Tullow out for third Towns Cup in four years
Tullow celebrate at the final whistle after beating rivals Carlow in the quarter-final. Photo: Michael O'Rourke
Bank of Ireland Leinster Towns Cup Final
Tullow v Athy
Edenderry RFC
Sunday 19 April, 3pm
The 99th iteration of the Bank of Ireland Leinster Towns Cup will be decided this coming Sunday, April 19th, when Athy and Tullow converge in Coolavacoose, home of Edenderry RFC.
The silver jug was made in London in 1863 and is one of the oldest trophies in Irish Rugby. It was purchased by the Leinster Branch for £25 in 1892 from Wests in Grafton Street, Dublin and was designated as the trophy for the Leinster Junior Cup competition, with Blackrock College the first club to lift the cup in 1892.
The Leinster Junior Cup was staged for 32 seasons between 1888 and 1925. The trophy was subsequently designated for the inaugurated Provincial Towns Cup competition, with Enniscorthy emerging victorious over County Kildare (Naas) in the 1926 final in Donnybrook.
Three-time winners Tullow are relatively new to the Towns Cup top table, reaching their very first final in 2008 in a losing effort against Navan.
The men from the Black Gates were beaten again in the 2012 final by Enniscorthy before finally etching their name on the trophy in 2017 with a win over the competition’s second-most successful team ever, 11-time winners, Skerries.
Tullow had the opportunity to go back-to-back the following year, but came undone against Enniscorthy yet again. A five-year gap followed before Tullow returned the final, beating Kilkenny to win the 2023 title.
This time the Carlow club did manage to retain the trophy, winning the 2024 final on a scoreline of 38-20 over Ashbourne.
Reigning champions Athy beat Carlow in dramatic fashion in the 2025 final, with Darragh Farrell landing the match-winning penalty to send the famous old trophy back to The Showgrounds for the sixth time.
The Kildare club have a long and storied history in the Towns Cup, making 16 trips to the final with the first coming in 1928, losing to Balbriggan in just the third ever final. That was the first of three consecutive finals as Athy also lost in 1929 and 1930.
Their first victory came over Dundalk in 1938. Dundalk won in ’39 but they would lose out in 1940 as Athy beat the Louth side to claim a second Towns Cup title.
Athy lost the 1943, ’48, ’62, ’65 and ’77 finals before winning in ’78 at the expense of fellow Kildare club, Curragh. Another win came three years later, beating Carlow in 1981. Athy then lost the ’83 final to Edenderry before beating Portlaoise the following year.
So began the 41-year wait for another title, as Athy went through an unprecedented barren period, with just one appearance in the final over the next four decades, losing to Navan in 1991.
Athy v Tullow is a game with very little history in the latter stages of the Towns Cup. But the rivalry between the clubs has never before reached the heights of the past few seasons, making for an enthralling 2026 final.
Tullow’s victories in ’23 and ’24 left them in search of an elusive threepeat in 2025, a feat only ever achieved four times by three different clubs: Dundalk from 1947 to ’49; Skerries from 1950 to ‘52, with Skerries also winning the trophy each year from 1971 to ’74, making them the only side to ever win four-in-a-row; and the most recent triple winners, Carlow, who won in 1992, ’93 and ’94.
With Tullow looking to emulate their county rivals last year, it was Athy who stood in their way as the Kildare club brought an end to Tullow’s remarkable winning streak that stretched across three years and 13 matches. Tullow won every game from Round 1 in 2023 all the way to the quarter-finals in 2025 before coming a cropper in the semis in an amazing game that saw Athy finish 39-33 winners.
2025 was also Athy’s first year up in Division 1A of the Leinster League. They faced Tullow twice that year before the Towns Cup finals, a 29-29 draw at The Black Gates before Tullow won by nine points away at The Showgrounds.
The two clubs have already played out an intriguing relegation battle in Division 1A this season, with Tullow winning a ten-try thriller at home on the first day of the season only for Phil DeBarra’s Athy to win the reverse fixture by 40-20 back in December.
The rivalry went up a gear on the final weekend of the regular season in the league, with Athy picking up a win that not only ensured their safety for another season, but also meant they leapfrogged Tullow and condemned Maurice Logue’s men to a relegation/promotion playoff (which they ultimately won).
Both Tullow and Athy were two of the five teams lucky enough to receive a bye directly into the second round of this year’s Towns Cup.
Tullow got their campaign up and running with five tries on their way to a comfortable 37-10 victory over Kilkenny at The Black Gates, with two tries from Martin Cole, one each from Stephen Smith, Tom Hughes and Joe Waters, as well as 11-point off the tee from Peter Burgess and a penalty from Dara Cosgrave.
Athy crossed the try-line no less than nine times on their way to a 57-10 demolition of Navan at The Showgrounds, with two tries from Niall O'Hanlon and one each from Aidan Henry, Cathal Fennessy, Tom Sheedy, Daniel Henry, Eoin Farrell, Lochlann Kelleher and Sean Nolan, with Josh Miller landing six conversions to boot.
Tullow were drawn at home to local rivals Carlow in the last eight, with a hard-fought game decided by a pair of intercept tries from Adam Johnson and Peter Burgess enough to see them advance on a scoreline of 12-6.
Athy had a similarly challenging proposition at home to Wexford Wanderers and found themselves behind throughout much of the contest. Culann Carbery, Cathal Fennessy, Tom Sheedy and Daniel Henry all scored tries, with Josh Miller’s right foot putting another 16 points on the board – the most memorable of which came in the form of a drop-goal late on that all but secured the 36-30 win.
Storm David played havoc with both semi-finals, but it could not stop Tullow from producing a magnificent defensive effort to get the better of a hard-nosed Naas side in Oak Park. Veteran forwards Joe Waters and captain Scott Caldbeck both scored tries, with Waters scoring two, as well as difficult kicks off the tee from Burgess and Cosgrave helping their side into the final with a 27-14 victory.
Athy faced a tough opening quarter against Longford, but they turned on the style after that and ran in seven tries to win 48-12 in Silken Thomas Park. Tom Sheedy, Craig Miller, Aidan Henry, Ciaran Fennessy and Josh Miller all crossed the line, with two tries from Cathal Fennessy closing out the tie.
