Fr. Manning Cup

The Fr. Manning Cup is the longest running Inter-county Juvenile Football Tournament in Ireland, organised for most of it’s history by Longford County Board, and now managed by the GAA. The competition was initiated on 8th April 1965 in the Temperance Hall in Longford by a committee including Tommy O’Brien & Fr. Phil McGee (both Longford), Dr. Donal Keenan (former GAA President) & Seamus Duke (both Roscommon), Oliver Higgins and Anselm Reynolds (both Leitrim), Fr. Kilbride and Fr. P Morris (both Cavan) and Christy Whelehan (Westmeath). It initially involved the five neighbouring counties of Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan and Westmeath. Sligo joining a few years later and Offaly replacing Cavan from 2006. Other counties or regions also participated in Fr. Manning Cup over the years including: Meath, Laois, Kildare, Louth, Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow, Clare, Galway (West), Cork (South) & Kerry (South). As of 2025 the Fr. Manning Cup involves two groups of 8 teams: Longford, Leitrim, Sligo, Offaly, Roscommon, Galway, Cork (South) and Kerry (South).

The competition was named after Fr. Seán Manning who was born in Ranelagh in 1907 and raised in Drumshambo and Glen (Edgeworthstown). He was ordained in 1931 and became a teacher in St. Mels College from 1933 to 1948. He served as Chairman of All-Ireland Colleges from 1943-1948, Chairman of Leinster Colleges from 1941 to 1948, Chairman of Longford County Board from 1945 to 1950, Chairman of Longford Minor Board from 1953 to 1954 and Chairman of the Leitrim County Board from 1955 to 1964. He coached St. Mels College from 1935 to 1948, winning 10 Leinster SFC, 2 Leinster JFC Colleges titles and 1 All-Ireland SFC Colleges title. Fr. Seán was appointed curate in Drumlish in 1948 and was instrumental in the formation of the Young Irelands Minor Club (Drumlish-Ballinamuck) in 1949 as well as re-organising the Drumlish club into Young Irelands (later Éire Óg) from 1951 and training them to Longford SFC titles in 1951 & 1953. He was transferred to Annaduff in Leitrim in 1954 and the following year was elected Chairman of the Leitrim County Board, a position he held until his death in September 1964. The Juvenile inter-county tournament bearing his name began in 1965, while a cup was first introduced for the winner compliments of Fr. Phil McGee in 1967. The Fr. Manning Gaels club (Drumlish-Ballinamuck) is named in his honour. The Fr. Manning Medal is also named in his honour and presented since 1966 to the most outstanding student in St. Mels College based on progress at all games, sportsmanship and an active interest in the common good of student life.

At it’s height in the 2000’s, the Fr. Manning Cup competition fell foul of a new GAA rule 139 (b) which stated that inter-county competitions needed to be confined to four teams. Roscommon rather cleverly tabled a proposal in 2007 to split the tournament into two round-robin sections (one Leinster, one Connacht), thus ensuring the survival of the competition. The format was tweaked and expanded thereafter (and briefly played as a blitz in late 2000’s) and was finally restored to it’s original format in 2012 before evolving again in the years thereafter.

Longford won the Fr. Manning Cup 11 times: 1965, 1967, 1968, 1976, 1986, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2012, 2021 & 2023.

– Title awarded to top team after all 4 games played from 1965 to 1972.
– 1967 draw with Roscommon was enough to give Longford the title.
– Could not find scoreline for the Fr. Manning Cup decider of 1972.
– In 2008 & 2009 games prior to final played via same-day blitz.
– No competition played in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
– Cork (South) winners in 2025 also known as Cork (Red).

Please cite this website if quoting or using any of the above material elsewhere. Use of our custom artwork or illustrations without permission is strictly prohibited. The information displayed on this page was researched & compiled by our research team. Our research prioritised primary sources and contemporaneous reporting over secondary sources or accounts that retold, analysed, or interpreted events at a distance of time. Longford Gaelic Stats is independent and is not affiliated with any organisation. All research was conducted independently, voluntarily and without fear or favour.