A century of the Dr McKenna Cup

By Brendan McCann

AS the dust begins to settle on a fantastic football championship, attention for returning and new county management teams turns immediately to putting preparations in place for the next campaign.

The announcement from headquarters in September 2024 that early-season provincial competitions, including the Dr McKenna Cup, were being paused for a year, with a review after that time of their viability going forward, appeared to place a nail in the coffin of a competition that has served the GAA in Ulster well for the years.

It was on December 8, 1925, that the Ulster Council secretary was summoned to Bishop’s Palace in Monaghan, where the Most Reverend Dr Patrick McKenna, Bishop of Clogher, presented him with a beautiful and valuable cup, which he had specifically requested be created by Messrs Johnson Ltd., based at Grafton Street, Dublin, for the purpose of competition in football amongst the counties of Ulster.

The proactive stance of the Ulster Council in the mid-1920s deserves praise, which saw the acquirement of not one but two trophies as the Anglo Celt Cup had been secured just months earlier, was part of a rejuvenation of the association at that time.

One wonders if each donor and the Ulster Council had the foresight to believe that each would still exist and form part of such a rich tapestry of our association a century later.

A mere four days later, the cup was presented to a meeting of the Ulster Council where it was extremely warmly received, with the decision made that it would be thrust into action, to be presented to the winners of the Ulster Football League, which had already commenced at that stage.

Antrim proved to be the inaugural winners, when in the final on April 11, 1926, W. Ludlow and P. Cunning recorded second-half goals at Shaun’s Park, Belfast, in defeating Cavan 2-5 to 0-5. As winners, Antrim progressed to the latter stages of the first National Football League, the only lineage that the Dr McKenna Cup has had with that competition.

The first National Football League final did not proceed until September 1926, and a decision to restructure the National Football Leagues for 1927, even at this early stage in their development, saw the Ulster Football League made redundant.

But given the success of the previous competition and the acquisition of a fitting trophy, both the Ulster Council and the counties of the province responded by choosing to continue with the Most Rev. Dr. McKenna Cup competition as a separate entity.

Since its creation, the competition has displayed great flexibility, resilience, and adaptability which has seen the inclusion of group stages, straight forward knockout football, being positioned pre-championship, pre-National League or towards the end of the league season, as well as including universities.

The competition has been a constant feature of the Ulster calendar since that time, including its continuance each year after the breakout of war in Etrope in 1939. Indeed, since its inception, the cup has been absent from the calendar only in 2001 and 2002 due to the resetting of dates for championship football, 2021 during the COVID-19 emergency and 2025.

The 2025 season marked the centenary of the award of the Anglo Celt Cup to our provincial championship winners, a competition which retains great reverence amongst the nine counties of Ulster each year.

The 2026 season would mark the centenary of the award of the Most Rev. Dr McKenna Cup, a landmark that surely deserves the dignity and respect that has been shown to its more prominent colleague.

Sentimentality may not be at the forefront of the wheels of change within our association, but this competition has been the avenue for debutants who have went on to perform on the highest stage in inter-county fare, such as Oisin Conaty.

For supporters throughout Ulster, it has been a beacon of light since it moved to a January berth in 2003, knowing that there are better days ahead after the darkness of winter, warming the cockles of many a heart, but not bodies, in inclement conditions.

Have we already seen the last embers of this competition burn? Will it have a final farewell in its centenary year? Or can it find another role and form within the GAA master calendar?

Decisions made in the coming weeks will no doubt determine the fate of this treasured trophy.