'Some people might not like me saying this, but Patrickswell-Kilmallock is a real traditional final'

In the last 60 years, no two clubs have reached more Limerick finals than Kilmallock and Patrickswell - and yet today's clash is only their fifth meeting in the senior showpiece

The Gaelic Grounds plays host to Saturday's Limerick SHC final between Kilmallock and Patrickswell 

The first 25 years of the Munster club hurling championship proved to be the competition that Limerick couldn’t crack. Unlike the other main hurling counties, Limerick hadn’t produced a champion since the competition began in 1964. 

The county were limited to a handful of sporadic final appearances but when Patrickswell finally made the breakthrough in 1988, Limerick suddenly appeared to have Munster by the throat.

Ballybrown were provincial champions in 1989. Patrickswell won a second title in three years in 1990. Both clubs reached successive All-Ireland club finals in 1990 and 1991, narrowly losing to Ballyhale Shamrocks and Glenmore.

Ballybrown and Patrickswell were two of the best clubs in the country at that time but, by that stage, Kilmallock were muscling in on the action too.

Ballybrown beat Kilmallock by one point in the 1991 county final. When they made it back to the final a year later, Patrickswell were facing Kilmallock in the other corner.

“It was a massive game,” says PJ O’Grady, Patrickswell manager at the time. “They were two excellent teams. Deep down, you knew that if you could win Limerick that you had a serious chance of winning Munster.” 

Kilmallock won by three points before landing their first Munster title a couple of months later and then making it all the way to the All-Ireland final, which they lost to Sarsfields of Galway.

Patrickswell and Kilmallock won the next two county titles, with Kilmallock bagging another Munster club title in 1994. The two clubs regularly faced off in the championship, but they didn’t meet each other in county finals in either of those seasons and the trend continued throughout that decade. Now, 29 years on, the clubs meet in a county decider tomorrow for the first time since 1992.

“Back then, in the early 1990s, ourselves and Kilmallock were the two top teams,” says O’Grady. “So, you certainly wouldn’t have thought it would take nearly 30 years for us to meet again in a final.” 

After dominating the opening half of the decade, the two clubs went in different directions. Kilmallock lost the 1995 All-Ireland club semi-final to Birr, and then they hit the wall. The ‘Well, meanwhile, went on to win three-in-a-row between 1995-’97.

Kilmallock reached another final in 1999, which they lost to Ahane, and the misery just continued. They had decent teams, but they just couldn’t get over the line. In 2007, Kilmallock lost to Adare by a point after failing to score for the opening 21 minutes and the closing 17 minutes. Adare went on to win three-in-a-row while Kilmallock continued to wallow in a vat of self-pity and agony.

As the decade continued, Kilmallock were routinely accused of underachievement because they had developed into such an underage powerhouse. As well as winning eight minor titles between 2000-2010, Kilmallock also bagged four U-21s in-a-row between 2006-’09.

When Kilmallock finally cracked the senior code in 2010, it felt like the ultimate liberation. “It was very satisfying, especially when we had put so much work into our underage setup,” says Bernie Savage, former Kilmallock player. “We never had an underage structure in Kilmallock until the mid 1990s. Michael Fitzgerald started it up and it took off from there. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and he got all the best people involved with the underage teams.” 

Kilmallock were the dominant underage club in Limerick but Na Piarsaigh were gradually altering their own, and Limerick’s, modern history. The rivalry between the clubs first really ignited in 2010 when Na Piarsaigh halted Kilmallock’s bid to win five county U-21 titles in-a-row but the battle lines were already being drawn by the turn of the decade. They were on a collision course down the line but the biggest roadblock in front of both of them at the time was Adare, who won three-in-a-row between 2007-2009.

Na Piarsaigh finally won their first county title in 2011 but, a week after that final, Kilmallock had struck back with a vengeance, beating Na Piarsaigh in the U21 final. When the sides met again in the 2012 senior semi-final, Kilmallock won by 11 points before going on to win the title. Kilmallock also beat Na Piarsaigh in the 2014 final.

While Kilmallock and Na Piarsaigh were carving out a unique new rivalry, Patrickswell were in the midst of their most fallow period since winning their first county title in 1965, going 13 years without a county title.

“It was a tough time for the club,” says O’Grady. “We’d had some incredible teams, but it’s hard to keep that going. You’re going to have a valley period at some stage.

“We’ve always been there or thereabout at underage, but we wouldn’t have the numbers that the likes of Na Piarsaigh would have. But we’re going to have a serious team for the next few years because we have so many good young fellas coming through now.” 

SUNDAY is Patrickswell’s 29th final appearance since they won their first title 56 years ago. Kilmallock didn’t win their first senior title until 1960, and this afternoon is their 19th final appearance since that breakthrough. In the last 60 years, no two clubs have reached more Limerick finals than Kilmallock and Patrickswell.

And yet this is only their fifth meeting in a final in the history of Limerick senior hurling. “There was always rivalry there, but it was a great rivalry,” says O’Grady. “There was never any badness between the clubs. We had some tough matches, but we had great respect for Kilmallock.” 

Of the five county titles Bernie Savage won with Kilmallock, two were secured against Patrickswell, who they beat in the 1974 and 1975 finals en route to securing a three-in-a-row between 1973-’75. “Kilmallock love playing Patrickswell,” says Savage. “The Well always bring out the best in Kilmallock.” 

Savage and O’Grady were both involved in the 1970 final when Patrickswell won by 18 points, which is the ‘Well’s only final victory against Kilmallock. “That was just one of those days,” says O’Grady “when everything went right for us.” 

That was Patrickswell’s fourth title in five years but Kilmallock rebounded off the ropes to win three of the next five. Savage was 39 when he won his fifth and last county title in 1985 but that team broke up soon afterwards and the 1992 team was built around an excellent minor team from 1987.

“Even when we had bad teams, we still always gave a performance in championship,” says Savage. “Teams would have feared us, even when they might have been better than us, but our reputation would have been fairly good. That didn’t mean we were going to win county titles, but we were always very competitive.” After winning three of the first five titles of the last decade, Kilmallock have been under the thumb of Na Piarsaigh and Patrickswell ever since. The ‘Well are hot favourites again tomorrow to win a third title in six seasons, but they also know that history and tradition always counts for something in a Patrickswell-Kilmallock final.

“It will be tough but I’m glad we’re meeting Kilmallock,” says O’Grady. “Some people might not like me saying this, but Patrickswell-Kilmallock is a real traditional final.” Bring it on.