The
Laois Junior Football Championship is an annual
Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier
Laois GAA clubs.
Kilcavan are the title holders (2024) defeating
St Joseph's in the final.
Honours The trophy presented to the winners is the Shaw Cup. The winners of the Laois Junior Championship qualify to represent their county in the
Leinster Junior Club Football Championship. The winners can, in turn, go on to play in the
All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship. They often do well outside the county, with the likes of
Rosenallis (2016) and
Park–Ratheniska (2006) among the clubs from Laois to win at least one Leinster Championship after winning the Laois Junior Football Championship. The winners enter the All-Ireland at the quarter-final stage, unless drawn against the British champions in the quarter-finals.
History The Laois Junior A Football Championship was first held in 1906, with
Durrow the victors. In the mid-1990s,
Rosenallis won the Junior Championship and then went on to win the
Intermediate Championship back-to-back. Laois full-back
Martin Dempsey played in the 2004 final, at centre-forward. In 2016, Rosenallis won a dual championship — junior football and intermediate hurling. Laois players
Tom Kelly (2003
All Star and 2005
International Rules Series Player of the Series) and
Noel Garvan (who also won a
Leinster Senior Football Championship in 2003) were involved in the 2017 final.
List of finals ==Laois Junior B Football Championship==