Cratloe boss Joe McGrath paid tribute to his warriors yesterday after their Munster club final defeat.

Kilmmallock 1-32 Cratloe 3-18

AIB MUNSTER CLUB SHC FINAL:

Conor Ryan has revealed how Cratloe’s dual players made a private pact vowing not to allow their football heartache affect their AIB Munster club hurling bid.

Cratloe (Clare) 1-18 Thurles Sarsfields (Tipperary) 0-14

Tired limbs and bruised bodies will emerge through the tunnel at Cusack Park tomorrow afternoon, hurlers from both sides carried by the big M: momentum.

Ballygunner 1-10 Cratloe 3-07

Clare might have made an underwhelming fist of defending their All-Ireland title but 2014 has still been a very special year for Conor McGrath, confirming the 23-year-old’s status as one of the country’s leading hurlers.

Jody O’Connor was the first speaker on stage at last January’s GAA Games Development Conference.

The man who turned down the plan for five Garth Brooks concerts at Croke Park is the top earner among local authority staff.

AIB MUNSTER CLUB SFC FINAL:

A CLOSE friend’s warning to Michael Collins not to go on that ill-fated visit to West Cork, and a lack of bitterness in ex-taoiseach Sean Lemass following the death of his brother in the Civil War — these are just some of the insights provided in a new series of interviews relating to the struggle for independence.

Five years ago work on the revival of Clare hurling got underway in earnest. This weekend they are reaping the rewards — and even brighter times may lie ahead.

Pádraig Chaplin is fine-tuning the wiring in Setrights tavern.

Cork 1-15 Cork IT 0-11

Former GAA president Dr Mick Loftus was amongst the attendance yesterday at the funeral Mass of Down-born Joe McGrath who achieved notable successes as a hurling, football and camogie coach over the past 40 years while living in Cork.

The GAA in Cork is mourning the death of two prominent figures who gave outstanding service in their respective fields over a lengthy period.

Newmarket-on-Fergus 3-10 Cratloe 0-09

“No complaints, the better team won,” was the immediate and sporting reaction of beaten Cratloe manager Joe McGrath.

The glory days of Newmarket on Fergus may be in the distant past but their achievements of yesteryear still demand huge respect from those who know their Clare hurling.

Timing is everything, isn’t it?

Will Galway bate Mayo?

It’s the kind of voice you hardly hear anymore in inter-county hurling management.

The director of a Co Clare quarrying group has said his group’s aim is to survive the recession.

Kanturk booked their place in the fifth round of the Munster Junior Cup as Presentation defeated Newcastle West in the final of the Munster Junior Shield in what was a very quiet weekend on the junior front.

YOU could spend your life in despair, couldn’t you? Certainly the papers and the news this past week would encourage nothing but negative thoughts.

Casamento was significantly cut in price for next year’s 2000 Guineas after winning the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh.

MICHAEL Halford described Casamento as by far the best horse he has trained after the colt gave him his biggest ever success in the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes at the Curragh yesterfday.

Tell The Wind gave Kevin Prendergast a landmark winner with victory in the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Fillies Maiden at Dundalk.

DERMOT EARLEY dashed our every childhood dream, and yet we can never recall feeling any resentment towards him.

IT was celebration time in the GAA on Sunday on the exact date of that famous meeting in Hayes Hotel in Thurles 125 years ago.

IT’S a scene replicated everywhere in Ireland, new clubs coming to the fore in county finals.

There could not have been a much more appropriate result on a day at the Curragh in honour of Vincent O'Brien than a winner for the late trainer's grandson, David Myerscough.

Galway City Councillors have voted to provide water filters to all houses affected by the lead contamination crisis.

THE Bishop of Ferns has compared the suffering of child abuse victims in the diocese to the crucifixion of Christ.

Seamus Heffernan took the riding honours at the Curragh with a 389-1 treble on Jupiter Pluvius, Savethisdanceforme and Sandymount Earl.

DECLAN MCDONOGH struck a major blow in his bid to be champion jockey for the first time when landing a double at the first stage of the Listowel Festival yesterday.

Pat McGrath of Waterford (father of current stars Ken and Eoin) and Johnny Crowley of Cork, five-times All-Ireland winner, met many times on the field of play. They were reunited again this week ahead of tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final between Cork and Waterford, in the company of Diarmuid O’Flynn.

Eyre Square in Galway re-opens today after a controversial three-year redevelopment project.

The re-opening of Eyre Square after a controversial redevelopment project is good news for the people of Galway, it was claimed today.

Don’t mention the war, we agreed. “I’ll meet on one condition”, laughed Waterford’s Jim Greene.