Cathal Dunbar scored a goal in each half as a powerful second period from IT Carlow kept their dreams of a first Fitzgibbon Cup title alive as they reached the final with victory over Mary Immaculate at DCU Sportsgrounds.

An early-season title for Limerick, winners over Cork in this Co-Op Superstores Munster SHL final in the Gaelic Grounds, with 5,295 in attendance.

Both sides struggled to find their range early on, with Ballygunner’s Pauric Mahony (free) the only scorer in the opening ten minutes.

Aaron Gillane revealed that he lined out for Patrickswell in Sunday’s Limerick SHC final against medical advice.

A Cian Lynch-inspired Patrickswell denied Na Piarsaigh the three-in-a-row to win their first senior county title since 2016 and a record 20th in total.

Patrickswell are through to the Limerick SHC final after an impressive win over Doon in the Gaelic Grounds.

The 23-year-old will undergo an operation tomorrow, club manager and former Limerick star Ciarán Carey telling sportinglimerick.com the forward had sustained two fractures in the draw in the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

And then there were two — but how many of the Kilkenny and Tipperary teams are in the driving seat for All-Stars? John Fogarty makes his shouts

Having been nine points adrift as early as the 17th minute, Limerick would have given their right arm if offered there and then a 1-12 to 1-9 interval scoreline.

The Cats were better than the Munster and All-Ireland champions for the vast proportion of this game.

Limerick’s emotional All-Ireland final win last year was commemorated in a terrific publication — the book

There’s a blissful ignorance to Aaron Gillane’s hurling that he is loathe to surrender.

In emphatic style, All-Ireland champions Limerick claimed a first Munster title in six years in front of a packed LIT Gaelic Grounds.

Re-engaging with a team recently met is one of hurling’s hardest tasks. Familiarity breeds apprehension, a mixture of knowledge and fear.

Two former Tipperary forwards are concerned Liam Sheedy’s team could suffer against Limerick in the Munster Final as a result of beating them last Sunday week.

A 19-year-old accused of murdering a Japanese man will face trial later this year after being found fit to plead by a judge at the Central Criminal Court.

Difficult to distinguish the winners from the losers here. Because the scoreboard told only half the story.

First-half injuries to Cathal Barrett (hamstring) and Patrick Maher (knee) tempered Tipperary maintaining their 100% record as they and Limerick will meet again in a Munster final on Sunday week.

For our purposes this game should have been played at High Noon, because all week we were hearing that this would be a western classic.

All-Ireland champions Limerick are all but guaranteed of a top-three finish in Munster after this 18-point thumping of Clare.

Talking points from the weekend's GAA action.

The All-Ireland champions’ defence is up and running at the second time of asking but if it’s a story you want then let’s start with a woeful Waterford side that finished with 14 men.

Ireland South may remain a debatable constituency but no recounts were needed in this corner of the province yesterday.

The parents of a man, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his mother's partner by reason of insanity, took him to hospital just weeks earlier after he told them he had to kill the deceased.

John Meyler has reacted to Cork’s defeat to Tipperary by making four changes for tomorrow’s Munster SHC Round 2 in the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

A man who fired eight shots from a semi-automatic pistol as he raided a Dublin post office has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Aaron Gillane and Seán O'Shea were today honoured with PwC GAA/GPA Players of the Month honours for April.

A man jailed for online sexual exploitation and defilement of a 13-year-old girl, when he was aged 19, has had his six-and-a-half year prison sentence cut on appeal.

II read that they are planning to put microchips into sliotars now.

Three goals in eight second-half minutes propelled Laois to a first ever All-Ireland Minor B Camogie Championship, getting the better of Limerick by 4-6 to 2-5 in the replayed decider at MacDonagh Park.

The president of the High Court will rule later whether the first interim report of the inspectors investigating Independent News & Media can, at this stage, be disclosed to INM, the Central Bank, or any other party.

Michael Lynn (50) of Carlton Square, Maynooth, Co Kildare, is due to stand trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court next year on 21 counts of stealing almost €30m from seven financial institutions.

Patrickswell hold the only 100% record after two rounds of the Bon Secours Hospital Limerick Senior Hurling Championship.

Aaron Gillane has admitted he cringed when he reviewed a DVD of the Allianz Hurling League final, despite being named man-of-the-match.

The High Court has received the first interim report of the inspectors appointed by it to investigate the conduct of affairs at Independent News & Media.

That Kilkenny is the only other county in the past 30 years to back up an All-Ireland final win with a hurling league title the following spring tells you the path which this Limerick group are forging for themselves.

A league final in keeping with the league itself, then.

I was on the road to Dublin yesterday morning at 6.15am. It wasn’t easy to roll out of the cot at that ungodly hour but I arranged Kilmacud Crokes training early so I could be organised and be able to get into Croke Park early.

Following in the footsteps of the ultra-dominant Kilkenny teams of this decade and last, Limerick secured national league silverware seven months after claiming Liam MacCarthy.

Aaron Gillane has rubbished the suggestion that All-Ireland holders Limerick are going too well, too early in 2019, describing the notion as “stupid”.

The distance from the headline to the small print was sketched out efficiently yesterday in Nowlan Park.

Limerick took the honours in this NHL 1 semi-final, booking their place in the final with an efficient display.

Donal Moloney has seen a lot of hurling in his time, but yesterday in Cusack Park represented something of a first for him.

Aaron Gillane pointed a free in the fifth minute of injury-time to snatch a draw for All-Ireland champions Limerick against the only team to beat them in last year’s championship.