Remember when the Galway hurlers were managed by a Limerick man?

After great success with Na Piarsaigh, Shane O'Neill headed to Connacht but his stint was hindered by Covid restrictions

Galway manager Shane O'Neill watches Brian Concannon of Galway in action against Gearoid Hegarty and Graeme Mulcahy of Limerick in 2020 at Croke Park. Picture: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

It’s one of those forgotten episodes now but not much more than a year after their All-Ireland title was wrestled away from them in August 2018, Galway hurling turned in an unlikely direction when looking for a manager to succeed Micheál Donoghue: Limerick, the same county that had usurped them from their throne.

Shane O’Neill had not been part of John Kiely’s management that had made the county’s breakthrough but was supremo of their leading club team in the seasons running up to it. In his four years over his native Na Piarsaigh, he had guided them to three county finals, two Munster titles and two All-Ireland final appearances (three if you include a replay); in March 2018 it took an exceptional Cuala team to deny the Caherdavin club backing up their All-Ireland title of 2016 with another.