Kiely and Hannon serenade a sea of green at special Limerick homecoming
Bring home the bacon: Barry Nash during the homecoming celebrations of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The TUS Gaelic Grounds welcomed Limerick’s hurling heroes back with a sea of green – with over 20,000 thousand providing a superb atmosphere at Limerick GAA headquarters.
The homecoming event, run by Limerick GAA and Limerick City and County Council was the first for Limerick since 2018, owing to Covid restrictions in each of the last two seasons.
With the team making the 3km trip from Colbert Station by way of open top bus, those inside the ground were treated to an array of musical acts. Denis Allen, Emma Langford, Moncrieff and Denise Chaila all took to the stage before the team arrived around 7.30pm.
The Limerick team were in understandable ecstasy, given the lack of a homecoming in both 2020 and 2021. Captain Declan Hannon and manager John Kiely were the final two to be greeted by the fans on stage.
The two-point win over Kilkenny will arguably go down as Limerick’s greatest in a decider and perhaps the sweetest of the lot, given the challenge posed by Brian Cody’s Cats.
The Ennis Road venue also entertained many supporters for the game on Sunday afternoon, with a big screen display for those who were unable to secure a ticket for Croke Park. The cheers were loud once again at replays of Gearoid Hegarty’s early goal were shown.
Taking to the stage, Kiely said “I want to say thank everybody for coming out, on behalf of all of us involved, we really appreciate all your support right the way throughout the town.
“The lads work very hard. We are very fortunate – we have fantastic support. Everybody who came to the matches was supportive of the group, they had patience and stayed with us and that was repaid yesterday."
Adare native Hannon remained humble about being the first player to win four titles as captain. “I suppose it is (a big personal achievement) but we wouldn’t be here only for each other. We really have each other's backs. It is a panel of players who win All-Irelands, it isn’t any one individual, it is always about the group. That is the way it has to be.
“We’ve shown calmness in the Munster final and the All-Ireland semi-final in the last five or six minutes. Each time Kilkenny got a goal we shot back with the next score. Kyle got a big score and it settled us again, the boys came off the bench and did as they always do and drove us over the line."
The 29-year-old, who led the singing four years ago with a Limerick version of ‘Caledonia’, stayed true to form by giving the sea of green another rendition. A hoarse Kiely followed suit with his favourite, ‘Piano Man’.
Any talk of four in a row were put on ice as the Treaty enjoyed every moment of a superb evening in the July heat, with this Limerick side already in the history books for becoming the first county outside of Kilkenny, Cork, or Tipperary to win three in a row.
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