Gael Linn Cup
| Inter-provincial Camogie Championship | |
|---|---|
| Irish | Craobh Idir-Chúigí Camógaíochta na hÉireann |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Trophy | Gael Linn Cup |
| Title holders | Leinster (26th title) |
| First winner | Leinster |
| Most titles | Leinster (26 titles) |
The Gael Linn Cup is a bi-ennial tournament, the most important representative competition for elite level participants in the women's team field sport of camogie, contested by Ireland's four provincial teams with competitions at senior and junior level on alternate years. The tournament has existed in various guides since 1956, currently the senior tournament is played in even years and the junior tournament in odd years. An inter-provincial colleges competition is also played at secondary school/high school level.
Interprovincial camogie matches were played as part of the 1928 and 1932 Tailteann games programmes and a further inter-provincial match was played in July 1954 in Navan as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Camogie Association. Munster beat Ulster by 8-3 to 5-3 in a match that was described as the best of the year.
The enthusiasm generated by the match at Navan led to the establishment of an annual inter-provincial competition two years later, with the first final between Leinster and Ulster at Knockbridge, Co Louth. Leinster has dominated the series with 26 titles, followed by Munster with 20. Connacht won four titles in 1973, 1974, 2000 and 2008 and Ulster won two in 1967 and 2007.
In 1993 and 1994 the Gael Linn Cups were played with teams of 15-a-side for a two-year experimental period, as a prelude to the increase in team size form 12 to 15 in 1999 for all matches.
The series was played as a junior competition between 1974 and 1976. Senior and junior competitions were run concurrently from 1977. The competition format was moved to a single weekend in October/November during 1985-88 and again since 1999. The date was moved to June in 1995, back to October/November in 2004 and to May since 2008. As with the Railway Cups in Gaelic Football and Hurling, the competition has been popular with players but survived several attempts to abolish the series since 1986.
Shwarzkopf hair products sponsored the competition from 1999 to 2004. In 2009, after the withdrawal of Ulster the series was played in a blitz format with 30 minute games. In 2010 it was decided to alternate the competition between junior and senior status and the senior competition was restored to full match status with four provinces contesting the semi-finals. In the absence of Antrim players an all Derry side represented Ulster in the 2010 semi-final.
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