London’s Kilburn keep cup

London club Kilburn Gaels retained the Tom Semple Cup at the International Hurling Festival in Thurles at the weekend, beating Dunboyne of Meath in the final by 2-7 to 0-9.

The festival was inaugurated last year by the Thurles Sarsfields club as a showcase for hurling in the town where the GAA was founded and, this time around, 10 clubs from across Ireland as well as two from London took part in the main competition at Dr Morris Park and the Sarsfields’ club pitch on Saturday.

The club originally hoped to stage the final of the Semple Cup tournament and also the Carew Cup — for clubs knocked out in the first round of the Semple Cup — in Semple Stadium but the GAA’s decision to hold three All-Ireland qualifiers in the venue on Saturday ruled that out.

Instead, the Sarsfields’ own pitch was used for the finals, which saw wins for Kilburn Gaels and, in the Carew Cup, Tooreen of Mayo, who beat Na Magha from Derry by 1-11 to 1-7. Thurles’s status as a hurling town was highlighted by the amount of venues available, including St Patrick’s College, the Ursuline College, the Dúrlas Óg club grounds, Dr Morris Park and Thurles Sarsfields’ field.

Committee chairman John Enright said plans are afoot to tie in next year’s international hurling festival with The Gathering, the tourism event aimed at attracting people from around the globe to holiday in this country during 2013.

He said: “Thurles Sarsfields will be the focal point for The Gathering in this area,” he said. “We have a tradition going back to 1884 here.”