The 2022 Tailteann Cup was the inaugural edition of the Tailteann Cup and is the second-tier of Gaelic football for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is the first-tier trophy). It was contested by up to sixteen teams from Divisions 3 and 4 of the 2022 National Football League plus New York. Division 3 or 4 teams initially competed in their provincial championship and if they reached their provincial final, they continued in the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, progressing to the All-Ireland Qualifiers, whereas if they were beaten in their provincial final, they did not participate in the 2022 Tailteann Cup.[1]
The inaugural Tailteann Cup was contested by seventeen teams: the sixteen set to play in Divisions 3 and 4 of the 2023 National Football League, plus New York. These teams could only have qualified for the Tier 1 All-Ireland Championship, the Sam Maguire Cup, if they had reached their provincial final.[1][3] The Sam Maguire Cup was contested by the sixteen teams set to play in Divisions 1 and 2 of the 2023 National Football League.
Louth and Limerick qualified for the Sam Maguire Cup as a result of winning promotion from Division 3 to Division 2 for 2023, while Down and Offaly competed in the Tailteann Cup as a result of being relegated from Division 2 to Division 3 for 2023.
The 2022 Tailteann Cup was a straight knockout format, with two preliminary-round games and seven first-round games followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.[1] New York received a bye to the quarter-finals. The seventeen teams were organised on a geographical basis, with eight assigned to a northern section and nine to a southern section (including New York). The eight northern teams were drawn against each other in four of the seven first-round games. Four of the southern teams were drawn in two preliminary-round games, with the two winners then joining the remaining four teams in three first-round games.[4] All seven first-round winners joined New York (who were assigned to the southern section) in the quarter-finals, with pairings decided via an open draw within each geographic section. The semi-final pairings were then decided via an open draw.
From 2023, the Tailteann Cup is set to be played on a round-robin basis, with the first round consisting of four groups of four teams with no geographical structure.
None of the seventeen teams qualified for their provincial final. Doing so would have resulted in them competing in the Tier 1 Sam Maguire Cup instead.
There was an open draw for all rounds, including quarter-finals and semi-finals. It was split into N (north) and S (south) sections until semi finals. Both sections then combined. The first team pulled out received home advantage. The semi-finals and final were played in Croke Park.
Keith Beirne 0-6 (0-3f), Jack Heslin 1-2, Shane Moran 1-0, David Bruen 0-1, Pearce Dolan 0-1, Cillian McGloin 0-1, Evan Sweeney 0-1, Jordan Reynolds 0-1, Mark Plunkett 0-1.
Alan Reilly 1-6, Patrick O'Connor 0-4 (0-1f), Pat Hughes 1-1, Brian Egan 1-0, Aidan Devaney 0-1 (0-1 45), Sean Carrabine 0-1 (1f), Pat Spillane 0-1, Donal Conlon 0-1
Raymond Galligan 0-7 (0-4f, 0-3 45), Gearóid McKiernan 0-6 (0-4f), Paddy Lynch 0-4 (0-1f), James Smith 0-2, Gerard Smith 0-2, Oisín Kiernan 0-1, Thomas Edward Donohoe 0-1, Niall Carolan 0-1
Niall McNamee 0-5 (0-3f, 0-1m), Ruairí McNamee 0-3, Anton Sullivan 0-2, Keith O’Neill 0-2, Jack Bryant 0-1, Jordan Hayes 0-1, Mark Abbott 0-1, Morgan Tynan 0-1, Niall Darby 0-1, Bill Carroll 0-1
Keith Beirne 1-6 (1m); Ryan O’Rourke 1-2; Evan Sweeney 0-2; Riordan O'Rourke 0-1, Jack Heslin 0-1, Dean McGovern 0-1, Jordan Reynolds 0-1, Mark Plunkett 0-1, Emlyn Mulligan 0-1 each.
Alan Reilly 0-6, Patrick O’Connor 0-5 (0-1f, 0-1m), Sean Carrabine 0-5 (0-1f), Mark Walsh 1-0, Darragh Cummins 0-1, Peter Laffey 0-1, Nathan Rooney 0-1
Patrick O'Connor 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-1m), Niall Murphy 0-4, Sean Carrabine 0-3 (0-2f), Pat Spillane 0-2, Darragh Cummins 0-1, Alan Reilly 0-1, Pat Hughes 0-1
John Heslin 0-8 (0-3f), Lorcan Dolan 2-1, Ronan O'Toole 0-4, Sam McCartan 0-3, Ronan Wallace 1-0, Luke Loughlin 0-2, James Dolan 0-1, Ray Connellan 0-1, Alex Gardiner 0-1, Robbie Forde 0-1
Gearóid McKiernan 0-3 (0-1f), Gerard Smith 0-3, Paddy Lynch 0-3, Pádraig Faulkner 1-0, Jason McLoughlin 0-1, Oisín Kiernan 0-1, James Smith 0-1, Stephen Smith 0-1
The meeting between Wicklow and Waterford was the first ever game in the Tailteann Cup, with the former winning by 3-16 to 1-10.
This meeting between New York and Offaly was the first meeting of a non-Connacht team for New York since their admission to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1999.