At about 5.00pm tomorrow evening we should have some idea where the Liam McCarthy Cup will be wintering and what captain will be lifting one of the most coveted trophies in Irish sport. Simply known as ‘Liam’, the Irish public have always been enthralled with this cup presented for the first time just over 100 years ago. Here the Irish Examiner in March 1984 explains the story behind the cup:

THE Liam McCarthy Cup has been awarded annually since 1923 to the winners of the _ -Ireland senior hurling championship. The trophy, which cost £50, honours a great Irishman, who was one of the pioneers of the G.A.A. in London. He was born there a few years after his parents emigrated from Ireland — his father was a native of Ballygarvan, Co. Cork and his mother came from Bruff, Co. Limerick.

William McCarthy, better known as Liam, was President of the London Co. Board when London-Irish won the All-Ireland hurling title in 1901. He was an acquaintance of Sam Maguire and Michael Collins, who was Secretary of the Co. Board for a period, and a friend of Padraig Pearse. He insisted on sending one of Ms sons, Eugene, to Pearse's school in Dublin.

Edmund Forrest, Ballygarvan-born Chairman of the South-East Cork G.A.A. Board has undertaken considerable research into the McCarthy family. It reveals that Liam McCarthy also presented a 'McCarthy Cup' for hurling in London, and another, the "Eoghan McCarthy Cup" for competition in the parish of Ballygarvan.

Correspondence from the then General Secretary of the G.A.A., Luke O'Toole, in 1922, shows that it was a decision of Congress to accept the offer of a trophy from. Liam McCarthy, and "that it should go as a perpetual cup to the winners of the All-Ireland hurling championship". The trophy was made in Dublin.

It was paid for when money invested by the McCarthy family in a loan floated in England to finance the struggle for independence, was redeemed.

Eugene McCarthy made an annual 'pilgrimage' to Croke Park until his death in 1967, and Liam McCarthy's grandson, Pat, carries on the tradition.

9 The trophy was actually presented in 1922, and Limerick were first winners in 1923 when the 1921 championship was decided. They were captained by Bob McConkey.

For more information search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )