Coming back to live in Kilkenny after several years, one of the first things to strike you is how it seems as though every second person is carrying a hurl! (hurley to those from the other 31 counties) And then in late August, early September most years, the city has a rising air of anticipation. More and more black and amber starts to adorn buildings and cars and bemused American tourists have been heard to ask what all the ‘black and yellow’ is about, until things reach fever pitch and the buildings without bunting look dull and lifeless.