It is probably the strangest method ever devised for establishing a sea border anywhere in the world.

On Saturday night, 24 October 1915, a group of about 25 men from Queen’s County were staying in a hotel on Gardiner Street in Dublin. They were the hurlers of Leix – as Queen’s County was officially known in GAA circles – and they were in Dublin to play the All-Ireland hurling final against Cork.

The word ‘sport’ is an interesting one. It is commonplace, part of the everyday conversation in the great majority of households on this island — and yet it is hard to define, writes Paul Rouse.