Na Piarsaigh's Dowling unsure on Limerick future 

Limerick goalkeeper Shane Dowling. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Eleven months ago, shortly after Nickie Quaid tore his cruciate, Shane Dowling received a message suggesting one man’s difficulty could be another’s opportunity and prompt his return to the Limerick panel.

Even though he had been impressing in Na Piarsaigh’s goal since 2023, the then 31-year-old brushed off the idea but 11 days later his comeback was confirmed. 

And that messenger, with just a smidgeon of smugness, was in touch again.

Last February, nearly six years after his last game for the county and close to four since he announced chronic knee injuries had forced him to retire from the inter-county game, Dowling was back in action.

Quaid reclaimed his starting place for the championship following a stunning recovery but Dowling’s story was just as inspiring. 

Whether he is there again in 2026 remains a question: “That’s a decision I have to make if it isn’t made for me.” 

Life for Dowling, his wife Paula and little Tommy, who turns 2 in December, are good and he reports he has had no adverse issues with his knee. 

“With Limerick this year, I only missed one training session and that was because I pulled a muscle in my back probably from hitting so many balls that I wasn't used to. I suppose I know at this stage how to manage it. I'm in a good place and I'm happy with that.” 

Being able to pick the brain of Quaid has informed his goalkeeping too. 

“Nickie was a friend long before he was helping me – he was on my stag in Liverpool in August of last year before anything happened. I’ve been able to bounce ideas off him. When somebody in your vicinity is the best at what they do, that’s what you do.” 

Dowling has become accustomed to puck-out retention stats but insists they are not the be-all and end-all. 

“They have become the launchpad for teams but people can get bogged down with them too. There are around 30 to 35 puck-outs for a goalkeeper in a game, a proportion of them are short, a proportion of them are retained but the majority result in breaking ball.

“Generally, the team that dogs it out the most on the ground will win those balls. 

"The more things change, the more they stay the same actually and I think Cork have brought an element of that back into it over the last couple of years where they hit the ball as long as they could and worked really hard to win the ball and that doesn’t take skill. 

"Doon get a lot of numbers around the breaking ball and it’s something we will be looking to do as well.” 

In the build-up to Sunday’s Limerick SHC final, Doon figures have discussed Na Piarsaigh’s revenge factor. Dowling counters that perception. 

“I grew up in a Na Piarsaigh that won no county championship and I remember Paddy Verdon, God rest his soul, standing outside our dressing room in ’09 and saying all he wanted to see before he died was Na Piarsaigh to win one county championship.

“Talk of revenge or taking the cup back, it won’t be spoken about. I know the value of a county championship. To the outer world, it might look like Na Piarsaigh have achieved a lot over the last decade but there are a few of us who used to celebrate not getting relegated from senior.

“The likes of myself, Downesy (Kevin Downes), we know where the club was and we’re trying to ensure the younger generation appreciate the set-up they’ve come into.

“It’s a credit to the club of where we’ve come from over the last decade and we’ve been very consistent in the time. Only once have we not reached the knock-out stages and that was a couple of months after winning the All-Ireland. Whether or not we can use that as an excuse, that’s what happened.” 

Shane O’Neill is at the helm of Na Piarsaigh as he was when they lifted the Tommy Moore Cup. He too appreciates the journey taken by the Caherdavin men.

“He's a very astute man, very clever, but he's not somebody that rambles on or anything like that,” says Dowling. “He makes his point and that's it. Very strong, big presence.

“I hurled with Shane and Shane grew up in an era where he was playing intermediate hurling and fortunate to win a senior championship before his career ended.

“He understands and knows the struggles and where the club came from and no different, I suppose, than the older lads, just trying to find each other, them standards are kept and maintained going forward and, listen, what he's done as a player and a manager for the club, everyone is indebted to him.” 

For the second final in a row, O’Neill shares the whitewash with Derek McGrath, a man who Dowling feels is wrongly pigeon-holed as a manager. “I think it’s unfair when it’s said, ‘Oh, Derek plays a sweeper’. Like, when the ball is pucked long, his team retreats and when they get the ball, they move forward. I don't think any other team does anything different.

“Like, do they go with an all-out-and-out sweeper all of the time? They don't. But I think last year's final, the conditions were so bad, it lent itself to that game. Whereas if we're fortunate enough this year to get a brighter day, I think you'll just see a quality hurling match from both sides.”