Fitzgibbon's finest: Picking a joint UL-Mary I team from a decade of dominance
LR: Ronan Maher (Mary I), Tony Kelly (UL), John McGrath (UL), Aaron Gillane (Mary I).
The 2016 Fitzgibbon Cup final, which went to extra-extra-time, may stand the test of time as one of the great hurling games. It pitted clubmates and inter-county teammates against each other as the University of Limerick and Mary Immaculate College met for the first time in a decider.
UCC’s pair of titles, in 2019 and 2020, are all that his disrupted the cosy Limerick cartel’s dominance of this famous old competition in the last decade. On Friday, UL take aim at a 10th crown in all, while Jamie Wall’s Mary Immaculate look to upset the boys from the other side of town, just as they did in 2024. A fourth title is the aim for his band of underdogs.
In advance of the Croke Park decider (Friday, 7.30pm, TG4), we take a look at an XV of players from the two colleges, based on the decade of hurling since that Mary Immaculate breakthrough.
The only UL/Mary I goalkeeper to start in two winning finals during this period. The Ballyhale Shamrocks stopper saved Evan Niland’s early in the 2023 final. He also provided the game-winning delivery for Mikey Kiely a year prior. He also sandwiched in a club All-Ireland, during a busy winter of 2022/2023.
The Whitegate defender is a two-time Fitzgibbon medallist, with the second of those as captain. He was selected as Jamie Wall’s first captain, as he assumed the reins from Eamonn Cregan. Quirke who featured sporadically for the Banner down the years, was part of a defence that only conceded three goals on their way to third-level glory.
Joint-captain in 2016, the Doon defender was virtually ever-present the following season as they collected the silverware again, this time defeating IT Carlow, for whom their full-forward line were only able to contribute 0-1 from play in as Mary I dominated from pillar to post.
The towering defender was a key figure in the six-point success over DCU in 2018. Alongside Seán Finn and fellow Clare man Aidan McGuane, they withstood the DCU onslaught with Finn and Cleary selected in the Rising Stars team for that edition of the competition.
Dual players are a rarity and Gearóid Hegarty was balancing both Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup duties for much of his time in UL. Then regarded as a wing-back, the St. Patrick’s club man was a cornerstone of UL’s win in 2018. It was the start of a special year for Hegarty, who made the switch to wing-forward in the green of Limerick. This included an All-Star nomination as well as an All-Ireland medal.
Now an All-Ireland winning captain, like others on this list, Maher’s long-range frees were part of the story in 2017, as Mary Immaculate College breezed beyond DJ Carey’s IT Carlow. That brought up back-to-back medals, having been at wing-back 12 months earlier. The Thurles man was an essential pick on the Mary I team during his time on Shannonside.
2024 was a special year for the Cratloe clubman. He notched 0-2 in the victory over UL and was a key cog in a very unified Mary I outfit that didn’t possess the standout names that their rivals had that season. His distribution and key defensive instincts helped them to victory. His absence felt by Clare in 2025, perhaps.
The man who helped LIT stun UL in an infamous game in Plassey in 2014, donned the UL colours 12 months later as they collected ultimate honours. His four points from play (six in all) were a Man of the Match contribution, before helping UL to another title in 2018. He, and a handful of others, were often the reason students vacated lecture halls on Wednesday afternoons. To see the 2013 Hurler of the Year in full flight is always a treat and that was evident when UL had him in their ranks.
Played a final at full-forward and also centre forward (for NUIG), but midfield just feels about right for the Patrickswell wizard. His creative influence as well as a steady scoring touch were key to that brace of Mary I successes. He dovetailed well with childhood friend and clubmate Aaron Gillane, notching 0-3 in 2017 and 0-5 a year earlier. His late point, along with another from Darragh O’Donovan, key to making history.
The Moyne-Templetuohy marksman played in four Fitzgibbon Cup finals, winning three with UL. He top scored in two finals, scoring 1-36 (28fs, 2 ‘65’s, 1 s/l), in the quartet of deciders. His goal was in vain in 2024, but his steady contributions made him the tournament top scorer twice. His role in the half-forward line was key to UL’s success, while his placed-ball prowess was outstanding.
Captained UL to glory in 2018, as they spread 2-13 from play across a star-studded attacking line-up. This added to his 2015 medal, where he got 0-6, this time operating at full-forward. The 2016 final, played at Cork IT, didn’t go UL’s way, but a brace of goals, part of 2-7 in tota,l showed McGrath’s quality. having also chipped in with 2-1 from play in the 2016 win over Mary Immaculate College.
A man that has won plenty since, his 2017 Fitz final contribution of 1-3, including two sideline cuts, propelled the South Circular Road college to the title, with this eclipsing the 0-3 in the victory over UL in ’16. A late point helped swing the pendulum Mary I’s direction. Famously the Oola native handed free-taking duties to Aaron Gillane during his time in white and blue, a favour that has unsurprisingly never been returned.
More of a wing-forward in his days with Mary I, with a contribution of 1-5 in the 2017 decider as well as being the leading light. Wall said recently that “Gillane announced himself in the Fitzgibbon in 2017, 18 months later (sic) he was an All-Ireland winner hitting the frees with Limerick.”
Declan Hannon made a habit of colleting silverware as captain. 2016 was his first as an adult player, alongside joint-captain Richie English. In that classic final, the Adare man chipped in with 1-12 (1-2 from play) across the contest, playing in the full-forward line. His inter-county days in that line were all but over but Hannon showed he knew where the posts were time and again for UL.
It is possible that bagging four goals, all from play, in the 2023 final is not what Kiely will be most remembered for in his time in the white and navy of UL. Twelve months earlier, he pulled a Dean Mason delivery out of the sky, rounded his man and found a winning goal over NUI Galway. Best of all? It was in the final minute of three added. Abbeyside have a goal machine and UL have fond memories of his time in their Fitzgibbon team.
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