An inter-seminary football competition between
St Macartan's College, Monaghan and
St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh had been started in 1902. This was a soccer competition until, in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, a vote was taken to change over to Gaelic rules and St Patrick's won the first Gaelic encounter in 1918 by 4–4 to 0–1. Bishop
Joseph MacRory, the Bishop of Down and Connor at this time, "offered" to present a Cup for the winners of an Ulster Secondary schools' competition. The "offer" was not honoured for another five seasons however, and, in the interim, the matches between other seminaries and St Patrick's Armagh are recorded as "challenges" until the arrival of the first MacRory Cup in late spring 1923. Over the next five seasons the competition was played on a league basis until in 1928 an Ulster Colleges' Committee was established and the MacRory Cup competition became the new body's main competition. Participation in the MacRory Cup in its early years was confined to those who attended boarding schools.
St Patrick's Armagh were the first winners in 1923, and dominated the competition in its early years. First time victories by other challengers were recorded by
St Macartan's (1930),
St Patrick's College, Cavan (1935), and
St Colman's College, Newry (1949). The 1930s was notable for the affiliation of a number of Christian Brothers' schools. These were "day schools" (i.e. non boarding schools) which catered mainly for boys from humble backgrounds, but they did not yet have the prowess to compete with the established diocesan colleges, as was confirmed by comprehensive defeats for Monaghan CBS (1935), and
Abbey CBS, Newry (1944 and 1947). 1954 was a watershed year in that the triumph of
Abbey CBS after a replay over
St Patrick's Cavan was the first MacRory Cup win by a "day school"; the
Abbey CBS repeated this feat in 1959 and 1964, but no other day school made the breakthrough until St Mary's CBS in 1971; next came Omagh CBS in 1974. 1976 marks another significant landmark in the history of the competition although that particular final ended in defeat for
St Patrick's College, Maghera. In a sequence of 14 final appearances by
St Patrick's College, Maghera in the following 15 years, 8 of which were won, including 4 consecutive victories 1982–85. Those 15 years witnessed a rivalry between
St Patrick's College, Maghera and
St Colman's College, Newry when they faced one another in 10 Finals, including replays. These included the final in year 1989 , won by
St Patrick's College, Maghera on the scoreline 4–10 to 4–9. The 1990s marked the arrival of
St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon and
St Michael's College, Enniskillen at centre stage, and accelerated change in the educational domain with the disappearance of the remaining boarding departments in schools, and an equalisation in standards across a greater range of schools. The new millennium produced a victory in 2000 for the original kingpins,
St Patrick's Armagh, their first victory since 1953, and the next decade was marked by the emergence and appearance of
Omagh CBS in 7 Finals. The MacRory Cup, first donated by
Bishop MacRory in 1923, is now contested by 10 schools annually. The original trophy was replaced in 1962, and that trophy, in turn, was retired and donated to the O’Fiaich Library in February 2012. A replacement trophy was donated to Ulster Colleges by Cardinal Brady, thereby perpetuating the historic link between the Archdiocese of Armagh and this competition. The trophy won in March 2012 by
St Michael's, Enniskillen is therefore the third cup to bear Cardinal MacRory's name. The 2020 final, along with all other Gaelic game activity, between
St Colman's, Newry and
St Patrick's, Maghera was postponed due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. Ulster Colleges announced in June 2020 that they hoped to find a date in October to play the MacRory and McLarnon Cup finals. Ulster Colleges had provisionally scheduled the MacRory final for 9 October 2020. However the decision to cancel the final was made after an emergency Ulster Schools GAA meeting. As a result, the 2019/20 Danske Bank MacRory Cup was shared between St Patrick's Maghera and St Colman's Newry. Fifteen schools have their names on the MacRory Cup with
St Colman's College, Newry winning the first of their record 19 titles in 1949 and
St Patrick's College, Maghera, who are in second place with 15 crowns, won their first in 1977.
St Colman's College, Newry and
St Patrick's College, Maghera also lead the way in terms of
Hogan Cup titles won by Ulster schools with eight and six respectively. ==Competition format==