It is the highest inter-county Gaelic football competition in the province of Leinster, and has been contested every year since the 1888 championship.

The Leinster SFC is an integral part of the wider All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

Firstly, inter-club contests in 1885 and 1886 were wildly popular and began to draw huge crowds.

Secondly, although the number of clubs was growing, many were slow to affiliate to the Association, leaving it short of money.

The championships were open to all affiliated clubs who would first compete in county-based competitions, to be run by local county committees.

Because of this, and in an effort to reduce travelling costs, the GAA decided to introduce provincial championships.

The inaugural Leinster Championship featured Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth, Meath, Queen's County, Wexford and Wicklow.

Postponements, disqualifications, objections, withdrawals and walkovers were regular occurrences during the initial years of the championship.

In winning the 1892 Leinster final, Dublin, as well as becoming the first team to retain the title, also set in train a level of championship dominance that continues to the present day.

After two decades of dominance, Wexford broke the hegemony by setting a new record of six successive titles between 1913 and 1918.

A Dublin resurgence in the 1970s was followed by Meath's most successful era, winning eight titles between 1986 and 2001 under Seán Boylan.

[7] The Delaney brothers were a famous Gaelic football family from Portlaoise who lined out at club, county and provincial level.

They are no longer held, with weaker teams, such as Carlow, Longford, Meath and Wicklow, most of Leinster really, moving aside, to instead play in the Tailteann Cup.

Leinster SFC matches were traditionally played at neutral venues or at a location that was deemed to be halfway between the two participants; however, teams eventually came to home and away agreements.

The selection of Croke Park for the vast majority of Dublin's games in recent years has also come in for criticism in the 2nd decade of the 21st century, as it offers a perceived advantage to play in what is effectively their "home" stadium.

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the Leinster Council and for the teams involved.