Sigerson Cup
| Sigerson Cup | |
|---|---|
Current season or competition: 2017 Sigerson Cup
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| Irish | Corn Sigerson |
| Code | Gaelic football |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Region | Universities (GAA) |
| Title holders | University College Dublin (33rd title) |
| First winner | University College Dublin |
| Most titles | University College Dublin (33 titles) |
| Official website | Official Website |
The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. 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 and Corn na Mac Léinn is the third tier. The Fitzgibbon Cup is the hurling equivalent of the Sigerson Cup.
There was no intervarsity Gaelic sports competition until Dr. George Sigerson, born at Holy Hill near Strabane, County Tyrone (11 January 1836 – 17 February 1925), a professor of zoology at University College Dublin, eminent physician, minor poet and literary figure and leading light in the Celtic Renaissance in Ireland 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. W. J. O'Riordan received the cup on behalf of UCC, the first winning team. In 2009 Sigerson was named in the Sunday Tribune's 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. UCG are second in the pecking order in terms of championships won, currently having 21 victories to their credit. UCG actually outdid UCD in that they hold 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.
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