Sometimes the darkest hour comes before the dawn, which for the Leinster Senior Football Championship happened to be this time last year. By then, a tired and inevitable competition billed as little more than a likely dull procession towards Dublin’s 15th consecutive title.
Slowly and then suddenly the light appeared on the horizon. Dublin huffed and puffed to get past Wicklow before being taken out by Meath in a thrilling semi-final in Portlaoise. In the other semi-final, Louth just about edged past Kildare.
That meant new champions for the first time since 2010, back when Meath beat Louth thanks to a Joe Sheridan goal that shouldn’t have been. In 2025, karma was waiting for Louth, who scored three goals largely against the run of play to win their first title in 68 years.
The wee county had lost the previous two finals to Dublin, and while winning the Delaney Cup for the first time since 1957 was unquestionably deserved, they also gave fresh and wider hopes to the rest of Leinster. Now, let the new dawn begin.
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The 2026 provincial contest gets under way this weekend involving six of the 11 competing counties. Those wider hopes are strengthened by the league fallout, Dublin freshly relegated from Division 1 – and manager Ger Brennan is suspended for 12 weeks – while Meath gained promotion and earned the Division 2 title for good measure.
“Whether it was us or anyone else, someone ending that cycle of Dublin winning Leinster was so, so important,” said Louth captain Sam Mulroy, speaking at the launch of the Leinster championship.
“I suppose it has given everyone that little bit of a lift, everyone’s eyeing it up now. Maybe it wasn’t talked about outside the group, but if you look at it over the last number of years, we’ve been improving each year. So we had full belief going into last year that we could be there or thereabouts.”
Offaly and Laois are up first in a local derby on Saturday evening in Tullamore. Laois last won Leinster in 2003, since which point only four other counties have claimed the title: Dublin, Meath, Louth and Westmeath.
Laois are on the opposite side of the draw to Dublin, boosting their hopes of progression, while goalkeeper Killian Roche feels Louth’s victory last year has also got them believing again.
“With Louth winning last year, I suppose it kind of opened it up,” said Roche. “We had an okay performance against Louth last year [losing the quarter-final by five points], were beating them at half-time, and they got us in the end.
“If you can get to that level, it’s kind of there for anyone. But there is a greater incentive with the Dubs not being as dominant as they were. I still wouldn’t be writing them off now, but you’re really looking forward to it, it gives you that extra incentive.”
According to the bookies, Dublin, Meath and Louth are still ahead of the rest of the pack, but some counties do appear to be closing the gap. After gaining promotion from Division 4, Carlow beat Longford in the divisional decider, their first win at Croke Park since 1971. It was their first National League title at any level, and a first senior football trophy since the O’Byrne Cup in 2002.
Carlow are also out on Sunday against neighbours Wicklow, still one of just two counties never to have won a provincial title (along with Fermanagh). Carlow captain Mikey Bambrick also spoke about his county’s fresh hopes, and while they may not be in the outright hunt this year, they also believe their time may soon come.
“Leinster is probably more competitive now than it has been for a good few years,” said Bambrick. “If you look at what Louth have done, they are the blueprint for all of us.”
But some Leinster counties have been struggling to progress again. Offaly were relegated from Division 2 this year after losing all seven of their games, not helped by missing so many first-choice players with injury, including forward Shane Tierney.
Still, Offaly will never lose hope, and Tierney reckoned a win over Laois on Saturday could prove the turning point in their season.
“Mickey [Harte, co-manager] has said since day one, ‘Think about where the group could be, not where we are right now’. We have to show that in the Laois game.
“Within the group we’ve tried to stay positive. Hopefully this Laois game can bring back support and we can then build on it over the summer. We just feel like we haven’t got the chance to show what the group’s capable of.”
Number of Leinster football titles/last winning year
Dublin (63; 2024)
Meath (21; 2010)
Kildare (13; 2000)
Wexford (10; 1945)
Offaly (10; 1997)
Louth (9; 2025)
Laois (6; 2003)
Kilkenny (3; 1911)
Carlow (1; 1944)
Longford (1; 1968)
Westmeath (1; 2004)
Wicklow (0)
