A Premier club in all senses

MORE than half a century ago, a team from Cashel RFC headed for Limerick to face the full might of Shannon in the pinnacle of the junior rugby season — the Munster Junior Cup final.

They were underdogs but with men like the powerful Eddie Ryan, Cashel travelled with great ambition. Unfortunately, it all ended in disappointment.

“Playing a Limerick team, in Limerick, with a Limerick referee — we had no chance!” Ryan laughs at the recollection of the day. “There was surely 5,000 people in Thomond Park that day, and we were only beaten in the last ten minutes, 6-3, a pushover try.