In 1975 moves were made by non-university colleges to set-up their own knock-out Gaelic Football Championship tournament as a consequence of being shut out of the Sigerson Cup Championship. The initiative came from St. Joseph's Training College, Belfast. The concept of the Trench Cup was proposed by Pat Blake, Comhairle Ard Oideachais Chairman, and Peter McGinnity as a knock-out competition for all higher education colleges not in the Sigerson Cup tournament. Pat Blake purchased a trophy costing £80 sterling at Tommy Lennon's Jewellers, Smithfield Market, Belfast. The trophy was named 'The Trench Cup' after Trench House, St Joseph's Training College, Belfast. The competition first came into existence in the 1975/76 season. The inaugural final was played between St Joseph's T.C., Belfast and the National College of Physical Education, Limerick at Croke Park. NCPE became the inaugural champions. In the 1980s the Sigerson championship was opened up to allow an increasing number of Universities, Regional Technical Colleges and Institutes of Higher Education to participate on the basis of their league success. Subsequently, the Trench Cup became the second tier competition for the third-level institutions which were not in the Sigerson championship. Dundalk Institute of Technology are the current Trench Cup champions, after defeating Waterford IT on a scoreline of 1-14 to 1-08 at University Ulster on 20 February 2016. This was the Colleges first win. Both Coláiste Phádraig and Sligo IT share the record number of Trench Cup wins, standing at five, while Garda College have 3 wins. The highest winning margin ever is that of Thomond College, Limerick over Sligo RTC of 16 points in 1977, while the largest margin in the 21st century is that of Trinity College Dublin over Hope University, Liverpool of 10 points in 2012. The joint highest individual points scorers in any Trench Cup final are D. Duggan of Garda College in 1993 and Seán O'Sullivan of Limerick IT in 1999 . The championship is currently sponsored by the Electric Ireland. The Trench Cup was previously sponsored by Independent.ie , Irish Daily Mail , Ulster Bank , Datapac and Bus Éireann .
Trinity College Dublin W/O CC Ulster University Coleraine, 23 January, Santry Avenue
Limerick IT 0-09 1-10 Galway-Mayo IT, 22 January, Limerick IT
Dundalk IT 2-16 1-11 Waterford IT, 22 January, Dundalk IT Grounds
Mary Immaculate College Limerick 0-07 2-13 Letterkenny IT, 22 January, Connacht GAA Centre
Roll of honour
Wins listed by CollegeThe Cups That Cheered: A History of the Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Gaelic Games, Dónal McAnallen, 2012, The Collins Press, Cork, p. 345
The accolade of Man of the Match or Tournament is a recent innovation. In the case of the early years of the Trench Cup, the highest scoring member of the team is designated.
