Paul McGirr and Seamus Heaney Cups
Leinster GAA Chairperson Derek Kent, GAA President Jarlath Burns, and Tyrone GAA delegate Benny Hurl pictured with the Paul McGirr Cup at Croke Park.
Central Council today approved the repurposing of the Paul McGirr and Seamus Heaney Cups which will be presented for the winners in the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Tier 2 and Tier 3 Championships.
The Tier 2 and Tier 3 competitions have been introduced this year, providing an opportunity for Counties to challenge for further silverware outside of their Province. Both are knock out competitions culminating in finals next month.
Paul McGirr of Tyrone suffered a fatal injury in an accidental collision in an Ulster Minor Championship game between Tyrone and Armagh in June 1997.
The McGirr family subsequently donated a trophy in his memory to be used for the All-Ireland Intercounty Vocational Schools Championship; a competition that Paul had previously won as Sports Studies student in Fermanagh College. The Paul McGirr Cup was first won by Tyrone in 1998. However, the base of the trophy lists all the winners of that title from it was first played in1960.
This competition was discontinued in 2011; the trophy was then repurposed by the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Committee in 2014, and was awarded for the All-Ireland u16.5 football title. That competition was also discontinued in 2019 when it was decided to restrict All Ireland competitions to the u19 age group.
Séamas Heaney played football with Navan O’Mahony’s but was heavily involved in the coaching of various teams in Simonstown Gaels when he retired from playing. A farmer by profession, he committed himself to passing on his love of football through coaching. He was an innovator in thought and action and was one of the first GAA nominated tutors to go to NCTC in Limerick. The Séamus Heaney Cup was first presented in 1998 for the Leinster Minor Football League