Interprovincial Championship
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:For details of the latest competition see Interprovincial Championship 2006
The Interprovincial Championship, Railway Cup or the Martin Donnelly Cup is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competetitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Munster, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster teams are comprised of the best players from the various counties in the province. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association.
The first Railway Cup competitions (the name is due to the donation of the trophy by Irish Rail) were held in 1927, with Munster winning the first football title and Leinster winning the first hurling title. Presently, Leinster hold the record for the most football Railway Cup wins with 28, while Munster has won the most hurling titles with 43.
The Railway Cup has gone into severe decline in recent years some blame the GAA for this decline due to they low level of promotion given and the lack of a fixed date to be played each year [1] . The finals, held on St. Patrick's Day, attracted huge crowds in the 1950s and 1960s, however, by the 1990s the once prestigious competition is played in front of audiences of only a few hundreds. The All-Ireland Club Finals have succeeded them in popularity and have taken over the St. Patrick's Day fixture in Croke Park. Since 2001 the tournament has been sponsored and promoted by Dublin businessman Martin Donnelly and a resurgence in popularity has occurred. In 2005 the winners were Munster in hurling and Leinster in football.
Following the success of the Martin Donnelly Interprovincial hurling final played in Boston in 2005, the 2006 football final was also played there on the weekend of October 21st, while the hurling final was played as a curtain raiser to the International rules football first test at Pearse Stadium, Galway on October 28th.
[edit] Hurling Roll of Honour
| Province | Wins | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|
 Munster |
43 | 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005 |
 Leinster |
25 | 1927, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1941, 1954, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006 |
 Connacht |
11 | 1947, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004 |
 Ulster |
0 |
[edit] Football Roll of Honour
| Province | Wins | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|
Leinster |
28 | 1928, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1974, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 |
Ulster |
27 | 1942, 1943, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004 |
Munster |
14 | 1927, 1931, 1941, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1999 |
Connacht |
9 | 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1951, 1957, 1958, 1967, 1969 |
Total wins:
- Munster: 57
- Leinster: 53
- Ulster: 27
- Connacht: 20
[edit] External links
- The Resuscitation of the Railway Cup, from The Irish Examiner
- Munster Railway Cup teams
- M Donnelly (sponsor) News, Results and Pictures of the Interprovincial Championships
