All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

doing the pre- and post-match and spending the first half beside big Niall Patterson's goal.

I mean, that was an experience and a half to be like standing beside the umpire at the canal end at Croke Park for the All-Ireland Hurling Final.

It's hard to describe that, I've found, to people who've never been there.

just Croke Park and All-Ireland final day.

War has just begun.

And Clare and Leash are playing in Jones's Road in an All-Ireland Hurling Final.

Are they

Leash or Leakes or Leakes and Oslery?

But yeah, you're right though.

This is an era when Port Leash was Maryborough and all of these things.

Incredibly novel All-Ireland Hurling Final.

Like, neither team had ever won a Hurling Final before and Sometimes we think that we're so modern and sophisticated in the way we do things.

He played in the wing for Ireland with Keith Cross and they were the deadly duo.

And we, myself and Seamus Leonard, said to Trevor, you know, sort of just at the cusp of the peace process, look, we'll take you to the All-Ireland Hurling Final.

And he was nervous, you know, his father had been in the RUC and all of these, but nervous, you know, fine, fine big fellas, you know, Trevor.

And we brought him down and we brought him at the Maher's Bar, which is a hurling mecca beside Croke Park.

And usually held in Croke Park.

But back in 1937, when Fitzgerald Stadium was being opened in Killarney, the GAA wanted to host the All-Ireland Hurling Final in Killarney.

And that was a big move and very exciting, obviously, and an important day.

But there was always politics, always politics, and always tension between...

We have those lads.

We went out to the Championship very, very disappointed last year and the players definitely wanted to get that right and their aim was just take every game at a time and we were going to perform in every game to the best of our ability and see where that took us.

We

were disappointed after last year, and even though we are the second team in the Loughlins, there's some very good hurlers there, so we made our goal at the start of the year to win this Section B and go on from there.

We're with you until 7 o'clock and no prizes for guessing what's the big story in town.

The retirement of Owen Murphy after a decorated career in a Kilkenny jersey and he's left with quite the CV as well.

Four All-Ireland Senior Hurling Medals, ten Leinster Championships, five National Leagues and three Walsh Cups to name but a few.

And in a lengthy statement... released on the Kilkenny County Board website earlier this morning, the tagline really does sum it up.

Don't you think that?

This must have been hell on earth for Tip fans in the early '70s because if you were to look at their record in the '60s, right? Seven Munster titles, four All-Irelands, and even they start the '70s, they must have been thinking, "Well, hey, here it comes." Munster and All-Ireland in 1971, Tony Nealon's in charge, we're gonna dominate the decade.

And next thing, what are those things in the Westerns that go across the street? [laughs]

Yeah.

So, you know, it, yeah, uh, g- uh, Tipperary are not unique in this, particularly in the hurling world.

A very confident county when it comes to hurling.

They expect to be winning All-Irelands.

The premier county.

And it ain't a football final.

It may be one of the most thrilling All-Ireland Hurling Finals of all time.

1-1 by the banner.

5-16 to 3-16 in a replay against the Rebels.