A pre-Open Championship pep talk from coach Neil Manchip propelled a previously uneasy Lowrytowards his lowest opening round in a major and the business end of the leaderboard on a rollercoaster first day at Royal Portrush. But what would Rory McIlroy have given for Lowry’s 67 at The 148th Open?

A former salesman has been spared jail for selling a “perfectly fine car” which turned out to have been an insurance write-off after it was severely damaged in a crash.

Toulouse overcame the first-half dismissal of Zack Holmes to beat Racing 92 22-21 in a thrilling Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final.

17 days ago, Donie Buckley turned the car and headed north from Ennis. Like he had done for the five previous years.

When the time comes for the movie to be made about Mayo football, the first words you will see with the opening credits will read “Loosely based on actual events”, as the reality of the last 30 years has been far too bizarre and nonsensical to properly fit a credible narrative.

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Leicester kept their slim Heineken Champions Cup hopes alive by securing a four-try bonus point in a thrilling 36-26 defeat to Racing 92 in Paris.

A nanny goat called Daisy has given birth to twin “geeps” — goat/sheep hybrids — after a week-long dalliance with a Cheviot ram on a Co Mayo farm.

Latest:  Gardaí investigating the death of a woman at her home in Rathmines in Dublin have confirmed that she died of natural causes.

A former mental health nurse who strangled and butchered a dog and fed it to a pet is psychopathic, a doctor has said.

What a year for Mayo football. Once again, the country has been taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions with the men from the west, writes Dr Ed Coughlan.

An aggrieved Aidan O’Shea has dismissed as inaccurate last year’s cutting interview given by former Mayo managers Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes.

Actress Katie Holmes elevates a jeans and tee combo from off-duty staples to red carpet essentials. Let’s see how she does it.

Different era, same trauma. For Séamus Coleman 2017 read Jimmy Holmes 1979.

Mayo boss Stephen Rochford says the spirit within his squad is “second to none” ahead of the start of the new season.

Mayo’s football panel will not be issuing an official response to extraordinary claims made by former co-managers Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes.

A father, who did not believe there was “any harm” in his teenage son skipping school for a year, has been spared a jail sentence.

A drug smuggler, who fraudulently claimed almost €30,000 in benefits for three years when he was living in Lanzarote, has been given a suspended sentence.

An 89-year-old sister-in-law of the late well-known Limerick solicitor, Gordon Holmes, is distressed over her son-in-law taking her to court in a dispute over a property in the holiday resort of Kilkee.

Over the first couple of days of the 39th Ryder Cup at the Medinah Country Club four years ago, everything was going perfectly to plan for then US captain Davis Love III.

Before we compliment the wizardry of Stephen Rochford, some words of praise for one of his predecessors, Pat Holmes, who successfully pulled off a trick or two in his spell at the Mayo helm.

Player power. As frowned upon phrases in Gaelic games go, it’s right up there. The alliteration only goes to underline its perceived foulness.

US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III insists his final pick will be the best fit and not necessarily the best player.

Eamonn Holmes is stepping down from hosting Sky News Sunrise after 11 years.

“To those who have worked or woken up with me on Sky News over the years - thank you. I hope you appreciated that I tried to do it differently”.

A man in England who has to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex with a new partner once told a psychiatric nurse he needed women "to be scared or I don't respond", a court has heard.

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are set to team up again for a comedy that will take on the famed story of Sherlock Holmes.

A change of heart could pay massive dividends for Graeme McDowell after the former US Open champion survived a windswept opening day of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

‘I didn’t give it away, Joe earned it’