The Cardinal O'Donnell Cup is an annual senior league competition organised by Louth GAA for the Division 1 teams in Gaelic football in County Louth.
Format All 12 teams play each other once, with the top four traditionally qualifying for the semi-final stage. The semi-final victors then face off in the final of the competition. There is also relegation to Division 2 for the worst-performing team(s).
Trophy The winning team is presented with the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup, named after Patrick O'Donnell, who was Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland from 1924 until his death in October 1927.
The trophy, which was donated to the County Board of Louth GAA by the Cardinal in 1926, is a replica of the Ardagh Chalice. The inaugural winners of the competition were Wolfe Tones of Drogheda.
Roll of Honour
# Team Wins Years won 1 Cooley Kickhams 15 1936, 1937, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1989, 2004, 2006, 2007, 20082 Newtown Blues 14 1933, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1986, 2005, 2010, 2018, 2022 St Mary's 14 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1971, 1975, 1991, 2002, 2021, 2024, 2026 4 Clan na Gael 10 1929, 1982, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 20005 Dundalk Young Irelands 6 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948, 1978 St Patrick's 6 1999, 2003, 2009, 2012, 2013, 20147 Stabannon Parnells 5 1945, 1950, 1951, 1995, 1998 Wolfe Tones 5 1927, 1928, 1931, 1934, 1935 9 Roche Emmets 4 1958, 1960, 1961, 2001 10 Dundalk Gaels 3 1942, 1943, 194411 Dreadnots 2 1988, 2016 Mattock Rangers 2 2011, 2015 Naomh Máirtín 2 2017, 2019 Oliver Plunketts 2 1957, 1959 St Mochta's 2 2023, 202516 O'Raghallaighs 1 1973 St Fechin's 1 1985 St Bride's 1 1968 Kilkerley Emmets 1 1980 Glyde Rangers 1 1932 Boyne Rangers 1 1930
Finals winners also won Louth Senior Football Championship that year
§ Title awarded to St Mary's after objection. Oliver Plunketts fielded an ineligible player
Year Winner Score Opponent Score Final Venue 1927 Wolfe Tones 1-07 Gardaí 0-06 Gaelic Grounds 1928 Wolfe Tones 0-06 Boyne Rangers (Drogheda) 0-01 Gaelic Grounds 1929 Clan na Gael 3-02 Wolfe Tones 0-03 Athletic Grounds 1930 Boyne Rangers 4-03 Wolfe Tones 1-02 Gaelic Grounds 1931 Wolfe Tones 2-06 Newtown Blues 1-06 Gaelic Grounds 1932 Glyde Rangers 2-03 Newtown Blues 1-01 Gaelic Grounds 1933 Newtown Blues 1-04 Glyde Rangers 1-02 Athletic Grounds 1934 Wolfe Tones 0-07 Newtown Blues 0-03 Gaelic Grounds 1935 Wolfe Tones 1-04 St Magdalene's (Drogheda) 1-03 Gaelic Grounds 1936 Cooley Kickhams 3-06 Wolfe Tones 1-01 Athletic Grounds 1937 Cooley Kickhams 1-06 Wolfe Tones 1-04 Gaelic Grounds 1938 Dundalk Young Irelands 2-05 Wolfe Tones 1-03 Athletic Grounds 1939 Dundalk Young Irelands 3-03 Darver Young Irelands 1-03 Athletic Grounds 1940 Dundalk Young Irelands 1-05 Glyde Rangers 1-03 The Grove 1941 Dundalk Young Irelands 3-07 Darver Young Irelands 1-01 The Grove 1942 Dundalk Gaels 1-06 St Bride's 1-03 Athletic Grounds 1943 Dundalk Gaels 1-06 St Bride's 1-05 Athletic Grounds 1944 Dundalk Gaels 0-07 St Magdalene's 0-02 Athletic Grounds 1945 Stabannon Parnells 0-05 St Magdalene's 0-04 Athletic Grounds 1946 Cancelled 1947 St Mary's w/o Clan na Gael scr. Gaelic Grounds 1948 Dundalk Young Irelands 2-10 St Mary's 2-05 Athletic Grounds 1949 St Mary's 3-03 Dundalk Young Irelands 1-05 Páirc Mhuire 1950 Stabannon Parnells 2-03 Dundalk Gaels 1-00 The Grove 1951 Stabannon Parnells 2-07 Dundalk Young Irelands 0-07 Stabannon 1952 St Mary's 3-09 St Magdalene's 2-03 Gaelic Grounds 1953 St Mary's - A Final was not played - - 1954 § St Mary's 1-07 Oliver Plunketts 1-08 Gaelic Grounds 1955 St Mary's 2-08 Stabannon Parnells 1-04 Athletic Grounds 1956 St Mary's 0-06 Dundalk Young Irelands 0-05 Athletic Grounds 1957 Oliver Plunketts 1-04 Dundalk Young Irelands 0-05 Knockbridge 1958 Roche Emmets 2-07 Darver Volunteers 0-04 Knockbridge 1959 Oliver Plunketts 0-06 Roche Emmets 0-03 Páirc Mhuire 1960 Roche Emmets 3-04 Newtown Blues 1-09 Knockbridge 1961 Roche Emmets 1-10 Newtown Blues 1-05 St Brigid's Park 1962 Newtown Blues 1-15 Roche Emmets 0-05 Knockbridge 1963 Newtown Blues 3-07 Roche Emmets 0-05 The Grove 1964 Newtown Blues 1-10 O'Raghallaighs 1-05 Gaelic Grounds 1965 Newtown Blues 3-08 Clan na Gael 1-07 Páirc Uí Mhuirí 1966 Cooley Kickhams 2-08 Newtown Blues 1-10 St Brigid's Park 1967 Cooley Kickhams - A Final was not played - - 1968 St Bride's 1-10 (Replay, AET) St Mary's 0-07 Páirc Mochta 1969 Newtown Blues 1-08 Mattock Rangers 1-05 The Grove 1970 Cooley Kickhams 4-03 Newtown Blues 2-05 The Grove 1971 St Mary's 1-07 O'Raghallaighs 1-05 Páirc Uí Mhuirí 1972 Cooley Kickhams 3-08 (Replay) Newtown Blues 2-05 Knockbridge 1973 O'Raghallaighs 1-11 St Bride's 0-06 Páirc Mhuire 1974 Cooley Kickhams 1-14 St Mary's 1-06 Knockbridge 1975 St Mary's w/o O'Raghallaighs scr. Páirc Uí Mhuirí 1976 Cooley Kickhams 2-10 Newtown Blues 1-09 Clan na Gael Park 1977 Newtown Blues 2-09 Roche Emmets 2-05 The Grove 1978 Dundalk Young Irelands 1-11 St Mary's 0-04 Páirc Mochta 1979 Cooley Kickhams 1-07 Clan na Gael 1-06 St Brigid's Park1980 Kilkerley Emmets 1-09 Cooley Kickhams 2-05 Clan na Gael Park1981 Newtown Blues 2-11 Kilkerley Emmets 1-05 Cluskey Park1982 Clan na Gael 2-10 Newtown Blues 0-04 The Grove1983 Cooley Kickhams 2-07 Clan na Gael 0-07 St Brigid's Park1984 Newtown Blues 0-08 Dundalk Young Irelands 0-03 McGeough Park1985 St Fechin's 0-09 Cooley Kickhams 1-03 McGeough Park 1986 Newtown Blues 0-10 Clan na Gael 1-04 Páirc Mhuire1987 Clan na Gael 1-08 Dreadnots 0-05 The Grove1988 Dreadnots 0-13 St Mary's 2-04 The Grove1989 Cooley Kickhams 0-06 St Patrick's 0-05 St Brigid's Park1990 Clan na Gael 1-09 St Mary's 0-06 Cluskey Park1991 St Mary's 1-11 Stabannon Parnells 0-04 Knockbridge1992 Clan na Gael 0-12 Newtown Blues 1-05 The Grove1993 Clan na Gael 2-07 (Replay) Stabannon Parnells 1-08 St Brigid's Park1994 Clan na Gael 3-07 Dundalk Gaels 1-11 St Brigid's Park1995 Stabannon Parnells 0-11 St Joseph's 0-07 The Grove1996 Clan na Gael 1-12 St Patrick's 0-03 St Brigid's Park1997 Clan na Gael 1-08 (Replay) Newtown Blues 1-05 The Grove1998 Stabannon Parnells 0-08 Newtown Blues 0-05 Páirc Mhuire1999 St Patrick's 1-14 Cooley Kickhams 0-09 St Brigid's Park2000 Clan na Gael 2-05 (Replay) Cooley Kickhams 1-06 St Brigid's Park2001 Roche Emmets 1-09 St Patrick's 0-08 St Brigid's Park2002 St Mary's 1-05 Mattock Rangers 0-04 Gaelic Grounds2003 St Patrick's 0-13 St Bride's 1-07 Clan na Gael Park2004 Cooley Kickhams 1-10 Glyde Rangers 0-07 Clan na Gael Park2005 Newtown Blues 0-11 Cooley Kickhams 0-07 Páirc Na nGael2006 Cooley Kickhams 1-06 Glyde Rangers 0-08 St Brigid's Park2007 Cooley Kickhams 0-08 (Replay) Naomh Malachi 0-06 Clan na Gael Park2008 Cooley Kickhams 1-07 Newtown Blues 0-08 Clan na Gael Park2009 St Patrick's 0-12 (Replay) Newtown Blues 1-08 McGeough Park2010 Newtown Blues 0-15 Kilkerley Emmets 0-09 McGeough Park2011 Mattock Rangers 3-13 (AET) Dreadnots 2-12 McGeough Park2012 St Patrick's 0-18 O'Connells 0-08 St Brigid's Park2013 St Patrick's 1-17 Cooley Kickhams 2-05 St Brigid's Park2014 St Patrick's 1-10 Dreadnots 1-06 Clan na Gael Park2015 Mattock Rangers 1-12 St Patrick's 0-14 Páirc Uí Mhuirí2016 Dreadnots 2-15 Geraldines 1-16 Stabannon2017 Naomh Máirtín 0-18 (AET) Dreadnots 1-10 The Grove2018 Newtown Blues 2-10 Naomh Máirtín 1-08 Gaelic Grounds2019 Naomh Máirtín 2-19 St Mary's 1-12 The Grove2020 Cancelled (COVID-19)2021 St Mary's - A Final was not played - -2022 Newtown Blues 0-11 St Mary's 1-07 Darver2023 St Mochta's 0-12 Naomh Máirtín 0-11 Darver2024 St Mary's 1-15 St Mochta's 1-12 Stabannon2025 St Mochta's 4-17 St Joseph's 0-14 Darver2026 St Mary's 2-20 St Joseph's 0-07 Darver
See also
References
External links Louth GAA official website Louth on Hoganstand