For the record

An unwitting piece of misinformation appeared in these pages last Tuesday when IT Tralee's bid for a fourth successive Sigerson Cup was described as being an attempt to emulate UCD's 53-year-old achievement between 1944-47. Not so according to Donal McAnallen, the accomplished PRO of last year's Sigerson in Queen's, Belfast. McAnallen is being followed around by the competition which next month takes place in NUI Galway where he is currently engaged in post-graduate studies.

Apparently, the Sigerson records are as reliable as Hitler's diaries. UCD have long been credited with that four-in-a-row in the 1940s, but in fact UCC won the title in 1946. The late Sean Flanagan, who captained Mayo to All-Irelands, pointed this out in the Sigerson programme of 1985 - a tournament won by UCD with his son Dermot on board - but no one bothered to amend the roll of honour.

More awkwardly for McAnallen, who has being conducting some research on the competition's history, is the revelation that his new college's proud boast of having completed a seven-in-a-row as UCG back in 1936-42 is not all that it seems. For one year during the Second World War - 1942 - the Sigerson wasn't held due to the fuel shortages which closed down the minor championships for the war's duration.

So they may have held the cup for seven years but the achievement was in fact (merely) a six-in-a-row. Donal McAnallen looks forward to deploying all his old PR skills to explain this to his new club.