Limerick’s greatness doesn’t require a high five
Killinan End
Maybe Limerick deserved better after four successive All-Irelands. In the end, despite the reaction to Cork’s win, there was a sense that Limerick were just that little bit flat. That when they pressed the accelerator towards the end of the first half and reeled Cork back in, they lacked that impetus to kick on. There was never quite the same energy there as on other days to drive on and complete the job. At least when Kilkenny went for five, they had the drama of a final – Limerick will now be denied that. Perhaps the final itself will be all the better for the lack of the historical shadow looming but for a warrior-team it might have been fitting to either win the day or be carried out on their swords after a final.
The Kerry footballers of 1982 fell to the most famous score in GAA history and drama was heaped on drama. You could indeed make it up, but it would only be the stuff of the silver screen. It was hardly credible that a second-half which saw Kerry dominant by 0-10 to 0-3 could be turned on its head by 1-2 from the Faithful County in the dying minutes of the game. It was a defeat which, ironically, copper-fastened the Kerry legend as much as any of their wins. It took a rabbit from a hat woven in Rhode to bring down a footballing empire on the cusp of a singular achievement.
Contrast this with the Kingdom’s previous five in a row aspirants. They were beaten in the 1933 All-Ireland semi-final and the possibility that you were unaware of this maybe says it all. That group were not unlike Mick O’Dwyer’s men. In the 1975-86 period, Kerry won eight All-Ireland titles in twelve years. Between 1929-41, the Kingdom took eight titles in thirteen years, though since a dispute caused them to not participate in 1935 so they can certainly look the later generation in the eye. But they did not get the five in a row moment as their successors did. They, like the Wexford team of 1919 who bowed out in a Leinster semi-final, were in the background when the hoopin’ and hollerin’ took place on All-Ireland day. Likewise, the mighty Cork 1941-44 team bowed out against Tipp not even in a Munster Final.
Kilkenny’s hurlers tilt at five in a row was of a slightly different hue. Some fourteen years have passed and looking back at that 2010 final one is still struck by the intensity and claustrophobic nature of the exchanges. But another aspect which merits mention is that Kilkenny never led at any stage. The champions gave as good as they got for long periods but in hindsight the writing was on the wall. A Séamus Darby was not required. Yet there was a dignity in such a great Kilkenny team fighting tooth and nail with everything on the line in the final. This opportunity will now be denied an equally good Limerick team.
Whisper this one, but is there a sense that five in a row as a concept has lost some lustre anyway? Since the Dublin footballers not so much knocked on history’s door as blew it off the hinges, maybe the same mystique does not surround an albeit incredible achievement. Everest was conquered by Edmund Hillery in 1953. Does it matter as much how many have done it since? Limerick need not be measured by what they did not achieve. The context in which they operated makes what they have already done truly remarkable. Nothing for 45 years since 1973 except frustration and broken promise, then suddenly the riches of the hurling world were opened up to them.
One notable difference in comparing the final of 2010 and the 2024 semi-final is the amount of hand-passing that pervades the current game. When history looks at Limerick they will be remembered as team which took the hand-pass to a different level. (For the purposes of this discussion we will ignore the elephantine presence of the question of the legality of much modern hand-passing, other than to acknowledge it) Sometimes it was maybe overdone but it was extremely effective and allowed Limerick to create overlaps and numerical mismatches at will.
Yet, on their day, and allowing for the impossibility of comparisons of players across the years, it is fair to say that Nicky Quaid, Seán Finn, Barry Nash, Gearóid Hegarty, Diarmuid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Aaron Gillane, Cian Lynch, to name just some, will be spoken of in the highest echelons of players in their positions. In many cases it might not even be entirely clear what those positions are or were. This team might have been imagined in Amsterdam since they played total hurling. Given the path they have taken in recent years a Limerick-Clare All-Ireland Final might have been an appropriate recognition of both counties’ contributions, not least against each other, over that time. They both will be partly sad that it has not transpired but they will also be partly glad considering the stakes. “Great hatred, little room” and all that.