There’s loads of Mayo interest in the Third Level and Post Primary Schools football games on over the next few days so it’s worthwhile setting out what’s on and when.
The first match of note is the Trench Cup final on Wednesday afternoon. This is the second tier Higher Education competition and the final is between Mary Immaculate College Limerick and Trinity College Dublin, which will be played at DCU sportsgrounds. Throw-in there on Wednesday is 3pm.
I know some Mayo lads are featuring in this decider but I don’t have any details so if anyone has you might share this information here.
Later on Wednesday the Sigerson Cup final is on at Croke Park, which this year features 24-time champions UCC and UL, who are seeking to win the coveted silverware for the first time.
Seán Morahan, Conal Dawson, Cathal Keaveney, Cian McHale, Frank Irwin, Hugh O’Loughlin and Jack Melvin have all featured prominently for UL on their march to the final, with Dylan O’Brien and Cathal Corless (Davitts), Diarmuid Coggins (Crossmolina) and Colm McHale (Moy Davitts) all involved for them too, as was the unfortunate Eoin McGreal who suffered a knee injury during Mayo’s League opener against Galway a few weeks back.
The Sigerson final throws in at Croke Park at 7.35pm on Wednesday evening. It’s being shown live on TG4.
On Friday and Saturday the four Connacht Post Primary Schools finals will be decided. Incredibly, seven out of the eight schools represented in these provincial finals are Mayo establishments, the exception being Galway’s The Bish in the B final.
Here are the fixture details for each of the four finals in the order in which they’re down for decision.
The first decider to be played is the Connacht B final, in which St Nathy’s, Ballaghaderreen, play St Joseph’s (The Bish), Galway, at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence on Friday evening. Throw-in that evening is 7pm.
First up on Saturday is the Connacht D final between St Tiernan’s, Crossmolina, and St Brendan’s, Belmullet. The venue for this one is Bonniconlon where throw-in is 12pm.
Next it’s the Connacht C final between Gortnor Abbey, Crossmolina, and Balla Secondary School. This one is down for decision at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence where throw-in is 3.30pm on Saturday.
Finally, the Connacht A final will be contested by St Gerald’s, Castlebar, and St Muredach’s, Ballina. This decider will also be played at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence where throw-in is 5.30pm on Saturday.
No doubt says:
February 10, 2026 at 7:58 am
I probably should know this but how are st nathy's a mayo school seeing as they're in ballaghaderreen and I know the club plays in mayo but I would associate st nathy's as roscommon or do they play mayo schools in earlier stages , it nearly looks like England claiming cillian murphy. ..hope I'm not opening a can of worms .
East Mayo says:
February 10, 2026 at 9:33 am
A Crossmolina school playing a Belmullet school in Bonniconlon. Does common sense just go out the window altogether when these committees sit down to decide venues? Surely Kiltane could have hosted that one or even somewhere like Newport would have made more sense. Even Ballina would have made more sense if they were determined to make Belmullet travel that much further than their opponents.
@ No Doubt, I was thinking the same thing myself especially as Mayo GAA keep advertising the other three finals with barely a mention of the B final so I presumed that one was considered a Roscommon v Galway final in school terms.
TsuDhoNim says:
February 10, 2026 at 11:00 am
@No doubt: They've a Roscommon address but lots of the lads are playing for Mayo clubs (glancing at the semi-final side it'd be ~6 Sligo, 4 Roscommon & 10 Mayo that saw minutes, with the 10 Mayo lads starting). I'd happily be celebrating any of their wins with underage talent like Conor Moriarty or Ryan O'Sullivan from Ballagh to the fore (even if young Casey from Roscommon is shooting the lights out too beside them).
@Willie Joe: Shocking tough to find anything definitive on the lads involved, there's so little coverage for the Trench Cup & Mary I not huge on providing team sheets.
Mitchel's have confirmed (https://x.com/MitchelsGaa/status/2020853733471440906) Bob Tuohy, Shane Cunningham, Fionan O’Reilly and Conor Mulroy involved while Breaffy have mentioned (https://x.com/BreaffyGAA/status/2020886284596605288) Pierce Deane, Gavyn McManamon, Aidan Cunningham and Jude Lavin being involved in the game so they're all on the panel for sure. Someone mentioned a Cill Chomáin lad on the panel too, but never saw that one confirmed, so likely at ~10 lads involved.
Going back to a recent successful Freshers side there's a chance a couple from Adam Beirne (Claremorris), David Smith (Parke), Jack O'Malley (Ardagh) or David Smith (Eastern Gaels) could potentially be involved there too.
They've tended to stream the Trench Cup Final in recent years on the HE YouTube, but no mention of it yet this year so hard to know if the timing of 3pm has locked Jerome out of providing that this year.
No doubt says:
February 10, 2026 at 2:07 pm
Thanks tsuDhoNim
The west is best says:
February 10, 2026 at 6:23 pm
St. Nathy's always play in the Mayo Colleges competitions from 1st year up.
It's an awful shame that all these finals aren't played in McHale Park. When you see the sell out final in Ulster and the games being shown on TV, you begin to realise how far we have to go on the promotional front. Not sure what the capacity of Bekan is, but it's not a lot, and then you have the dugout blocking the view along half one side of the pitch. It could become problematic on Saturday, as you'd be expecting a big crowd for the 'A' final and then throw in the Kobe effect in the 'C' final.
Should be a great days entertainment as Colleges football is hard to beat.
to win just once says:
February 10, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Unbelievable stat that 7 of the 8 schools in action are Mayo or thereabouts ( Nathys) Bodes well for the future Schools are so crucial to GAA. Good coaching and excellent care given to their players. Need to transform it into success at Co U 20 level
Way Out West. says:
February 10, 2026 at 7:10 pm
Ballaghadereen, County Mayo. The club and plenty of the folks from that town have stayed loyal and true to Mayo, despite the Brits efforts at re-drawing the boundary line in 1898.
Moyside says:
February 10, 2026 at 8:36 pm
At times it can be a bit like the Gaza strip in Ballaghadereen...
Ontheroad13 says:
February 10, 2026 at 9:58 pm
The double header of the A and C final in bekan is definitely worth going to on Saturday for anyone because all 4 are really good teams.