Darragh Kirwan inspires Kildare to Tailteann Cup glory
Brian Flanagan's side have capped a strong season with a rare piece of national silverware having previously gained promotion to Division 2.
But the Lilywhites had to battle all the way for this one and were grateful for the scoring contribution of man-of-the-match Darragh Kirwan who struck 0-08.
Alex Beirne's 1-02 haul was hugely significant too while, just like in the semi-final, Brian McLoughlin had a huge impact when he came on, hitting 0-03.
Trailing by two points after Limerick's second goal in the 48th minute, 1-16 to 2-15, Kildare fans wondered if more Croke Park heartache was coming their way after losing the Division 3 final there in March.
But eight points in the next 15 minutes or so moved them four points clear and gave them a vital cushion at the death.
Limerick, bidding to become the first Division 4 team to win the competition, battled all the way and got the gap down to just three points when the siren sounded.
Kildare win the Tailteann Cup. In a pulsating finale, Limerick almost snatched a dramatic goal to force extra-time but the Lilywhites put their bodies on the line to survive.
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They had possession of the ball at that stage and chased a goal to level the game but when sub Darragh Murray's shot was saved, Rory O'Brien gathered the rebound and was only able to shoot over for a point - ending the game.
Kildare were just about good value overall for the two-point win and can reflect on a solid first season under Flanagan who has guided them to 12 wins from 15 competitive games.
All the talk beforehand was about the impact of the elements and the searing heat but a stiff wind which aided Kildare initially was even more influential.
Kirwan used the wind advantage to drill two two-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and Callum Bolton notched another. Daniel Flynn tried for one too but his effort flew wide.
Kildare were in a healthy position at the 20-minute stage with a 1-10 to 1-03 lead, bouncing back in powerful fashion after falling three points behind early on.
Limerick captain Cillian Fahy scored their first goal in the seventh minute, pouncing on the follow up after Emmet Rigter's initial attempt was blocked.
What a start for the Treaty men!
Cillian Fahy reacts quickest to fire them into the lead in their Tailteann Cup final against Kildare.
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Kildare reeled off 1-07 without response between the 11th and 19th minutes to take firm control of the game.
The scores seemed to come easier for the Leinster semi-finalists who opened up with some terrific football and punished Limerick with a high press on Josh Ryan's kick-outs.
Beirne's 14th minute goal, for example, came after Kildare won a Ryan kick-out and worked the ball back in at pace, Beirne playing a neat one-two before finishing smartly to the bottom corner.
A strong reponse from Kildare - and they get their goal, a beautifully composed effort from Alex Beirne
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But just as soon as Kildare had gained apparent control of the game, Limerick came roaring back into it, cutting the gap to just two points at one stage.
Now it was their time to enjoy a scoring blitz, reeling off five points in a row.
Danny Neville was excellent for them in this period and while Limerick wasted a couple of decent score chances, they still picked off enough scores to haul themselves right back into contention.
Kildare finished the half stronger, opening up a 1-13 to 1-09 lead at the interval, but Limerick remained in a strong position with the wind advantage to come.
And they seized the opportunity with both hands, dominating the third quarter of the game to turn that four-point deficit into a two-point lead with 20 minutes to go, 2-15 to 1-16.
It's a second goal for Limerick who now lead in the Tailteann Cup final
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Wing-back Tony McCarthy pinched back-to-back points for Limerick before goalkeeper Ryan boomed a two-pointer.
Veteran Iain Corbett and Nash added points to narrow the gap and when Killian Ryan netted with a shot that deflected in off Brian Byrne, Limerick supporters were in dreamland with that two-point advantage.
But Kildare hit another purple patch just when it counted down the home stretch, wrestling back control of the game.
A two-pointer for McLoughlin ignited them and there were timely points too from Kirwan, Tommy Gill, Kevin Feely and Colm Dalton before Limerick whipped up that late drama right at the death.
Kildare: Cian Burke; Brian Byrne, Ryan Burke, Harry O'Neill; Tommy Gill (0-1), David Hyland, James McGrath; Kevin Feely (0-02, 0-01f), Brendan Gibbons; Callum Bolton (0-02, tp), Darragh Kirwan (0-08, 2 tp), Colm Dalton (0-02); Ryan Sinkey (0-03), Alex Beirne (1-02), Daniel Flynn (0-01).
Subs: Jack McKevitt for McGrath 43, Brian McLoughlin (0-03, 1 tp) for Gibbons 43, Eoin Cully for Daniel Flynn 47, Mick O'Grady for Burke 66.
Limerick: Josh Ryan (0-03, 1 tpf, 0-01 45); Jason Hassett, Darren O'Doherty, Mark McCarthy; Killian Ryan (1-01), Iain Corbett (0-01), Tony McCarthy (0-03); Tommie Childs (0-01), Darragh O'Hagan; Paul Maher, Cillian Fahy (1-01), Danny Neville (0-01); Emmet Rigter (0-02), James Naughton (0-02, 0-02f), Peter Nash (0-03, 0-01f).
Subs: Barry Coleman for Childs 16-20, blood, Darragh Murray for O'Hagan 43, Coleman for Maher 47, Rob Childs for Rigter 55, Tadgh O Siochru for Corbett 61, Rory O'Brien (0-1) for Tommie Childs 66.
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
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Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
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Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
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Last summer, my father was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, a progressive neurological condition that damages the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness, atrophy, and eventually paralysis. It is a rare and incurable disease, well-known here in Ireland as the cause of Charlie Bird's passing. The average survival rate is typically two to five years from the onset of symptoms. Although some people live longer, many go far more quickly. Dad drove us to last year's All-Ireland hurling final. When Cork play Tipperary this Sunday in a bid to end our 20-year famine, he won't be travelling. The round trip to Croke Park would be impossible for him. It will be the first time that my brother Jonathan and I go to an All-Ireland final without our father. We suggested that the three of us stay at home to watch the game together, but dad wouldn't have it — his voice might be fading, but he still calls the shots. 'Go and shout for three,' my mother instructed. However the match goes, it will be a hard day. The recent Munster final was very difficult. When Cork beat Limerick on penalties, it was the first thing we acknowledged, that it's just not the same without our dad. That's the thing about hurling — it's more than just sport, not just a game. Dad took me to my first All-Ireland final in 1999. Cork beat Kilkenny by a point, 0-13 to 0-12. I have no idea how he managed to turn up the tickets — two for the Hill — but he did (I still have the stubs). This was before the motorway, when the drive from Dublin to Cork took you through every town and village in between. We arrived in Rathcormac to bonfires on the road — literally on the road — as thousands of Corkonians took to the streets to celebrate and welcome home the travelling fans. James's father was able to attend last year's GAA hurling final between Clare and Cork. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile Dad told me to get out the sunroof with my flag. I'm sure my memory has embellished the scene, but when I think back, I see thousands of people, the road to Cork city barely visible through all the red and smoke. I was sat atop the car, waving my flag while dad bate the horn. And for a few moments, I felt like some king of rebel king — the world was mine. That's what culture is — it's visceral, something felt in the gut. I never chose Cork hurling, it was passed down to me. That's what a father gives a son, a sense of something greater than themselves to which they can belong — culture, their culture. And that's why sport is more than just competition, it's a sophisticated framework for masculine intimacy and the delicate choreography of connection across generational divides. The relationship between my father and I followed a typical trajectory: first, childhood admiration, then, adolescent rejection, and eventually, adult reconciliation. I was a furious young man, full of fear and confusion. Nothing seemed bearable. One night, dad asked me to come for a walk with the dog. He told me it was okay to be angry. 'Everyone goes through what you're going through,' he said. 'What matters is who you are when you come out the other side.' I said something naïve about wanting a better world for myself and for others. 'Then go out and change it,' was his response. I think about that conversation a lot. James O'Sullivan: 'Hurling helped me to open up to my father. We had conversations during hurling that we wouldn't have had otherwise.' Do fathers remember all of the little things they tell their sons, the brief, offhand comments and remarks that take on permanence, becoming rules and values that shape lives? Education has been my life, not just as a profession, but as a principle — it's how I try to do some good in the world, if only just in our small corner of it. And that personal philosophy and political belief system all started with a short conversation with my father, while walking the dog. This was back before men were allowed to talk about mental health — I'm open enough to admit that, were it not for dad, I might not be here now. We'd not have been able to have those conversations were it not for hurling. It was the thing that bonded us because it was ours and ours alone — just him and me, and later, Jonathan. Just the lads, a father and his sons. The human need for belonging finds profound expression through sporting communities. The degree to which the GAA provides social capital is not unproblematic, and local clubs can be very cliquey, anachronistic spaces. But for many people, especially those who are lost, this shared belonging creates psychological scaffolding that supports identity development, social integration, and intergenerational continuity. Eimear Ryan writes about this in The Grass Ceiling, one of the most important books ever written on gender in the context of Irish sport. Eimear explains how hurling was the vehicle through which she learned who she was, who she wanted to be. I was probably the most useless — I was certainly the laziest — player to ever wear the royal blue of St Finbarr's, and like Eimear, I often felt like an outsider, feeling the need to hide parts of myself, like a burgeoning love of literature (Eimear on the other hand is a brilliant hurler who won an All-Ireland with Tipperary). But as useless as I might have been, I loved certain aspects of my playing days, if only just pucking balls with dad and Jonathan. The father teaching his son to strike a sliotar passes on muscle memory that connects to an older Ireland, to resistance and revival — it's sport functioning as a field of cultural production, where identity is actively constructed through embodied practice. Learning to hurl isn't just about the mechanics, it requires absorbing deeper lessons about competition, failure, resilience, and, perhaps most notably for men, emotional expression. In a changing, multicultural Ireland, hurling has the potential to be a shared tradition, a common language that can weave new identities into the fabric of local life. All of this is why hurling is so important. It's not always easy for fathers and sons to express their love for each other, so hurling can act as a substitute. In the pride in one's colours, fathers and sons find a vocabulary for love that transcends words, that transcends their relationship. The coming final won't be the same without my dad. I'll never forgive Conor Leen for pulling the back off of Robbie O'Flynn last year, when dad was well enough to travel. But I also remind myself that there is no point trying to restage the past, that the best moments between father and son can never be recreated. Even if dad had been with us for the Munster final, it wouldn't have been the same — it wasn't Thurles, Mark Landers wasn't the captain, and the game wasn't won by Joe Deane (who I chose that day as my all-time favourite) when he buried Seánie McGrath's endline flick beyond Davy Fitz. So when Cork and Tipperary meet in Croke Park, it will be hard, but it will still matter, because hurling is about being part of something that was here before us and will go on long after we're all gone. Because, fundamentally, that's what hurling is — it's the way we remind ourselves that we're never alone.
