All-Irish Cup competitions
In the history of football of Ireland there were different overall Irish Cup competitions . After a quarter century, the lack of such is since 2005 with the Setanta Sports Cup , a competition for both teams from the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom belonging to Northern Ireland held. Until 1920 there was only one cup for all of Ireland due to the common association; after the separation in 1920/21 repeated attempts to establish pan-Irish cups, but these mostly failed after a few years.
Joint association
Until the independence of the Irish Free State in the early 1920s, there was only one football association for all of Ireland, the Irish Football Association (IFA), which is now only responsible for Northern Ireland. The Irish Cup Association's cup competition , also known as the All Ireland Cup and later the Northern Irish Cup , was open to all teams on the island from its inception in 1880 until the breakup; although mostly teams from what is now Northern Ireland won, some clubs now belonging to the Republic were victorious; the Dublin club Shelbourne FC was able to reach the finals six times between 1905 and 1920 and also won the cup three times.
Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup 1941-49
In the 1940s the Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup was held; it was open to all teams of the Northern Irish League such as the Southern Irish League of Ireland ; he was played in the cup mode with a return leg. There was a peculiarity in the event of a tie in both finals, in this case the club that received the most corner kicks in the final was the winner . In this way, the Shamrock Rovers were able to win the second edition in 1942/43 after a 2-2 in the addition of the two games against the Bohemians . The Shamrock Rovers dominated this tournament strongly in the eight events, they won four times and were again unsuccessfully in the final. At the end of the 1940s, interest in the competition sank so much that the trophy could no longer be continued.
Trophies in the 1960s-80s
The North-South Cup was held in the early 1960s . It was not very successful and ended after two races. The next attempt at an all-Irish Cup was the Blaxnit Cup (1967-1974), eligible to play were those teams that reached the quarter-finals in the national cup. In addition to this, the clubs from the south and the north were able to participate in the Texaco Cup from 1971 . The best clubs from Ireland and the associations of the United Kingdom that were not in European competitions were eligible to play for this. Because of political pressure, a separate Texaco Cup Ireland was held for the teams from Northern and Southern Ireland in 1973/74 and 1974/75, which was soon discontinued due to lack of success. A last attempt that failed again was the Tyler Cup , which was held three times with interruption between 1978 and 1981.
Setanta Sport Cup 2005-
See main article: Setanta Sports Cup
The Setanta Sports Cup has been held since 2005 ; the respective champions, runners-up, cup and league cup winners are eligible to participate.
Winners and finals
Irish Cup 1880–1920
| season | Cup winners | Result | Finalists |
| 1880/81 | Moyola Park | 1-0 | Cliftonville |
| 1881/82 | Queen's Island | 2-1 | Cliftonville |
| 1882/83 | Cliftonville | 5-0 | Ulster |
| 1883/84 | Distillery | 5-0 | Wellington Park |
| 1884/85 | Distillery | 2-0 | Alexander Limavady |
| 1885/86 | Distillery | 1-0 | Alexander Limavady |
| 1886/87 | Ulster | 3-0 | Cliftonville |
| 1887/88 | Cliftonville | 2-1 | Distillery |
| 1888/89 | Distillery | 5-4 | YMCA |
| 1889/90 | Gordon Highlanders | 2-2, 3-1 | Cliftonville |
| 1890/91 | Linfield | 4-2 | Ulster |
| 1891/92 | Linfield | 7-0 | The Black Watch Regiment |
| 1892/93 | Linfield | 5-1 | Cliftonville |
| 1893/94 | Distillery | 2-2, 3-2 | Linfield |
| 1894/95 | Linfield | 10-1 | Bohemians |
| 1895/96 | Distillery | 3-1 | Glentoran |
| 1896/97 | Cliftonville | 3-1 | Curragh Co. Kildare Sherwood Foresters |
| 1897/98 | Linfield | 2-0 | Saint Columb's Hall Celtic |
| 1898/99 | Linfield | 2-1 | Glentoran |
| 1899/00 | Cliftonville | 2-1 | Bohemians |
| 1900/01 | Cliftonville | 1-0 | Freebooters |
| 1901/02 | Linfield | 5-0 | Distillery |
| 1902/03 | Distillery | 3-1 | Bohemians |
| 1903/04 | Linfield | 5-1 | Derry Celtic |
| 1904/05 | Distillery | 3-0 | Shelbourne |
| 1905/06 | Shelbourne | 2-0 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1906/07 | Cliftonville | 0-0, 1-0 | Shelbourne |
| 1907/08 | Bohemians | 1-1, 3-1 | Shelbourne |
| 1908/09 | Cliftonville | 0-0, 2-1 | Bohemians |
| 1909/10 | Distillery | 1-0 | Cliftonville |
| 1910/11 | Shelbourne | 0-0, 2-1 | Bohemians |
| 1911/12 | Linfield | (Without a fight after the remaining clubs withdrew) |
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| 1912/13 | Linfield | 2-0 | Glentoran |
| 1913/14 | Glentoran | 3: 1 | Linfield |
| 1914/15 | Linfield | 1-0 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1915/16 | Linfield | 1: 1, 1: 0 | Glentoran |
| 1916/17 | Glentoran | 2-0 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1917/18 | Belfast Celtic | 0: 0, 0: 0, 2: 0 | Linfield |
| 1918/19 | Linfield | 2: 1 | Glentoran |
| 1919/20 | Shelbourne | (No fight in the final) |
Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup 1941-49
| season | Cup winners | Result | Finalists |
| 1941/42 | Dundalk | 1-0 | Shamrock Rovers |
| 1942/43 1 | Shamrock Rovers | 2: 2 | Bohemians |
| 1943/44 | Glentoran | 5: 4 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1944/45 | Bohemians | 3: 2 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1945/46 | Shamrock Rovers | 3: 2 | Belfast Celtic |
| 1946/47 | Shamrock Rovers | 4: 1 | Drum condra |
| 1947/48 | Belfast Celtic and Distillery were jointly declared winners. |
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| 1948/1949 | Shamrock Rovers | 3-0 | Dundalk |
1 After a draw, the Rovers were declared the winners because of the larger number of corner kicks.
North-South Cup 1960–1962
| Season 2 | Cup winners | Result home game, second leg |
Finalists |
| 1960/61 | Linfield | 0-0, 7-1 | Glenavon |
| 1961/62 | Glenavon | 2: 1, 0: 0 | Shelbourne |
2 In some cases, the respective events are also assigned to the respective subsequent season, since the finals were only played in autumn and thus after the start of the next season.
Texaco Cup (1970–1972) and 1973–1975
| season | Cup winners | Result home game, second leg |
Finalists |
| 1970/71 and 1971/72 no Irish team reached the final | |||
| In 1972/73 the Irish teams were not eligible to play | |||
| 1973-1975 a separate Texaco Cup Ireland was held | |||
| 1973/74 | Portadown | 5: 3 addition of both games |
Bohemians |
| 1974/75 | Waterford FC | 1-0, 0-0 | Linfield |
1978-1980
| season | Cup winners | Result home game, second leg |
Finalists |
| 1978 | Shamrock Rovers | 1-0 | Finn Harps |
| 1979 | Athlone Town | 3: 2 addition of both games |
Drogheda United |
| 1980 | Linfield | 0: 0, 2: 1 | Athlone Town |
Setanta Sports Cup 2005-2014
| season | Cup winners | Result | Finalists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Linfield FC | 2-0 | Shelbourne FC |
| 2006 | Drogheda United | 1: 0 a.d. | Cork City |
| 2007 | Drogheda United | 1: 1 a.d. 4: 3 i. E. |
Linfield FC |
| 2008 | Cork City | 2: 1 | Glentoran FC |
| 2009/10 | Bohemians Dublin | 1-0 | St Patrick's Athletic |
| 2011 | Shamrock Rovers | 2-0 | Dundalk FC |
| 2012 | Crusaders FC | 2: 2 a.d. 5: 4 i. E. |
Derry City |
| 2013 | Shamrock Rovers | 7: 1 | Drogheda United |
| 2014 | Sligo Rovers | 1-0 | Dundalk FC |