Recent deaths
The death has occurred of Mr Patrick (Patie) Carroll, Militown. Interment took place Powerstown Cemetery.
The death has occurred of Mr John Long, Killerk. Interment took place at Calvary Cemetery.

December Song
An evening of delightful music will feature in December Song in Holy Trinity Church of Ireland on Saturiay December 27th, at 8pm.
Bernie Lonergan soprano and Fiona Gilchrjst violin, two familiar artistes, are appearing, plus some new surprises.

GAA
Well, it's all over now. Fethard gave of their best, their almighty best in the final of the Munster club AIB senior football final against Castlehaven in Fermoy on Sunday last.
We know it's an old cliche, but, nevertheless, it must be said. Fethard footballers on Sunday did themselves, Fethard and Tipperary football proud and lost no caste in defeat.
Well done, lads, the team and Waltie certainly gave their many supporters a great year.

Supporters
Sports stars of the week, if not the year, award goes to Fethard sup
portes on Sunday. We had been warned to expect loud and vociferous support from the Castlehaven fans. Somebody must have been joking.

Fethard came on to the field to a reception like the Clare hurling team received in their first allIreland. The Fethard fans, how they kept it up, no-one knows. The Walls of Fethard, Come On Ye Boys In Blue, Sliabh-namBan and Fethard's new anthem, Waltie Moloney, Waltie Moloney, to the air of Waltzing Matilda, reechoed around Fitzgerald Park to the final whistle, putting the Haven fans' best efforts in the shade.
With supporters like this, most of them of the younger generation, surely the future of Fethard football is safe for another 100 years and further success must come. Up the Blues!
Munster club football final.

Brave Fethard effort not good enough
Castlehaven 1-14; Fethard 1-8
Another major football fixture ends in another hard luck story for Tipperary football. Fethard's bold attempt to rewrite the history books by becoming the first team from the county to win the provincial title came unstuck at Fermoy's Fitzgerald Park on Sunday, when Castlehaven's greater power and accuracy in front of the posts prevailed in an exciting Munster club senior football final.
For forty minutes of this gripping affair, Fethard's bravehearts stuck limpetlike to their opponents, matching their grit, determination and excellent teamwork.
But in spite of playing into a stiff breeze, the Cork team gained a crucial upper hand early in the secondhalf, and managed to keep Fethard at bay for the remainder of the contest.
Defeat in the final was a cruel end to Fethard's memorable championship campaign, but if it's any consolation at all then they can be proud of the part they played in a superb game of football.
Each teamdeployed keep-ball tactics, transferring the ball quickly and more often than not accurately, and the shortpassing game made for a highly watchable affair.
Two of the major talking points centred around the penalties that each team was awarded into the goal opposite the town end; Fethard unluckily missed theirs in the first-half, Castlehaven converted theirs in the second, and both incidents spoke volumes about the hour's play.
If Brian Burke had found the net from his attempt, then Fethard might have retired to the dressingroom at the interval in the lead, instead of three points down (0-8 to 0-5).
But it was significant too that the Cork side was never once headed on the scoreboard.
Fethard were trailing by two points (0-6 to 0-4) after 26 minutes when Martin Coen's free found Jimmy O'Meara. The cornerforward's cross-goal pass was collected by Michael Spillane, the Cork team's goalie Michael McGuire dived feet first in saving Spillane's effort, and referee, Kevin Walsh had no hesitation in signalling the penalty.
McGuire was beaten all ends up by Brian Burke's well-taken effort, but to Fethard's agony the ball struck the foot of the post and skidded across the face of the goal, leaving Liam O'Connell to clear the danger.
It turned out to be a heartbreaking sequence of events for Fethard, because from O'Connell's clearance Castlehaven went straight down the field, and John Cleary fed Fran Cahalane for a point.
Fethard didn't let that disappointment get to them, though, and they responded in fine fashion when Brian Burke and Jimmy O'Meara supplied the passes for a stylish Chris Coen point.
They went close to goaling again two minutes into injury time, when Michael McGuire had to fist a dangerous lob from
Michael 'Buddy' Fitzgerald clear of the goal, following Martin Coen's free.
That was after Larry Tompkins had converted a free from the ground from all of 45 yards, after he had been fouled.
But it's debateable whether a goal from Burke's penalty would have been sufficient to inspire Fethard to victory.
The Cork county manager was the dominant personality of this final Your of his eight points came from frees that weren't of the tap-over variety, and for a player so plagued by injury throughout his career, he shows no signs of slowing down.
Not alone were Tompkins's kicking skills crucial to his team, but he did an amount of fetching and carrying as well what a tremendous engine he possesses.
0-9 to 0-6 ahead, Castlehaven made a crucial break nine minutes into the second-half. Another sweeping move involving John Cleary, Cohn Crowley, Larry Tompkins and Crowley again ended with John McGuire being hauled to the ground by Fethard goalie, Paul Fitzgerald.
COOL CLEARY CONVERTS
John Cleary was coolness personified as he stroked the ball to the net past Fitzgerald's despairing dive.
For a brief period, the 'Haven' threatened to run riot. Tompkins kicked two points from play, within a minute, to leave his team eight points clear (1-11 to 0-6).
But just when it looked as if they would crumble, Fethard breathed new life back into the game with a splendidly-worked goal. A string of passes carefully assembled by Willie O'Meara, Brian Burke and Tommy Sheehan saw Sheehan pick out Chris Coen with a pass of pinpoint accuracy.
- Coen succeeded in touching the ball into the path of Damian Byrne, and the Fethard wingforward finished the chance to the net.
Their supporters, who offered the team tremendous backing all afternoon, were now in full voice, and the game was alive again.
John Cleary accepted passes from Cohn Crowley and Fran Cahalane to point for Castlehaven approaching the threequarter mark.
But Fethard kept driving forward, and it was to their credit that they managed to reduce the deficit to four points.
Substitute, John Paul Looby, introduced in place of 'Buddy' Fitzgerald, and Willie O'Meara initiated the move that saw Michael Quinlan kick a good point. With eight minutes remaining Martin Coen made it 1-12 to 1-8 from a free, when he was fouled by Donal McCarthy.
But it was as close as Fethard got, and they weren't to score again.
That man Tompkins, yet again, bounced off a few tackles before making his way across the pitch to kick another point, though Fethard might have had claims that he over-carried the ball.
It was an important steadying point for the 'Haven' but still Fethard refused to throw in the towel.
They surged forward in a last desperate effort, and Martin Coen, Michael Spillane and Brian Burke tore a gaping hole in the 'Haven' defence but Burke's final pass went astray.
That was before Martin Coen's lobbed effort was cleared by Michael McGuire. As the game entered injury-time, Castlehaven emphasised their superiority when Fran Cahalane set Stephen Connolly up for their final scores.
Shorn through injury and suspension of the services of Dinny Cahalane, David O'Regan and Niall Cahalane, Castlehaven put the adversity behind them to take their third provincial title since 1989.
But they were made work all the way by the Tipp champions. Larry Tompkins opened the scoring from a free in the 8th minute, and two minutes later the same player steered a shot between the posts from an acute angle.
Fethard opened their account almost immediately. Damian Byrne started the move with a fine interception, and after Brian Burke and Tommy Sheehan had played a quick one-two, Byrne finished the move.
From the early stages, though, Castlehaven had the ability to respond in like fashion whenever Fethard scored, and no sooner had the white flag been raised to signal Byrne's point than they went down the field and had their third point from John Cleary.
But Fethard were far from being outplayed. Stephen O'Donnell and Michael Ryan had started very strongly in defence, while the half-hackline of Willie Morrissey, Willie O'Meara and Michael Quinlan provided the midfield and forwards with plenty of options with their forward surges.
Elsewhere Brian Burke, Damian Byrne, Tommy Sheehan, Chris Coen and Michael Spillane showed they were equally capable of piecing together some intricate passing patterns.
One of those movements, put together on this occasion by Jimmy O'Meara, Willie Morrissey and Tommy Sheehan, ended with Buddy' Fitzgerald fisting a point, and Fethard drew level in the 17th minute (0-3 each) from a Jimmy O'Meara free, after Martin Coen had been fouled.
From the kick-out, though, Castlehaven quickly regained the lead through John Cleary. After twenty minutes Fethard were back on terms when Michael Quinlan, Brian Burke and Tommy Sheehan made the opening for Michael Spillane to score, under some pressure too, from the left wing.
A Tompkins free, kicked from the ground from all of forty yards, restored Castlehaven's advantage. In the 24th minute Fethard were harshly penalised by referee, Kevin Walsh, when a free awarded against Willie O'Meara out on the right wing, some forty yards from goal, was moved forward in front of the posts after Michael Ryan and Cohn Crowley had accidentally clashed when jostling for position.
John Cleary had no bother tapping over the free. but the game then took a dramatic turn with the awarding of the penalty for Fethard.
Though the displays from the likes of Phihly Blake, Tommy Sheehan. Damian Byrne and Brian Burke continued to inspire Fethard in the second-half, they'll he disappointed that they didn't make better use of the wind in that same period.
Castlehaven will now be rewarded with a trip to Ruislip in Middlesex to play London in the AllIreland quarter-final.
Apart from Larry Tompkins, they also had outstanding performances from John Cleary, Martin
O'Mahony, Liam Collins, Alan Crowley, John McGuire and Liam O'Connell.
The one area of concern for the Cork team, however, was that all but two points of their tally came from two players, Larry Tompkins and John Cleary.
FETHARD: Paul Fitzgerald, Stephen
O'Donnell, Michael Ryan, Philly Blake, Michael Quinlan 0-1, Willie O'Meara, Willie Morrissey (captain), Chris Coen 0-1, Michael Spillane 0-1, Damian Byrne l-l Brian Burke, Michael 'Buddy' Fitzgerald 0-1, Martin Coen 0-I (free), Tommy Sheehan 0-1 and Jimmy O'Meara 0-1 (free).

Substitutes: John Paul Looby for 'Buddy' Fitzgerald, Tomás Keane for Jimmy O'Meara; and Michael O'Riordan for Damian Byrne.

CASTLEHAVEN; Michael McGuire, Kevin Donovan, Denis Cleary, Donal McCarthy, Liam O'Connell, Brian Collins (captain), Michael O'Brien,
Alan Crowley, Liam Collins, John McGuire, Larry Tompkins 0-8 (four frees), Fran Cahalane 01, Martin O'Mahoney, Cohn Crowley and John Cleary 1-4 (1-0 penalty, 0-2 frees). Substitute: Stephen Connolly 0-1, for Martin O'Mahoney.
Referee: Kevin Walsh (Clare).

Fethard chase county title
Fethard will Hope to add the county under-21 'B' hurling championship to their senior football crow when they play J. K. Brackens in the final at 1 o'clock at Semple Stadium on this Sunday (21st). The referee will be Johnny McDonnell.
On Saturday, Boherlahan will take on Nenagh Eire Og in the county intermediate football semifinal at Templederry at 2 o'clock,

Burke 'shoulders the blame
Fethard's Brian Burke had no difficulty in pinpointing where it all went wrong for his team in Sunday's Munster club football final against Castlehaven, writes Eamonn Wynne.
The veteran of some great battles for club and county had no hesitation in blaming his own missed penalty attempt for the defeat.
He believes that if he had found the net from the spot kick in the 26th minute, then his team would have won.
Castlehaven 'keeper Michael McGuire was beaten by Burke's kick, but the ball hit the butt of the post and bounced clear.
"Another quarter of an inch was all it needed, maybe even less," the Fethard man told 'The Nationalist'.
He said that 'The Blues' were in the ascendancy at that stage. Castlehaven might have been a different team if they were behind, and their heads might have dropped.
He also made the point that each team had scored 1-6 from play. The difference between them was that Castlehaven made the most of their penalty and frees, whereas Fethard missed some of theirs.
Brian stated that Fethard had missed some opportunities in the second-half. When you were playing against the top teams, you just had to take your chances. Nevertheless, he was very proud of the way the team had played. Lady luck just hadn't smiled on their efforts on the day.
The Fethard centreforward praised the performance of Larry Tompkins as "phenomenal."
He said that you were up against someone who was almost professional when you played against the Cork county manager.
Selector, Jimmy O'Shea thought that Fethard had given a great display against a top team, and it had made for a tremendous final.
He was proud of the team, and said they had played their hearts out.
Castlehaven made better use of their possession, and Fethard had no one to curtail the menace of Larry Tompkins.
Instead of scoring the penalty, Castlehaven had a let-off when the ball hit the post, and then went down the other end for a point.
Otherwise Fethard would have led at halftime, he said.Midfielder Chris Coen believed that Fethard could and should have won. He thought that with the wind at their backs they might have been guilty of sitting back in the early stages of the second-half.
He also felt they had given away too much possession.
Chris said that the missed penalty, followed
by a Castlehaven score, had a big bearing on the outcome.
Selector, Noel Byrne agreed that they didn't have a strong man to physically mark Larry Tompkins, although he added that centre-back Willie O'Meara had played well.
He also thought that Castlehaven's decision to bring corner-forward Martin O'Mahoney out the field as a third midfielder in the secondhalf had opened up the play for them in that area.
He bemoaned the missed penalty too, but overall was pleased with the huge effort made by the team.