Fallen giants leave Ireland a poorer nation for 2011

THE Guardian’s elegant columnist Frank Keating had a typically sharp piece in his newspaper last week, a simple concept butexecuted with precision and wit.

The writer himself would hardly admit to being in the first flush of youth, and in the course of a long and varied career he’s had occasion to pitch up in some fairly far-flung fields.

Proving that not all journalists spend their time at the mahogany ridge of the local hotel, however, he was able to detail the final resting place of many a childhood hero from the sporting fields. He’d even managed to unearth the location of the grave of William Webb Ellis in France, where he’d sipped a Ricard in memory of the man who founded the game of rugby.