In the aftermath of Sixmilebridge's victory in Sunday's Munster club hurling final, the question arose as to whether Clare's sixth successive title in the championship was a record. In fact the county has some way to go yet. Between 1971 and 1980, Cork clubs won all 10 titles on offer and went on to seven All-Irelands in the same period.

The achievement still stands as a record in the province and is unequalled in Leinster, although in the less-competitive championships of Ulster and Connacht the record has been bettered by Antrim and Galway clubs. In one way the Cork experience acts as a warning as well as a target for Clare clubs.

In the years since the All-Ireland trail ran out (in 1988 when Midleton defeated Athenry) Cork clubs have had a dreadful record in the championship. Over the 13 years since then, only one team from the county has even qualified for a final. That was eight years ago when Midleton lost to Cashel King Cormacs in Mitchelstown.

It is all of 15 years since a Cork side other than Midleton reached a Munster final and you have to go back to the last of the 10-in-a-row - St Finbarr's almost 20 years ago - to find the last club other than Midleton to win the title.

Jim Cronin, chairman of the Cork county board and a respected GAA historian, says there have been a couple of influences behind the decline of the city clubs, Blackrock, Glen Rovers and St Finbarr's, who shared those successes.

"There has been a drop in the standard of senior hurling but there has also been a spreading of the game out to the divisions.

"There are eight divisions in the county and between them they won four or five of the county titles in the 1990s. This year was the first time in five years that two club sides met in the county final."

Standards throughout the province have also risen. It wasn't until 1989, 25 years after the start of the Munster championship, that a Limerick club won the title. Prior to the current sequence, Clare had managed only three championships in 30 years and Waterford's first - and only - arrived after the 10 Cork wins.

"Tipperary teams were good at that time and Clare clubs were always hard to beat," says Cronin, "but in all honesty the standard wasn't great.

"The other thing was that the city clubs could attract players from elsewhere in the county - and outside - who were working in Cork. Nowadays players either commute to work from longer distances or are prepared to travel further to train with their own clubs.

"Plus, I suppose, the success isn't guaranteed in Cork anymore."