Tom Semple rose from his seat to speak. He was responsible for persuading the assembled GAA delegates before him that Thurles should host the All-Ireland hurling final in 1934. Fifty years after the association had been established in Hayes Hotel, Semple asserted that there could be no greater tribute paid to this foundational town than the awarding of this game. It wasn’t a parochial request, he insisted. Indeed, Semple contended that he was simply voicing the opinion “of the majority of Gaels, not at home alone but the world over”. The significance of this Jubilee Year was no trivial matter…

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