Clare’s Jamie Shanahan has been ruled out of the Munster senior hurling championship after undergoing surgery to alleviate a long-standing back issue.

We are a week into Munster Championship Lent. The 40 days and 40 nights before the start of the Munster SHC on May 12 commenced last Tuesday.

Shane O’Donnell has rejoined the Clare senior hurling panel following his return from Harvard University last week.

Waterford cruised to a win in this NHL quarter-final, with the 2,753 in attendance rewarded with an entertaining first half that gave way to a second-half stroll for the home side.

For those spilling out of Páirc Uí Rinn as the rain closed in on Saturday evening, one question dominated conversations.

NUIG manager Jeff Lynskey was thrilled as the Galway college sent holders UL crashing out of the Fitzgibbon Cup to create a Group A decider against UCC.

Dr Crokes eased to an eighth Munster club SFC crown this afternoon, the destination of the O’Connor Cup never in doubt after a powerful opening burst from the Kerry champions.

Shane O’Donnell will be back in a Clare jersey far sooner than envisaged with confirmation that the 2013 All-Ireland final hero will be lining out for the Banner County in the Aer Lingus Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston on Sunday.

Some hurling matches resonate far more than others, with a draw doubly eloquent.

If there’s one bit of advice Gary Kirby would give John Kiely from Limerick’s last All-Ireland final appearance it would be to shelve any ideas about a fans’ night.

Where to start with this enthralling weekend? It was unbelievable in so many ways. To have two outstandingly exciting All-Ireland semi-finals one after the other. Referees get just as thrilled about these days too.

What an amazing spectacle in Thurles yesterday and James McGrath can believe he contributed to it, writes Brian Gavin.

While soccer, courtesy of Croatia, is no longer winging home, hurling truths are dropping towards a roost.

Stephen Barry picks out three talking points from yesterday's Munster final in Thurles...

Yesterday was a day for hurling referees to step up to the mark and both James McGrath and Fergal Horgan did just that, in Semple Stadium and Croke Park.

David Reidy is also named to start having had his controversial red card from the Limerick game rescinded.

Miltown Malbay is guaranteed to be cock-a-hoop next week when the Willie Clancy Festival throws in, but you might mistake it for starting early if hometown man Conor Cleary is part of a first Munster SHC-winning Clare side in 20 years this Sunday.

ON Wednesday, Seánie McMahon, Liam Doyle and I sat down with John Fogarty, of this parish, in Dromoland Castle. We rolled back the good times, regaled ourselves with old stories and rekindled those magical flames which burned in our hearts throughout our Clare careers (the details of the conversation appear elsewhere on the Irish Examiner website today).

The current college-county fixtures clashes are not sustainable, says Nicky English, and it is threatening the very existence of the Fitzgibbon Cup.

WEXFORD 0-20 - CLARE 1-13: Davy Fitzgerald’s half-smile said it all.

Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford put paid to his native county’s perfect start to Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League on Sunday afternoon courtesy of an impressive and dominant second-half performance.

UL manager Gary Kirby has described as “a disaster” this weekend’s clash that will see the Fitzgibbon Cup final played less than 24 hours before the penultimate round of the Allianz Hurling Leagues.

The pressure is off, David Reidy declared.

Fitzgibbon Cup hurlers from Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford will not be asked to play two games in the space of 24 hours this weekend.

Clare 0-23 Cork 0-19: First of all, disregard the scoreline. This was anything but a four-point contest.

Davy Fitzgerald admits he still feels sorry Jason Forde was suspended after an on-field exchange with the Wexford manager in last year’s Division 1 quarter-final.

UL 4-18 UCC 0-8: Hard to know which camp held greater disbelief at the final whistle.

UL 4-18 - UCC 0-8: The hammering was complete when Barry Murphy dispatched a second UL penalty.

January being the month of experimentation, Conor Cleary finds himself in the unfamiliar environs of the Clare full-back line.

With all the attention the various awards and big-name autobiographies command at this time of year, that little gem of a read for that special GAA person in your life can remain hidden, lost in the heap, writes Kieran Shannon.

Lacking immediate inter-county action to contemplate, I got thinking about tangles subsumed under the heading ‘tactics’. 

Yesterday was tough, in more ways than one. I wasn’t in Thurles because I watched the game from the RTÉ studios in Montrose. It felt weird but, in another way, it was easier. 

A superior Clare qualified for their first Munster final in nine years but not without difficulty as a combination of poor shooting and Limerick’s tenacity made them sweat until the end.

Cork IT 0-19 NUIG 0-19: There may have been nothing between them on the scoreboard, but NUIG’s marginally superior score difference over the previous two rounds saw the visitors secure a quarter-final berth at CIT’s expense.

University of Limerick 2-21, NUI Galway 2-12: The hurlers of UL booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Fitzgibbon Cup with this second comprehensive victory on home turf.

NUI Galway 4-14 St Pat’s Dochas Eireann 1-12: NUI Galway manager Tony Ward praised his side’s character but knows they didn’t play to their potential as they saw off a valiant St Pat’s in the Fitzgibbon Cup at Dangan in Galway.