I’m so pleased for Limerick.

We’ve grown up with thick skin from years of being subjected to Kerryman jokes and to be honest, no one loves a Kerry dig more than we do.

Pet O’Connell goes hill walking in Dingle, and brushes up on her Irish language skills while she’s there.

Audrey has been sorting out Cork people for years...

Paul O’Connell has big things on his mind this weekend with a possible Six Nations championship win for Ireland on the line in Paris this evening. But life will continue for the big man regardless of the result and on Monday he will turn his attentions to a even rarer possibility.

He was pleased, honoured, humbled to be home among his own, and to be giving a little bit back to the community.

One of the downsides of all these evening kick-offs is that it’s well past midnight before you shut down the laptop.

Every hurling county has its renowned clubs. Tullaroan, Mooncoin, Mount Sion, Toomevara, Thurles Sars, Cork’s big trio of Glen Rovers, Blackrock and St. Finbarr’s, all roll off the tongue.

One of the many prized possessions in the well-known O’Brien’s hostelry in the centre of Charleville town is a photo of the local minor hurling team that won North Cork honours in 1945, pipped in the county final by Glen Rovers.

THE death has taken place of a top Irish sportsman, former Irish cricketer and Munster rugby player Jim Kiernan (80), following a short illness.

The entries are rolling in for the Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby and it now looks certain that the target of 144 entries will be received by Friday’s closing date. Up to late yesterday evening there were almost 100 names in the book and with some of the top kennels yet to confirm their plans.

AFTER only a few minutes of Saturday’s Heineken Cup contest at the Madejski Stadium, it became abundantly clear just why we love this tournament so much.

A BIG funeral for a giant of a man.

MUNSTER and Ireland stalwart Mick Galwey last night credited Moss Keane, who died yesterday, as one of the key inspirations behind the province’s remarkable European success in the professional era.

I OFTEN wondered what those people working in the high-rise office block behind the Shelbourne Hotel thought of it all.

DIARMUID O’FLYNN (DO’F): “Francis, you actually recorded a series of firsts in your career?”

MORE than 50 years after his prize-winning smile was framed in a photographer’s lens, Mossie Knightly finds himself once again under exposure.

Kerry hurling manager Mossie Carroll has stepped down from the post.

KERRY hurling manager Mossie Carroll has stepped down from the post.

ALAN BROGAN has played down the notion that Dublin will be better prepared for an All-Ireland assault this year thanks to their hard-fought victory over Kildare in the Leinster final.

ROY KEANE’S family was keeping a low profile yesterday as a guiding light from his young playing days said he still has the potential to be a great manager.

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN is issuing a call to arms to Munster supporters this week as his side bids for a win that would see them head for another Cardiff final, scene of their great triumph of 2006.

LONG renowned as a club with a great past, St Vincent’s is once again an outfit with a sparkling future.

WHEN Shaun Payne signed for Munster five years ago, few took a great deal of notice. He had a good track record, initially in his native South Africa, where he was part of a crack Natal Sharks side, and more recently with Swansea.

DONNCHA O’Callaghan is one of four players in Ireland’s team to play Argentina at the Parc des Princes on Sunday to have fronted up in the past to a similar, seemingly impossible situation.

SPONTANEOUS applause broke out on the streets of Cork yesterday as people lined up to bid a final farewell to one of city’s last great characters.

HURLING fans are expected to turn out in huge numbers in Portlaw on Sunday evening when Waterford and Kilkenny renew rivalry in a tournament game for a very special and deserving cause.

At least 150 women have been involved in sexual relationships with priests in Ireland since the early 1990s – with six giving birth to children, it was claimed today.

A 73-YEAR-OLD Co Limerick-born curate and his partner were in hiding at the home of a relative in Dundalk, Co Louth, last night with their two- month-old love child.

IF Mossie Lawlor makes a decent contribution to Munster’s Heineken Cup challenge at Rodney Parade today (1pm), Declan Kidney will send a message of thanks to Shannon.

The 19-man Munster Development Squad to visit Edinburgh Gunners on Monday will include a host of fringe first team players including pre-season captain Stephen Keogh.

ROY KEANE’S mother and father are set to be among more than 20,000 fans who will watch the highly acclaimed ‘I Keano’ in Cork Opera House during the next three weeks.

Brendan O’Brien

ANOTHER Sunday and another hero for the Dubs to worship. Going into yesterday’s game, Alan Brogan and Conal Keaney were the apples of the eye for the denizens of Hill 16.

MUNSTER coach Alan Gaffney is in a race against time to find a quality replacement for Christian Cullen before the Heineken Cup replacement deadline on Thursday.

THE only surprise at yesterday’s Cork People of the Year awards, was that it had taken so long for the city’s best known son to be honoured by his own.

THE EARLY season skirmishing has ended and the business end of the season has arrived.

RONAN O'GARA is never far from the headlines whether he's playing for Munster, Ireland or the Lions. Remember the furore when Aussie Duncan McRae tried to punch his head off in that infamous clash down under in 2001?