‘Tipperary are coming': Liam Cahill guides Premier hurlers back to Croke Park after six-year absence

Irish Times

2 days ago

Just a little over a decade ago
Liam Cahill
stood on the sideline watching his team contest a senior county hurling final...in Kilkenny.
The current
Tipperary
hurling boss carved out his reputation as a talented coach and manager during his silverware-laden stints in charge of the Premier county's underage sides.
However, before he managed Tipperary to minor, under-21 and under-20 All-Ireland titles, he coached some of Kilkenny's top hurlers to a county final appearance during a spell with Carrickshock – including Richie and John Power, Michael Rice and John Tennyson.
'He was over us for two years and he was there when we got to the senior final in 2013,' recalls Richie Power.
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'I couldn't speak highly enough of Liam as a coach or as a manager, we loved him.
'He's a very good coach, very shrewd. We were hoping that he'd come back to us the following year but it didn't materialise. We tried to get him back but that's when he took over the Tipp minors.'
Richie Power (right) in action for Carrickshock in the 2013 Kilkenny county final against Clara. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Clara beat Carrickshock 1-15 to 2-10 in that
Kilkenny
final in October 2013 in what remains Carrickshock's last appearance in the decider.
Around that same time Cahill, who had been a selector under Declan Ryan when Tipperary won the minor title in 2007, got the call from his county asking if he would take charge of the minors for 2014. It was a call he answered.
He stepped away from Carrickshock, took charge of the Tipp minors and the Ballingarry man has been involved with county teams ever since.
Tipperary lost the All-Ireland minor final to Galway in 2015 but 12 months later Cahill guided the county to minor glory, beating Limerick in the decider. He remained minor manager in 2017 but that November was appointed as the county's under-21 boss. In his maiden season with the group he led them to an All-Ireland title.
Another title came the following year, despite the GAA changing the grade to under-20, making Tipperary the last county to hold the All-Ireland under-21 hurling crown and the first to hold the under-20.
The latter, a 5-17 to 1-18 win over Cork, was achieved just six days after the county had beaten Kilkenny to claim the All-Ireland senior title. Sunday will be the first time a Tipperary senior team has played in Croke Park since that 2019 final.
Liam Cahill ahead of the 2019 Munster under-20 final between Tipperary and Cork at Semple Stadium. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
In November 2019 Cahill was appointed Waterford senior hurling manager. The Covid-impacted 2020 season followed, but the Déise navigated the truncated championship to contest the All-Ireland final that December, losing out to Limerick.
When Liam Sheedy stepped down as Tipperary manager at the end of 2021, Cahill was approached to succeed the Portroe man. However, he instead recommitted to Waterford and they won the National Hurling League in 2022.
But just four days after Colm Bonnar's spell in charge of Tipperary was brought to an end that July, Cahill made the homeward switch and was appointed Premier manager on a three-year term.
Now, after a difficult two years, Tipp seem to finally have turned a corner.
'I think Tipp are coming. They've won a minor All-Ireland (2024) and an under-20 All-Ireland (2025) in the last two years and they've found a couple of really good players,' continues Power.
'I think Liam Cahill's objective this year was to get out of Munster, which they achieved, and then once that happens probably the next objective is to get to a semi-final and get back to Croke Park, which has happened now.
Liam Cahill with Cork manager Pat Ryan after the NFL Division 1A final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in April. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
'Now they're coming in against Kilkenny and I don't think Tipp or Liam Cahill will fear Kilkenny.
'Liam is very shrewd, he's very cute, and he kind of dropped it in his interview at the end of the quarter-final win over Galway that they could sneak into a final if things go right. I think it's a 50-50 game.'
Cahill's championship report card after his first two years with Tipp reads: 1 win, 4 defeats, 3 draws. In the 2025 championship so far it's: 4 wins, 1 defeat, 1 draw.
Of the 20 players who featured in what turned out to be Bonner's last game at the helm (against Cork in 2022) just eight played during Tipperary's win over Galway two weeks ago.
'Sometimes people have to realise that these things are going to take time,' adds Power.
'He went in and he has done the hard job in relation to doing a bit of a clean-out and then focusing on youth.'
Cahill also took the unusual step of peering across the county border to see if there was some black and amber expertise that might benefit the blue and gold, and in late 2023 former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity joined the Cahill's management team.
Tipperary's goalkeeping coach, former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
After spending a season as a goalkeeping coach, Herity has taken an even more prominent role this year, adding a further dusting of spice to Sunday's clash.
'It's hard to believe that Tipp haven't played in Croke Park since 2019, since that All-Ireland,' says Power.
'Croke Park is probably like a second home to Kilkenny because of the Leinster championship, and in fairness to Kilkenny they've been back in All-Ireland semi-finals and finals, they've been thereabouts but they've just been unfortunate that they've come up against an exceptional Limerick team.
'If that Limerick team wasn't there, Kilkenny probably would have had another two or three All-Irelands in the last six or seven years.'
With Limerick gone now, on Sunday it's over to Kilkenny and Tipp again.