There has been tension between Clare and Tipperary in recent years but the most bizarre controversy involving the counties goes back to the 1938 Munster championship. Strangely, the affair was to echo through the decades 60 years later and resonate in one of modern hurling's most celebrated mishaps.

When Clare lost out to Offaly in the epic All-Ireland semi-final of two years ago, the central figure was Galway referee Jimmy Cooney who whistled up a couple of minutes too early in the first replay. Clare had been leading by three points when the match was prematurely ended, but lost the refixture, played in Thurles.

It wasn't the first time that the name Jimmy Cooney linked Clare hurling and controversy and in the eyes of some it was the fulfilment of a Jimmy Cooney curse, supposedly directed at Clare by Tipperary all those years before.

In 1938 reigning All-Ireland champions Tipperary recorded a comfortable victory over Clare in a championship match but ended up being disqualified as the result of the episode which came to be known as the "Cooney case".

Jimmy Cooney, later a colonel in the army, was from Carrickon-Suir and had played centrefield in the previous season's All-Ireland final. He was one of the best players of the time in that position. At the time an engineering student at University College Dublin, he attended a rugby international in the city on February 12th, 1938. He was spotted there and, under the vigorously-policed rule banning attendance at "foreign games", was reported.

This led to a three-month suspension which was served by May 14th. Complications arose from Cooney's status. He played his club football with UCD and, under the rules of the time, had to declare for his native Tipperary on an annual basis.

This had been done on February 2nd, 10 days before the rugby match. For some reason, it was not forwarded to Central Council until around Easter. Padraig McNamee, the president of the GAA, ruled that the day of receipt was the relevant date and that Cooney's declaration had therefore been invalid because he was under suspension at the time.

It was suggested at the time that the adraig O Caoimh - that the player's declaration had been back-dated by the county because they were concerned about his status but the player and his county always denied this.

Consequently, Cooney's appearance for Tipperary in a match played after May 14th (when he believed his suspension to have been served) was deemed to have been a breach of the rule governing playing while under suspension and he was handed a further six-month ban.

For reasons not entirely clear, Tipperary chose to ignore this second sanction and despite warnings from Clare that they would object if Cooney was played in the championship, the player lined out in the Munster semi-final which Tipperary won 3-10 to 2-3.

When Clare lodged the objection, Tipperary countered by accusing a Clare player, Michael Griffin, of having attended the same rugby match. Cooney's testimony was the only evidence, but as he was a suspended player it was inadmissible.

Central Council upheld Cooney's six-month suspension. But after all their efforts, Clare were beaten in the final by Waterford, who were beaten in the All-Ireland final by Dublin - the capital's last senior success.