Donncha O’Brien beat Kieran Murphy in the last shot of a Hancy Hubbard Cup tie at Beal na Marbh.

Families of homicide victims renewed calls at the weekend for the Government to back legal proposals which would allow for minimum terms to be applied to murderers.

The case of a woman who was accused of witchcraft in Co Cork and prosecuted at a sensational trial in 1661 forms the plot of a new opera by the acclaimed avant-garde composer, Raymond Deane.

Cork manager Ronan McCarthy, when asked about his players’ unfamiliarity with Croke Park and whether he had any concerns over such, provided a reply straight out of left field, pulling up a Joe Brolly quote from all of 26 years ago.

While Cork’s victory on Saturday may not have come as a surprise the gulf in class certainly was. Cork produced their best display of the year to add to the evidence that they are heading in the right direction.

Cork will spend the next two weekends in Croke Park after comfortably securing their place in the Super 8s with this emphatic 14-point dismissal of Laois.

It sure wasn’t the most fruitful weekend for anyone looking for chinks in Dublin’s drive for five.

Just 18,265 souls, the worst crowd for a Cork-Kerry Munster SFC final in 36 years, were treated to entertainment if anything else as the challengers gave Kerry their biggest test in four years.

Ruairí Deane, somewhat understandably, isn’t keen to get bogged down in talk about the 2018 Munster SFC final.

The old Mike Tyson deadpan came to mind as Limerick’s Munster final ambitions were obliterated in the opening 12 minutes of Saturday’s SFC semi-final at Páirc Uí Rinn.

The furnishings in Pairc Ui Rinn won’t rival Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano for comfort anytime soon, but no-one was forced to the edge of their seats Saturday night in Cork as the hosts romped to a 21-point Munster SFC semi final victory over Limerick.

A pulsating Cork PIFC opening round tie went right to the wire before Bantry Blues edged St Vincent’s at Enniskeane last Saturday evening.

Donegal’s fourth league win of the spring has kept alive their promotion bid, while, in the process, moving Cork perilously closer to the relegation trapdoor.

It ended with bodies being flung, arms spread wide, legs hacking chaotically, and the general confusion of a final ’45 dropped upon close to 28 players.

Aidan Murphy and Gary Daly progressed in the Mother Hegarty Cup at Lyre.

The Imokilly press evening was winding down when the division’s successes of the nineties were recalled.

A row over cattle fencing resulted in a man being convicted of assault and a second criticised for using inflammatory language in a case described by a judge as “a sorry mess between neighbours”.

There was a weird atmosphere walking away from Páirc Uí Caoimh last Saturday evening, writes Mike Quirke.

Waking up this morning to re-watch Saturday night’s Munster final, I began to wonder if it was really as bad as it seemed in the flesh at Páirc Uí Chaoimh?

Cork are 7/2 with the bookies but I wouldn’t back them. I was never involved with Kerry in a Munster final in Páirc Ui Chaoimh where Cork were that friendless in the market. The message is clear: Being competitive and getting within two or three points of Kerry represents progress.

The conversation with Ronan McCarthy is almost four minutes old when the performance of Ruairí Deane is brought up.

Keen golfers have a great chance to get on the fairway to heaven — a golf classic is taking place at Castlemartyr Resort next month to raise funds for vital preservation and restoration work at St Mary’s Church in Cork.

Before the door of Dressing Room No 3 underneath Semple Stadium’s Old Stand closed towards us, the first four of Liam Kearns’ words to his numbed Tipperary players seeped out.

Cork 1-17 Tipperary 0-9 

Before the door of Dressing Room No 3 underneath Semple Stadium’s Old Stand closed towards us, the first four of Liam Kearns’ words to his numbed Tipperary players seeped out.

Colm O’Neill mightn’t necessarily agree but there’s often more to a masterpiece than broad brush strokes of genius.

The oldest yacht club in the world has been voted as having the best marina in the world.

She has overcome obstacles, from shyness to cancer to advancing in the once male-dominated bastion of the GAA committee room. So thriving as the first female chair of Cork County Board won’t faze Tracey Kennedy. But she does want to represent females in the GAA and be an effective voice for inclusiveness and change...

Clare O’Sullivan and Emma Fitzpatrick will contest the Gretta Cormican Cup final in a bid to secure a semi-final place in next month’s Queen of the Roads.

Don’t be blinkered, there’s value and a great finish in this Passage West beauty, says Tommy Barker.

Danni Barry does not want to be known as the only ‘female’ chef in Ireland who has a Michelin star. Her gender is irrelevant, she tells Joe McNamee

According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Scotland’s capercaillies are in trouble; their numbers are falling relentlessly and, if effective measures aren’t taken, extinction looms, writes Richard Collins

Of the many great crimes that befell the last century, Ultravox’s Vienna being kept off the top of the UK single charts by Joe Dolce’s Shaddaup You Face in 1981 stands most unashamedly among them.

Peadar Healy regretted Cork’s inability to convert goal opportunities and bemoaned second-half injuries and yet couldn’t but marvel at Kerry’s strengths.

CORK’s inter-county contingent appear to have emerged unscathed from a weekend of Cork SFC action, which saw a return from injury for midfielder Aidan Walsh.

Today’s Munster semi-final marks the 25th game of Peadar Healy’s spell as Cork manager. Here is a chequered reign in numbers, as tallied by Eoghan Cormican

Wherever else the Cork footballers may fall down this summer, fitness won’t be an issue.

Cork will start four U21s in today’s Munster SHC clash with Tipperary. How much of a step is it, to go from underage hurling to the big show? asks Michael Moynihan.