It was the autumn of 1887. The warm summer was a distant memory. The hurlers of Tipperary and Kilkenny were about to meet for the first time in championship hurling. This rivalry — later to become one of the most vibrant in Gaelic games — got off to a start that was truly remarkable.

On 20 August 1948, Barry McElroy took out his pen and wrote a letter to the owners of the Munster Express newspaper in Waterford, writes Paul Rouse