Gaelic Games

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Conor Laverty hopes Down can end a rollercoaster season with silverware as they prepare to face Wicklow in Saturday's Tailteann Cup final (15:30 BST).

The Mourne County sent shockwaves through the championship when they stunned Donegal in the Ulster quarter-finals, but joy turned to bitter disappointment with a crushing 28-point loss to Armagh in the last four.

But having narrowly missed out on a place in the All-Ireland series, Laverty's side have navigated their way to a third Tailteann Cup decider in four seasons.

"The main prize with the Tailteann is the ticket into Sam Maguire football next year and that's something this team would love to get," said Laverty, who led Down to Tailteann Cup success in 2024.

"After the Donegal result, we went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, but that's the way of the competition and the rules that were set out at the start of the year.

"As a group, we set ourselves standards and it'll be no different on Saturday afternoon."

While Down shocked Donegal, Oisin McConville's Wicklow narrowly missed out on a similarly seismic provincial scalp over Dublin in the Leinster quarter-finals.

However, the Garden County came through dramatic knockout games against Antrim and Offaly to reach their first Tailteann Cup final - and Laverty is wary of the threat they pose.

"We've watched a lot of Wicklow over the past number of weeks. Their performance against Dublin in the Leinster Championship, they probably should have won that game, so we know the quality they possess," he said.

"Some of the players they have are of the highest quality so we understand it's going to be a difficult battle and we have to prepare to put in a performance over the full 70 minutes."

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Offaly senior football joint-managers Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte have stepped down following the county's exit from the Tailteann Cup.

The Leinster county were beaten by Wicklow in the semi-finals on 20 June.

In a statement on Wednesday, the county board said Harte felt it was "appropriate for him to move on" after Kelly made the decision to step down.

Following spells with Louth and Derry after leaving Tyrone, three-time All-Ireland winner Harte joined Offaly in 2024 as joint-boss alongside Kelly, who had been in charge since 2023.

In 2025, the pair led the county to promotion to Division Two but they were relegated back to the third tier earlier this year.

This season, Offaly were knocked out of the Leinster SFC in the first round and progressed to the last four of the Tailteann Cup, where they were beaten 2-26 to 4-15 by Wicklow.

"Offaly GAA has been informed by joint senior football managers Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte of their decision to step down from their roles," read the statement.

"The county board would like to express its sincere thanks to Declan, Mickey, head coach Luke Bree and the entire management and backroom team for their dedication, commitment and professionalism throughout their tenure with the Offaly senior football team.

"We wish Declan, Mickey, Luke and all of the management and backroom team every success and happiness in the future."

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Wicklow manager Oisin McConville hopes this weekend's Tailteann Cup final against Down proves a launchpad for the county as he chases his first trophy in inter-county management.

Having fallen just short of shocking Dublin in the Leinster SFC quarter-finals in April, the Garden County recorded wins over Limerick, Tipperary, Antrim and Offaly to set up a shot at silverware at Croke Park on Saturday (15:30 BST).

Since being introduced in 2022, the second-tier Tailteann Cup has given winners Westmeath, Meath, Down and Kildare the opportunity to compete in the All-Ireland series - and McConville hopes Wicklow can follow suit.

"I look at the teams that have won the Tailteann Cup, Down, Meath and Westmeath - all those teams are capable of challenging at the highest level and they've already proved that," said McConville, an All-Ireland winner with Armagh in 2002.

"If our trajectory was something similar to what they've gone through, then definitely.

"But we can't be accepting of the fact that we're just in the Tailteann Cup final, we want to go ahead and win it now."

Wicklow have shown impressive spirit en route to Croke Park. They overturned a nine-point deficit to beat Antrim by the minimum in Belfast in the quarter-finals (2-19 to 3-15) before a second-half surge against Offaly saw them roar back from eight points down to win a dramatic semi-final 2-26 to 4-15.

But 2024 champions Down have serious pedigree at this level having edged past Fermanagh in the semi-finals to reach their third Tailteann Cup decider.

"They've got a lot of dangers, they've been playing at a high level over the last couple of years. They were in Division Two, back down to Division Three and are going back to Division Two next year," McConville, who took over as Wicklow boss before the 2023 season, said of the Mournemen.

"[In the] Ulster Championship, they beat Donegal and that's the standout result. If you look at that game on a standalone, that's a scary thought.

"The likes of [Odhran] Murdock, [Daniel] Guinness and Pat Havern, they're very hard to pin down. That's the job that's ahead of us.

"We know the enormity of the task, but we have to have confidence in our ability and how good we've been in the past four games. A lot of the concentration has to be on ourselves."

Former Kerry goalkeeper Paudie O'Mahony joins Thomas Niblock and Oisin McConville on the latest episode of The GAA Social.

O'Mahony won five All-Ireland titles and eight Munster championships during a nine-year career with the Kingdom.

O'Mahony, from the Spa club in Killarney, also opens up about his alcoholism, having been sober for 12 years.

In a wide-ranging conversation, he also touches on goalkeepers hitting frees in the modern game and his admiration for the Dublin team of the 1970s and 1980s.

Listen to Paudie O'Mahony on The GAA Social on BBC Sounds

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Ten-time All-Ireland winner Henry Shefflin has been named as the new manager of Kilkenny's county hurling team.

Shefflin is regarded as one of the best players in history after he won 11 All-Stars, 10 All-Ireland hurling titles and 13 Leinster championships in a glittering career with Kilkenny.

The 47-year-old replaces Derek Lyng, who stood down after Kilkenny finished in fourth place in this year's Leinster Championship and missed out on the All-Ireland knockout stages.

Shefflin was previously Galway manager from 2021 until 2024 and was named Kilkenny's Under-20s manager last year.

He won two All-Ireland club titles with Ballyhale Shamrocks as manager in 2019 and 2020, to add to the three times he won the Tommy Moore Cup as a player with his club.

PJ Kenny, chairperson of Kilkenny GAA, said he was "delighted" to welcome Shefflin as manager.

"Henry has an outstanding record of achievement and leadership, and we are confident he will bring tremendous experience, ambition and professionalism to the role," said Kenny.

"I would also like to acknowledge and thank every candidate who put themselves forward.

"The calibre of applicants reflected the esteem in which Kilkenny hurling is held, and we were struck throughout the process by the commitment each candidate demonstrated to serving Kilkenny GAA.

"We wish Henry every success as he takes up this important role."

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI journalist at Croke Park

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Clare manager Brian Lohan wasn't "going to have any complaints" about a big call by referee Thomas Walsh in his side's All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Limerick.

With 55 minutes played and Clare three ahead, Peter Duggan was taken out by Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid for a penalty when almost certain to score.

Quaid made contact with the helmet of Duggan in the foul and while Clare players protested the yellow shown to Quaid ought to have been upgraded, Walsh was happy with his decision.

Tony Kelly buried the award, which proved Clare's final score of the game, and while there was debate about the incident, the Clare manager was not using it as an excuse for his team's heartbreaking 1-21 to 1-19 loss.

"Those are tough calls to make. We aren't going to have any complaints," Lohan said.

"We came up, gave everything we had and felt we needed 110% from our players. We got 110% but probably needed 115%. It was one of those days and performances, so we have to congratulate Limerick."

Clare produced an outstanding first-half display that saw them take a five-point lead into the break.

They were unable to hit the same heights after the restart, yet remained ahead until the 70th minute when Limerick's Aidan O'Connor scored a decisive goal.

The Banner hit seven wides in the second period compared to four in the first and added just 1-3 to their tally in that period.

While proud of his team's efforts, Lohan felt it just wasn't enough.

"We had our peaks, they had theirs and they probably just got a little bit more out their peaks than what we got," he reflected.

"Our endeavour and work-rate was excellent and couldn't fault anyone, so maybe you just have to give credit to the opposition."

Watch highlights as Aidan O'Connor scores a late goal to help Limerick edge past Clare 1-21 to 1-19 in a thrilling conclusion to their All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park.

The Treaty County will now face Galway in the final on Sunday, 19 July.

Read more: Limerick strike late to deny Clare in a thriller