With a second successive title, Ballyhale Shamrocks made it a clean sweep of All-Ireland club titles for Kilkenny this weekend despite some heroics from Borris-Ileigh’s Jerry Kelly and Brendan Maher.

The increased number of championship games brought about by the provincial round-robin format makes it harder to successfully defend the Liam MacCarthy Cup, according to Limerick’s Diarmaid Byrnes.

With 30 seconds remaining yesterday, as Borris-Ileigh were desperately trying to stay ahead, and Ballygunner were frantically trying to find a way to stay alive, Dan McCormack lost his hurley as he battled for possession in front of the seated stand in Páirc Uí Rinn.

Already trailing heavily with just 10 minutes on the clock at UPMC Nowlan Park, St Martin’s midfielder Aaron Maddock found himself hurley-less, surrounded and under pressure out on the left wing.

Tickets for all three gigs go on sale Friday.

A match between two teams who have provided nine of the 11 players in the 2019 PFAI team of the year.

That New Zealand have stated they will target Johnny Sexton is hardly a galloping shock. Johnny’s had that for a lot of his career, but it remains fundamentally important to Ireland’s chances today that he is on the pitch for 60-65 minutes.

Champions Coalisland were sent crashing out in a gripping Tyrone SFC semi-final yesterday as 2015 champions Trillick secured a 0-13 to 0-12 win.

Roseville House is centrally located and perfect for exploring the seaside town of Youghal on foot and sampling its many attractions, writes Ciara McDonnell

Richie Gray made the decision to opt out of World Cup selection with Scotland, according to assistant coach Danny Wilson.

A husband and wife passed away from cancer within minutes of each other, after 32 years of marriage.

Martin Comerford has bemoaned Kilkenny’s “systems failure” following Richie Hogan’s red card in last Sunday’s All-Ireland final.

It’s amazing the difference a win makes to your week, starting with the long drive home. You can’t wait for The Marty Squad, The Sunday Game, the next day’s papers, the next week’s podcasts.

Despite having only agreed a new two-year extension in April, Micheál Donoghue last night confirmed his departure as Galway senior hurling manager.

Brian Cody has insisted that to “scapegoat” Richie Hogan for Kilkenny’s All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary would be an “outrageous” thing to do.

Cathal Barrett says former Kilkenny players are "clutching at straws" by highlighting an incident in yesterday’s All-Ireland final where he caught Richie Hogan in the face with his hurley.

Tipperary's victorious hurlers have visited Children's Health Ireland in Crumlin to start off the traditional All-Ireland winning celebrations.

Ken Hogan, Derek McGrath and Ger Cunningham review Tipp's All-Ireland triumph with Anthony Daly.

Trust me when I say this — it’s every referee’s worst nightmare to send a player off in an All-Ireland final.

The worth of Richie Hogan in his current patched-up incarnation? Former Kilkenny goalkeeper Michael Walsh offers a succinct appraisal.

I’d a lovely childhood. We grew up by the sea in Killiney, Dublin. I remember it being sunny all the time and ice-cream floats — my parents used to give us pints of Club Orange with a lump of ice-cream in it. Now they’d probably be illegal because of obesity but at the time we were fed on a staple diet of that stuff during the summer.

Brian Cody has never sought to overly complicate matters. Whatever about the tactical nuances he may attempt to implement or, indeed counter, the Kilkenny manager is fully aware that any game-plan must be built on the non-negotiables of spirit, honesty, character and work-rate.

‘Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what happened to Louise and what we could have done to prevent Shane’s death’

The Limerick man who captured the German nation’s hearts with a cheeky flag has now captured won the heart of a German girl.

“From the frying pan into the fire” was how Brian Cody assessed the prospect of facing All-Ireland champions Limerick in Saturday week’s All-Ireland semi-final.

And so, 14 years becomes 15, one short of Cork’s longest spell without the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

Richard Malone is outspoken about the issues in the fashion industry. From sustainability to politics to prejudice, he talks candidly with Paul McLauchlan.

The Kilkenny forwards around TJ Reid need to step up their scoring contributions, according to former Cats defender Brian Hogan.

Donegal swept past Tyrone to book their place in the Ulster SFC final, scoring a first win over fierce north-west rivals Tyrone in four Championship clashes as they triumphed by four points at Kingspan Breffni Park.

The game itself was a walking, talking, advert for a tiered football championship, so when the competition on the pitch doesn’t scare you, you look for motivation elsewhere, and Richie Donnelly found it within his own dressing room.

A former club captain back in the 1950s, and with a son (John) involved in a variety of roles from captain to president to chairman, Don’s was a voice entitled to be heard.

Three games into this year’s Allianz League campaign and Tyrone deep in relegation trouble with one point out of six, Mattie Donnelly went to Mickey Harte with a suggestion.

World Cup winner Dan Carter would not be out of place in the All Blacks squad at the global showpiece in Japan later this year if selectors sent him an SOS to fill the gap left by the injured Damian McKenzie, former coach Graham Henry has said.

Ulster and Ireland captain Rory Best has confirmed that he will retire from professional rugby when his contract expires after the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Toulouse lock Richie Arnold says they will head to Dublin this weekend with a lot of confidence after seeing off Clermont Auvergne 47-44 in a top-of-the-table Top 14 clash on Sunday.

Maurice O’Brien probably has a better perspective than most on Sunday's Allianz Hurling League semi-final between Limerick and Dublin in Nowlan Park.

There’s usually less debate about the hurling All-Stars than you get with the football All-Stars.

The injury occurred just two weeks after the 2013 All-Star helped the Treaty County lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

The lads from Sky, who landed on a mercy mission Thursday, reminded me why I’ll never go to a World Cup, writes Larry Ryan

Damien Duff is clearly sick of Saipan.

When I was with the Limerick underage academy, and the Limerick minors, my boss Joe McKenna had a couple of hard and fast rules, one of which was very simple — never play Cork in a challenge game. 

I was working for RTÉ Radio 1 on the evening that Tipperary annihilated Galway in the 2010 All-Ireland U21 final.

Tottenham 1 Newcastle 0

The Cork senior hurling championship goes up a notch this weekend, with a raft of games down for decision today and tomorrow.