The triumph and tragedy of sport was encapsulated by Harry Purcell’s magnificent senior 800m and 400m double before he pulled a hamstring in the 4x100m relay at the Aviva All-Ireland Schools Track and Field Championships in Tullamore on Saturday.

Up the brow of the first hill it was clear Síofra Cléirigh Buttner had her sixth consecutive Aviva All-Ireland Schools Cross Country gold medal ready to be draped over her neck on a challenging course at Cork IT.

“I couldn’t leave that one go,” admitted senior boy’s winner Sean Tobin of his last chance at glory in Saturday’s Aviva All-Ireland Schools’ and Universities’ Cross Country Championships at University of Ulster, Jordanstown.

WHEN Eddie Hogan emigrated to New York in 1985, he was leaving behind a different kind of famine.

CLARE will feature as the central theme of next month’s Milwaukee Irish Fest in Wisconsin, USA.