{"id":64697,"date":"2026-04-20T15:48:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/64697\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:48:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:48:28","slug":"cross-and-passion-face-derry-resistance-in-bid-to-retain-danske-bank-mageean-cup-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/64697\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross and Passion face Derry resistance in bid to retain Danske Bank Mageean Cup \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">DANSKE Bank Mageean Cup and Masita All-Ireland Paddy Buggy Cup champions Cross and Passion Ballycastle will begin the defence of their titles with group games against two Derry schools, St Patrick\u2019s Maghera and Gaelchol\u00e1iste Dhoire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">That was the outcome of the Danske Bank Mageean Cup draw at the launch of the Ulster schools\u2019 GAA programme for 2025-26 at the Tyrone Centre of Excellence at Garvaghy today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In Group A last year\u2019s beaten finalists St Killian\u2019s Garron Tower are aiming for a fourth successive final appearance. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/gaa\/hurling-camogie\/december-decider-perfect-for-mageean-says-cpc-coach-joe-cassidy-UCHYKGLEYZEGZF4ATSL5FTBJPI\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/gaa\/hurling-camogie\/december-decider-perfect-for-mageean-says-cpc-coach-joe-cassidy-UCHYKGLEYZEGZF4ATSL5FTBJPI\/\">December decider perfect for Mageean Cup says CPC coach Joe Cassidy<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/gaa\/hurling-camogie\/cork-banish-the-demons-of-last-summer-and-start-the-championship-off-with-a-win-over-tipp-in-thurles-LACSFCEW6JCOTGVOQNAS76KFQ4\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Cork banish the demons of last summer and start the Championship off with a win over Tipp in Thurles\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HCIALVNK4NAIFF2H62FJN27KME.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/gaa\/hurling-camogie\/leinster-shc-offaly-and-dublin-serve-up-thriller-wexford-win-and-galway-pile-the-misery-on-kilkenny-RBJXVNTZCRAFLCP4OO537CLAS4\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Leinster SHC: Offaly and Dublin serve up thriller, Wexford win and Galway pile the misery on Kilkenny\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/6X54V7MR5RGUPJYAT325EO2VB4.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">They lost the 2022 final to St Louis Ballymena while St Mary\u2019s CBGS are record holders of the trophy, although the last of those 28 titles came back in 2017.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Since the last of St Mary\u2019s titles there have been no fewer than seven different champions as the competition has become ultra-competitive. However it is still a disappointment that the number of teams entered this season has dropped to six.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Amalgamated teams have been left out since An D\u00fan won the 2018 title while 2021 champions St Patrick\u2019s Downpatrick had already dropped down to the Danske Bank Casement Cup two years after their success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">This year Our Lady\u2019s &amp; St Patrick\u2019s Knock have opted to re-group at Casement Cup level leaving Gaelchol\u00e1iste Dhoire as the only team in the competition that hasn\u2019t previously won it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/gaa\/hurling-camogie\/cross-and-passion-take-mageean-cup-after-first-half-scoring-left-st-killians-with-a-mountain-to-climb-ESTVKKMU6ZAKHOE4ADG7F4PIPM\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/gaa\/hurling-camogie\/cross-and-passion-take-mageean-cup-after-first-half-scoring-left-st-killians-with-a-mountain-to-climb-ESTVKKMU6ZAKHOE4ADG7F4PIPM\/\">Cross and Passion take Mageean Cup after first-half scoring spree left St Killian\u2019s with a mountain to climb<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">St Patrick\u2019s Maghera won the Danske Bank Foresters\u2019 Cup two seasons ago. In that team Maghera featured a number of dual players who helped the school to the Hogan back in March around the same time Cross &amp; Passion Ballycastle were succeeding them as Foresters\u2019 Cup champions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The pair would still be seen as competition favourites along with whichever team tops Group A and therefore get a free ticket into the semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The opening group games are in a fortnight with the three rounds completed before the Halloween break. The quarter-finals are scheduled for the first week of November with the semi-finals taking place a fortnight later and the 74th competition ends with a final at the Dub on Friday 5th December.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Danske Bank Mageean Cup<\/p>\n<p>Group A<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">St Mary\u2019s CBGS Belfast <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">St Killian\u2019s Garron Tower <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">St Louis Ballymena<\/p>\n<p>Group B<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Cross and Passion Ballycastle <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Gaelchol\u00e1iste Dhoire <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">St Patrick\u2019s Maghera <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DANSKE Bank Mageean Cup and Masita All-Ireland Paddy Buggy Cup champions Cross and Passion Ballycastle will begin the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[288],"tags":[289,1829],"class_list":["post-64697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-danske-bank","tag-danske-bank","tag-ulster-gaa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116437824705438023","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}