On the weekend after Thurles Sarsfields won the Dan Breen Cup for a 32nd time, a book on the trophy for the Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship winners will be launched in The Horse & Jockey Hotel this Friday night, October 19th at 8pm.

The book written by Roscrea native and Kilkenny resident, Jim Fogarty, entitled “The Dan Breen Cup - Tipperary County SH Finals 1931-2011” will be launched by Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

This book has been written by fanatical hurling fan, who for many years was county librarian in Kilkenny. Now retired, Jim Fogarty has turned his hand to writing and his eagerly awaited book will tell the story of Tipperary county senior hurling finals since 1931.

The book completes four years of research of all 81 finals played with a photo of the Toomevara team that won the very first Dan Breen Cup in 1931 to the 2011 winners Drom & Inch on the back.

The 285-page book contains accounts, scorers, team lists, referee’s and other snippets of information from each County final, including photographs of all winning teams and is a fabulous reference for anyone interested in Tipperary senior club hurling.

It begins with Toomevara’s success over Moycarkey/Borris in the 1931 decider, which was actually played on St Valentine’s day, 1932. Moycarkey/Borris and Thurles Sarsfields dominated the roll of honour in the 1930s.

Mid Tipperary clubs continued to dominate the senior hurling championship until 1943 when Eire Óg Annacarty enjoyed their one and only success with Dan Breen himself presenting the cup to victorious captain Tom Ryan.

From there Thurles Sarsfields would go onto complete a three-inrow before Carrick Swans and Holycross/Ballycahill broke their stranglehold. The decade ended with Borris-Ileigh making the breakthrough, led by captain Sean Kenny. Borris-Ileigh and Holycross (including the late great John Doyle) would go onto enjoy further success in the early 1950’s before Thurles Sarsfields would go onto win ten titles in eleven years, beginning in 1955, only punctured by Toomevara’s success in 1960.

Carrick Davins ended Sarsfields six-in-a-row ambitions in 1966 when they defeated Lorrha in the final. With Mick Roche to the fore, they retained the title beating Roscrea but the Rossie’s didn’t have to wait long as they won their first title a year later and went onto win three titles in four years, appearing in five consecutive finals, losing to Moyne-Templetuohy in 1971.

Roscrea’s 1968 success began an unprecedented period of dominance for clubs from the North division who went onto win 15 titles in a 19 year spell up to Borris-Ileigh’s most recent success in 1986. Indeed, ten of the fifteen finals between 1972 and 1986 were all-North affairs. Moneygall made their breakthrough in 1975 before Kilruane came to the top in 1977, going onto complete a three-in-row.

The late eighties and early nineties saw a revolution with new clubs enjoying success in Cappawhite, Loughmore/Castleiney, Clonoulty/Rossmore, Holycross/Ballycahill and Cashel King Cormacs before Toomevara came to the fore in 1992, beginning a spell of eleven titles in 18 years with Thurles Sarsfields and Drom & Inch beginning a Mid Tipp resurgence in recent years. The book also lists each final referee, top scorer as well as man of the match. Certainly it is a relative encyclopedia for every Tipperary hurling follower.