The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. The Sigerson Cup competition is administered by Comhairle Ard Oideachais Cumann Lúthchleas Gael (CLG), the GAA's Higher Education Council.
The Trench Cup is the second tier football competition, Corn na Mac Léinn the third tier and Corn Comhairle Ardoideachais the fourth tier. The Fitzgibbon Cup is the hurling equivalent of the Sigerson Cup.
History There was no intervarsity Gaelic sports competitionThe 125 Most Influential People In GAA History, Sunday Tribune, 4 January 2009 until George Sigerson, Professor of Zoology at University College Dublin, physician, and literary figureLyons, J.B. (2013) Sigerson, George. Dictionary of Irish Biography Online, J. McGuire & J. Quinn (eds), Cambridge University Press and Royal Irish Academy; http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_irish/history_irish_sigersonandfitzgibbon.htm Retrieved 8 May 2013 offered up a trophy in 1911. The cup was in the shape of a mether, an ancient Irish drinking vessel, and had four handles representing each of the four Irish provinces. Sigerson presented the trophy at the first tournament dinner, at the old Gresham Hotel, Dublin, in May 1911.Freeman's Journal, 16 May 1911, p. 11 W. J. O'Riordan received the cup on behalf of UCC, the first winning team. In 2009 Sigerson was named in the Sunday Tribunes list of the 125 Most Influential People In GAA History. The trophy itself was the longest-serving trophy in national circulation in Gaelic games, until it was replaced by an identical model in 2001.
From its inception Sigerson's alma mater, UCD have dominated the competition winning 33 titles, their greatest era being in the 1970s when they won the title six times in seven years. These Sigerson Cup wins proved to be the launch pad for success further afield, as UCD went on to add two All-Ireland Club Championship wins to their haul.
In the early days of the tournament, only UCD, UCC and UCG took part. The competition has been run off every year since, with the exceptions of 1920, 1942 and 1967. UCC are second in the pecking order in terms of championships won, currently having 24 victories to their credit. UCG (now NUI Galway) holds the record for the longest winning sequence. After their victory in 1936, the Galway University club went on to claim the next five titles and their six in a row is still an unequalled record.
As the years passed, the domination of the original big three was challenged by a number of new participants. Queen's University Belfast entered the competition for the first time in 1923, but did not enter thereafter until 1933. They have participated in the competition every year since and won their first title in 1958. Queen's have eight titles to their name, winning their eighth in 2007 by defeating UUJ 0-15 to 0-14 in the final.
As society in general changed with time, and more and more people began to enter third-level education, the number of colleges and universities grew rapidly. The impact of these changes on the Sigerson Cup has been immeasurable. Trinity College Dublin first entered in 1963, followed by NUIM in 1972, the New University of Ulster (later University of Ulster, Coleraine) in 1976, and University of Ulster, Jordanstown in 1985. The next colleges to enter were Thomond, NIHE Limerick and St Mary's, Belfast, all in 1988. Further expansion and the admission of Regional Technical Colleges to the competition saw Dublin City University enter in 1990 and the RTCs from Athlone in 1991, Sligo in 1992, Cork in 1995, Tralee in 1996 and Dublin IT in 1998. All of these third-level institutions have claimed Sigerson Cup titles since the mid-nineties, most recently Dublin IT in 2013.
Tralee's entry to the competition proved especially fruitful when they won successive titles in 1997, 1998 and 1999. The stranglehold of the larger Universities, UCD, UCG and UCC, has now been broken. The colleges in the north have gained a new confidence in the competition, and with a whole raft of new participants joining in recent years, the trophy is now harder won than ever. Since the 2000/01 season IT Sligo and DCU have both won the Sigerson Cup three times. The Silver Jubilee Tournament was played in 1935/36, won by University College Dublin; the Golden Jubilee Tournament in 1961/62, won by University College Dublin; the Diamond Jubilee tournament in 1971/72, won by University College Cork; the 75th tournament in 1986/87, won by University of Ulster Jordanstown; and the Centennial tournament in 2011/12, won by Dublin City University.
The GAA Higher Education Cups are currently sponsored by the Electric Ireland who follow on from The Irish Daily Mail, Ulster Bank, Datapac, Bus Éireann and Independent.ie as investors in Ireland's premier Higher Education GAA sports competitions.
Mick Raftery (UCG & Mayo/Galway) holds the record as an eight-time Sigerson Cup winner, 1933–41.
Current competition format The 2018-19 competition begins with a double-elimination stage where every team is guaranteed at least two games. All matches finish on the day. If the score is level at the end of normal time, two ten minute periods of extra time are played each way. If the score is still level at the end of extra time, the winning team is determined by a free-taking competition.Double-elimination stage In round 1 all sixteen teams compete in eight matches. In round 2, the eight beaten teams from round 1 playoff in four matches. The four losing teams in round 2 are eliminated. In round 3, four of the eight winning teams from round 1 play the four winning teams from round 2. The other four winning teams from round 1 are given byes to the quarter-finals. The four losing teams in round 3 are eliminated.Knockout stageTraditionally the semi-finals and final took place at a single host venue over a weekend known as 'The Sigerson Weekend'. This arrangement was abandoned in 2018-19 with the semi-finals and final being organised as separate events.
In the quarter-finals, the four remaining winning teams from round 1 who were given a bye in round 3 play the four winning teams from round 3. The four losing teams are eliminated. In the semi-finals, the four winning teams from the quarter-finals playoff in two matches. The two losing teams are eliminated. In the final, the two winning teams from the semi-finals meet.
Roll of honour Wins listed by College Team County Wins Last win University College Dublin (UCD) Dublin34 2018University College Cork (UCC)Cork24 2023 University of Galway (formerly NUIG & UCG) Galway23 2022 Queen's University Belfast (QUB) Antrim8 2007 Ulster University (UU) Antrim6 2024 Dublin City University Dublin6 2025 Munster Technological University Kerry(formally Institute of Technology, Tralee) (ITT) Kerry3 1999 Atlantic Technological University Sligo (formerly Institute of Technology, Sligo (ITS) Sligo3 2005 St Mary's University College, Belfast Antrim2 2017 Maynooth University (NUIM)(as St. Patrick's College, Maynooth) Kildare1 1976 Munster Technological University Cork(formerly Cork Institute of Technology) (CIT) Cork1 2009 Technological University Dublin(formerly Dublin Institute of Technology) (DIT) Dublin1 2013 University of Limerick (UL) Limerick 1 2026
Finalists who have not won the Sigerson Cup:
Garda Síochána College Trinity College Dublin IT Carlow
Winners listed by year
1910/11 UCC 1911/12 UCG 1912/13 UCD 1913/14 UCC 1914/15 UCD 1915/16 UCC 1916/17 UCD 1917/18 UCD 1918/19 UCC 1919/20 UCD 1920/21 Not Played 1921/22 UCG 1922/23 UCC 1923/24 UCD 1924/25 UCC 1925/26 UCC 1926/27 UCD 1927/28 UCC 1928/29 UCD 1929/30 UCD 1930/31 UCD 1931/32 UCD 1932/33 UCD 1933/34 UCG 1934/35 UCG 1935/36 UCD 1936/37 UCG 1937/38 UCG 1938/39 UCG 1939/40 UCG 1940/41 UCG 1941/42 UCG 1942/43 Not Played 1943/44 UCC 1944/45 UCD 1945/46 UCD 1946/47 UCC 1947/48 UCD 1948/49 UCG 1949/50 UCD 1950/51 UCG 1951/52 UCC 1952/53 UCC 1953/54 UCD 1954/55 UCG 1955/56 UCD 1956/57 UCD 1957/58 UCD 1958/59 QUB 1959/60 UCD 1960/61 UCG 1961/62 UCD 1962/63 UCG 1963/64 UCG 1964/65 QUB 1965/66 UCC 1966/67 UCC 1967/68 UCD 1968/69 UCC 1969/70 UCC 1970/71 QUB 1971/72 UCC 1972/73 UCD 1973/74 UCD 1974/75 UCD 1975/76 SPC Maynooth 1976/77 UCD 1977/78 UCD 1978/79 UCD 1979/80 UCG 1980/81 UCG 1981/82 QUB 1982/83 UCG 1983/84 UCG 1984/85 UCD 1985/86 UUJ 1986/87 UUJ 1987/88 UCC 1988/89 St Mary's, Belfast 1989/90 QUB 1990/91 UUJ 1991/92 UCG 1992/93 QUB 1993/94 UCC 1994/95 UCC 1995/96 UCD 1996/97 Tralee RTC 1997/98 IT Tralee 1998/99 IT Tralee 1999/00 QUB 2000/01 UUJ 2001/02 IT Sligo 2002/03 NUI Galway 2003/04 IT Sligo 2004/05 IT Sligo 2005/06 DCU 2006/07 QUB 2007/08 UUJ 2008/09 Cork IT 2009/10 DCU 2010/11 UCC 2011/12 DCU 2012/13 Dublin IT 2013/14 UCC 2014/15 DCU 2015/16 UCD 2016/17 St Mary's, Belfast 2017/18 UCD 2018/19 UCC 2019/20 DCU 2020/21 No competition 2021/22 NUI Galway 2022/23 UCC 2023/24 UU 2024/25 DCU 2025/26 UL
Sigerson Shield [Plate] winners The Sigerson Shield [Plate] competition was introduced in 1976/77 for the teams beaten in the quarter-finals of the Sigerson Cup, in essence to provide competition for the losing teams over the three-day Sigerson weekend.Irish Press, 28 February 1977, p. 16 Trinity College Dublin (Dublin University) were the inaugural winners at Fahy Field, Galway. As a consequence of the Sigerson Cup function at the Dublin University Boat Club, Islandbridge, in February 1990 which descended into an 'orgy of destruction', the CAO decided to scrap the three-day finals weekend format to avoid any recurrence of such chaotic behaviour.McAnallen, Donal (2012). The Cups that Cheered: A History of the Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Gaelic Games. Cork: The Collins Press, p. 374. . In 1990/91 the multi-game weekend format was replaced with all the games being played at separate venues. In 1991/92, the quarter-finals were run off separately from the semi-finals and final, the latter being played over a two-day Sigerson weekend; the same format was used in 1992/93. From 1993/94 the final stages of both the Sigerson and Trench Cups were staged over the same weekend. In 1992/93 the Sigerson Shield was contested between the losing semi-finalists, University College Galway and the University of Ulster at Jordanstown.
1976/77 TCD 1-8 NUU† 0-3 1977/78 TCD 3-9 QUB 1-9 1978/79 TCD 1-10 QUB 1-6 1979/80 UCC 3-16 QUB 1-9 1980/81 QUB 0-7 NUU 0-6 1981/82 UCC 4-6 NUU 0-12 1982/83 UCD 0-9 SPC Maynooth 0-7 1983/84 SPC Maynooth 0-13 TCD 0-7 1984/85 TCD 1-10 UU Jordanstown 2-6 1985/86 QUB 2-6 TCD 1-8 1986/87 QUB 1-11 UCG 0-4 1987/88 TCD 2-6 NIHE Limerick 1-5 1988/89 UCG 1-8 UU Jordanstown 1-6 1989/90 DCU 1-15 UCG 0-15 1990/91 Not played? 1991/92 Not Played? 1992/93 UCG 7-13 UU Jordanstown 3-11
† New University of Ulster
Captains of Sigerson Cup winning teams Unpublished list of playing captains kindly provided by Dónal McAnallen. NB: Some differences exist between this list of playing team captains and publicly visible, wall-mounted lists of college club captains (often non-playing)McAnallen, Dónal (2012). The Cups that Cheered: A History of the Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Gaelic Games, The Collins Press, Cork,