT] Cork 0-9 1989/90 Galway RTC [Galway-Mayo II] 1990/91 None Dermot Lawlor RTC Carlow [IT Carlow] Kilkenny 1991/92 John FitzgibbonLimerick Leader, 14 March 1992, p. 18, CoAct win colleges hurling championship, CoAct 4-15 Galway RTC Limerick RTC [Limerick IT] Cork 3-4 1992/93 RTC Carlow (IT Carlow] 1993/94 Cathal Moran Dublin Institute of Technology Galway 1-5 1994/95 Garda Síochána College 1995/96 Athlone RTC [Athlone IT] 1996/97 RTC Tralee [IT Tralee] 1997/98 Dublin City University 1998/99 Kieran Frawley Institute of Technology Sligo Clare 0-0 Dave Clarke Institute of Technology Sligo Galway 1-0 Liam Kerrigan Institute of Technology Sligo Galway 0-3 1999/00 St John's Central College Cork Colleges of Further Education 2000/01 K Cullinane Limerick Institute of Technology 0-7 (4f) 2001/02 Dublin City University 2002/03 Mark O'Leary Mark O'Leary Tipperary Institute [Limerick IT Tipperary] Tipperary 2-7 (4f) 2003/04 Ciarán O'Leary St John's Central College