← All events
gaa · Saturday 11 July 2026 · 3:00pm 
Tailteann Cup Final 2026
At Croke Park · Jones Road, Dublin 3
At Croke Park · Jones Road, Dublin 3
The Tailteann Cup Final is one of the standout fixtures in the GAA calendar for counties who cut their teeth in the competition outside the All-Ireland senior quarter-finals. On 11 July 2026, Down meet Wicklow at Croke Park in the fifth edition of the final - a contest that matters enormously to both counties and draws passionate, vocal support from across the country. For Leitrim supporters who followed their county through the Tailteann Cup earlier in the year, this is the natural place to be on a summer Saturday: the big stage, the Croke Park atmosphere, and two provincial counties going all out for national silverware.
Down arrive as two-time Tailteann Cup champions and firm favourites, but Wicklow - in their first-ever Tailteann Cup final - will not be short of belief after a dramatic semi-final run. The game throws in at 3:00pm, and the atmosphere builds from the moment the Hill fills. Croke Park holds over 82,000 people and for a Tailteann final the lower tiers are well-filled; there is space to breathe, but the noise when either side scores is genuine. The competition was created to give developing counties a proper championship run - not a consolation bracket - so the football tends to be direct, physical, and played without fear. Both teams will have qualified through provincial championship defeats, which often produces hungry, motivated football.
Croke Park is on Jones Road, Dublin 3, about a 20-minute walk from the city centre. For most supporters travelling from Leitrim, the N4 or N55 into Dublin is the main road corridor, with the match well within a two-hour drive from most of the county. Bus Eireann express services from Carrick-on-Shannon and Mohill link to Dublin Busaras, from where the Croke Park walk takes about 25 minutes through the north inner city. Dublin Bus routes 3, 11, 16, and 51B all serve the stadium area. Parking close to the ground is extremely limited on match days; park-and-ride options from the Red Cow or Citywest are a better bet if driving in.
If you are coming down from the county for the day, Leitrim town itself sits on the Shannon and has a relaxed, unhurried feel that rewards a slow morning before the drive south. There is more to see in Leitrim and across Co. Leitrim.
Heading to Croke Park in Leitrim? Leitrim has plenty more to see. Read the Leitrim area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.