Before I talk about the game I want to compliment the GAA on the whole package yesterday.

A historic day in Croke Park yesterday, Galway crowned Leinster senior hurling champions for the first time after a first-half display of crushing dominance; a day that may also go down in history for another reason, however, the day an empire began to crumble.

THE enigmatic Dublin-born fiddle player Caomhín Ó Raghallaigh has stirred the traditional scene, releasing five albums in 10 years, four of them collaborations with leading lights in Irish music.

IF THE experience of Joe Cooney — one of the finest Galway hurlers of the past three decades — is anything to go by, this Saturday’s All-Ireland qualifier knockout game between Galway and Cork in the Gaelic Grounds is sure to have two very definite elements.

Ger Farragher and Iarla Tannian are injury doubts ahead of Galway's Leinster SHC semi-final against Dublin on Saturday.

Dublin footballer Éamon Fennell and Galway hurler Iarla Tannian picked up their first Vodafone GAA Player of the Month awards this afternoon in Dublin.