Coaching talents of Limerick and Clare's finest not confined by county borders

There is a notable cross pollination of coaching talents between Munster hurling rivals Limerick and Clare

The Limerick management team at a gala medal ceremony to honour their All-Ireland senior hurling title winners from 2019, 2020 and 2021. Of the group, Aonghus O'Brien (far left) and Alan Cunningham (second from right) are from Clare. Paul Kinnerk (second from left) was previously involved with the Banner. Also pictured, manager John Kiely (middle) and Donal O'Grady (far right). Picture: Diarmuid Greene

Inside the whitewash in Ennis on Sunday, the lines won’t be blurred as Clare look to land a psychological blow against Limerick. Outside it? Well, the demarcations aren’t so clear.

In the home dugout will be James Moran of Ahane, former Limerick hurler and older brother of Ollie and Niall, who has been working with Brian Lohan since he himself crossed the border to manage University of Limerick.

In the visitors’ dugout is Alan Cunningham, a Wolfe Tones clubmate of Lohan’s, who he managed on the Shannon club’s run to the 1997 All-Ireland club final and assisted Anthony Daly during his time in charge of the Banner.

Joining him in assisting John Kiely is Broadford’s Aonghus O’Brien, who came into Davy Fitzgerald’s Clare set up shortly after Paul Kinnerk stepped away and has been part of the group since 2019.

Consider also the likes of Tony Considine and Ger O’Loughlin guiding Kilmallock to glory, Daly overseeing Limerick’s academy, and Bruff’s Seoirse Bulfin working with Fitzgerald and it’s evident the counties’ coaching colours bleed — and ever so easily.

“You have to look at the fact they’re not travelling two-and-a-half hours to a county to do the job,” says Shane Dowling of Cunningham and O’Brien.

“They might be 20 minutes from the Gaelic Grounds or 40-45 minutes away from Rathkeale where a lot of the training takes place. Clare is not that far away and it is not that time consuming.”

Last season, Dowling himself made the short trip to Ennis to dip his toes in senior coaching with St Joseph’s-Doora Barefield. Through his friendship with his late Caherdavin neighbour and St Joseph’s captain Ger Hoey, the 2014 All-Star was a mascot alongside Hoey as they claimed the 1999 All-Ireland.

“I can’t speak for anybody else, but I went coaching in Clare last year firstly because I couldn’t hurl due to injury and then there was a personal meaning to it for me. You always want to coach your own, but look at what Paul [Kinnerk] did with Clare in 2013. You can be damn sure deep down he, as a Limerick man, would have always wanted to bring success to his own county. Alan was with Dalo in Clare and I’ve no doubt Aonghus O’Brien will want to go back to Clare down the line.

“The talk coming out of Clare the last number of years hasn’t been all that positive, whereas it’s been the opposite in Limerick, and perhaps they need to look at why their own men are going outside their county.

“That’s not for us to worry about in Limerick. We’re just lucky to have the right people in the management team at the minute and two of them happen to be from Clare.”

With both Na Piarsaigh and Limerick, Dowling experienced All-Ireland success with Cunningham, a principal of St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, where Kinnerk had worked up to 2016.

“Alan was with us a good couple of years in Na Piarsaigh and bought into what we were about and were doing. I’ve seen over the years where coaches have come and gone and they do a job, but they don’t really attach themselves to the group or at least don’t do it fully.

“Alan became very close with everybody and when you have that bit of success, the bond grows tighter. He’s a great head on his shoulders. You know what they say, commonsense isn’t all that common, but Alan has a lot of it and it stands to him.”

Along with Kiely and Donal O’Grady, Cunningham and O’Brien are the sous coaches to Kinnerk.

“Paul is the head coach and everyone knows that but, when you’re training 36 guys at any one time, it’s obviously impossible at times to train everybody as a group. They have to be split up.

“Paul will explain to everybody first what drill they’re doing and why they’re doing it, then responsibility for the sections would be handed over to John at times, Alan or Aonghus to lead it out so they need to be capable of doing that.

“Paul needs people beside him who he can trust to implement what he wants and in Aonghus he has somebody who is young and energetic. The experience he is gaining is going to stand to him.”