Antecedents Two reports in the
Kilkenny People suggest that Evergreen (Kilkenny) defeated Avengers (Dublin) in a 1973 final. Two 1974 articles in the
Irish Independent and
Sunday Independent report that
Anne O'Brien won the Drumcondra Cup with All-Stars (Dublin) in 1972. A 1985 article in the
Munster Express, marking
Benfica's twenty year anniversary, claims the club first played in a national Cup as early as in 1968.
Early years Although the
RSSSF archives only list finals from 1989, a match programme from a 1978 international between the
Republic of Ireland and
France confirmed that the Ladies FAI Cup was first played for in 1975 with
Limerick defeating C.S.O. (Dublin) 2–1 in the final. Records from the early 1980s are more clear and during this period the three strongest teams were Dublin Castle, Benfica and Rathfarnham United. The former two clubs were both members of the
Ladies League of Ireland. Dublin Castle was founded in the mid-1970s as a
works team by Margaret Griffin, a former
camogie player from
Ennis, County Clare who later became a Republic of Ireland international. At the time Griffin was working for the Irish Revenue Commissioners based at
Dublin Castle. Benfica won the cup for the third time in 1993 in controversial circumstances.
College Corinthians originally defeated Benfica 1–0 in the final. However a replay was held after it was discovered that Corinthians had fielded two unregistered players. In the replay, a fifteen year old
Ciara Grant scored twice as Benfica won 3–0 at
Kilcohan Park.
DWSL monopoly Following the emergence of the
Dublin Women's Soccer League in 1993, its member clubs, most notably
Shamrock Rovers and
UCD, dominated the competition. This monopoly was briefly broken in 2006 and 2007 by the representative teams of two regional women's leagues. A team representing the
Mayo Ladies League defeated UCD in the 2006 final and in 2007 the
Galway Ladies League defeated
Raheny United. Between 2008 and 2011 the DWSL dominance was restored with victories by
St Francis,
Peamount United and
St. Catherine's.
UEFA Women's Cup Between 2001 and 2010 the FAI Women's Cup served as a qualifier for the
UEFA Women's Cup. In
2002–03, after winning the 2001 cup,
Shamrock Rovers became the first women's team to represent the Republic of Ireland in
Europe.
UCD became the second Republic of Ireland team to qualify for Europe after winning the cup. UCD played in the
2003–04,
2004–05 and
2005–06 UEFA Women's Cups. The
Mayo Ladies League, the
Galway Ladies League,
St Francis and
Peamount United all represented the Republic of Ireland in Europe after winning the cup. In 2005
Dundalk City won the FAI Women's Cup and as a result qualified for the
2006–07 UEFA Women's Cup. However, in 2006 a split developed within Dundalk City over a plan for the club to fully merge with
Dundalk F.C. This saw the emergence of two separate women's teams. Dundalk City was re-established as an independent club while
Dundalk W.F.C. became affiliated with the
League of Ireland club. Following complications that resulted from the split, it was Dundalk W.F.C. that went on to represent the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Women's Cup.
Women's National League era The establishment of the
Women's National League in
2011–12 led to a revamp for the FAI Women's Cup. Played between August and November, it serves as a warm up competition for the WNL season. Between 2013 and 2019 the final was staged as part of double header at the
Aviva Stadium along with the men's
FAI Cup final. This idea had previously been tried out in 2004 and 2005 when
Lansdowne Road hosted both finals on the same day. Since 2013 the final has also been broadcast live on
RTÉ Two. In 2015 the double header system caused controversy when the FAI Women's Cup final went to extra-time and penalties. During the penalty shoot-out,
Cork City F.C. players began their warm up preparations for the men's FAI Cup on the pitch. From the 2020 season onwards, the final was staged at Tallaght Stadium on a separate day to the men's final. There were 15 teams competing in the 2024 season. In 2025, the competition was expanded to 16 teams. ==List of finals==