Nobody saw Coolera-Strandhill's maiden provincial title coming

Niall Ó Ceallacháin, the new Dublin hurling manager, is still on this two-road journey with Na Fianna, who are aiming for a first Leinster title on Saturday evening

A Westmeath club has only ever reached one premier provincial hurling final at underage, senior or club level. That was 87 years ago when Westmeath beat Meath, Offaly and Laois to qualify for a Leinster senior final which Kilkenny won by eight points.

Talking Points: There will never be another player-manager at the elite level in GAA but it’s even rarer again for an inter-county manager to continue to play club hurling or football at a high level.

Since that Oulart-The-Ballagh team ruled the local terrain with an iron fist, Wexford’s record in Leinster has fallen off a cliff. St Martin's will try to break the trend when they face Naas. 

Cuala continue to build numbers for Dublin clubs in Leinster

Santa hats have formed a central plank of the young Cuala Ultras' identity,

The one caveat in O’Callaghan’s glittering career has been with the Cuala footballers. 

A handful of clubs around the country are based beside their county ground, but not many have played a final in the main pitch.

With the elite players getting stronger and more athletic, more ball carrying was inevitably going to lead to more contact, which meant that the rule around the tackle had to change.