It’s an amazing time for the GAA in Tipperary with the football and hurling double still on the cards! We caught up with Tipp legend Eoin Kelly to gauge the excitement in his native Mullinahone ahead of two semi-finals in two weeks. The Premier County’s top scorer continues to represent his club in his retirement from intercounty hurling. Historically, Mullinahone was
a footballing hotbed but has become more attuned to hurling in recent decades. Eoin gives
us an insight into the building excitement in the area ahead of this weekend’s clash with Galway.
We’re also travelling back in time – all the way to the first ever All-Ireland hurling final. The 1887 final, which was played in 1888, also featured Galway and Tipperary. We visit Meelick, who represented Galway on that historic occasion, to hear the story of the first hurling final. Local historian Christy Kearns guides us through the events
while Galway hurling legends Brendan Lynskey and Sean Silke talk about representing Meelick
and the important place the club has in GAA history.
Our cameras follow three-time All-Ireland winning manager Cyril Farrell to Jim Bolger’s annual Hurling For Cancer match. Cyril swaps the sideline for the centre of the field as he is the man in black on the big day. One of only two managers to bring the Liam McCarthy back to Galway, he tells us if the Tribesmen have any chance of repeating that feat this year.
We’re also building up to Saturday’s replay between Kilkenny and Waterford by looking at other occasions when the Cats were taken to replays but bounced back to claim the victory at the second opportunity. Derek McGrath’s charges will be hoping to channel the success of the 1959 Déise outfit rather than the many others that have failed to seal the deal in the replay.
It’s also semi-final stage in the Camogie championship with Cork v Wexford and Galway v Kilkenny playing in Semple Stadium on Saturday. We caught up with Cork’s Aoife Murray and Galway’s Susan Earner as they took part in the All-Ireland Poc Fada in the Cooley Mountains last week. They’ll be hoping the journey through the mountains will stand them in good stead come Saturday.
The programme is repeated on Sunday August 14th on RTÉ One at 2:10pm.
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