 | |
| Irish: | Luimneach |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s): | The Shannonsiders The Treaty County |
| Province: | Munster |
| Dominant sport: | Hurling |
| Ground(s): | Páirc na nGael,Limerick |
| County colours: | Green White |
| County teams | |
| NFL: | Division 3 |
| NHL: | Division 1A |
| Football Championship: | Sam Maguire Cup |
| Hurling Championship: | Liam MacCarthy Cup |
| Ladies' Gaelic football: | Brendan Martin Cup |
| Camogie: | O'Duffy Cup |
The Limerick County Board of theGaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish:Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Chontae Luimneach) orLimerick GAA is one of the 32county boards of the GAA inIreland, and is responsible forGaelic games inCounty Limerick. The county board is also responsible for the Limerick county teams.
Thecounty hurling team has the fourth highest total ofAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) titles, behindKilkenny,Cork andTipperary. Thecounty football team was the first from theprovince ofMunster both to win anAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC), as well as to appear in the final.
As of 2009, there were 108 clubs affiliated to Limerick GAA — the third highest, alongsideAntrim.[1]
Clubs contest the following competitions:
The senior competition's most successful club isPatrickswell, with 20 titles.Ahane has 19 titles.
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Limerick's first outright success in hurling was achieved when the Kilfinane club defeatedKilkenny GAA clubTullaroan inthe final of the1897 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC). At that time,counties were represented by champion clubs.
Limerick won the1918 All-Ireland SHC, then repeated the feat in the1921 All-Ireland SHC when the team won the inauguralLiam MacCarthy Cup. The team that achieved those wins featured many players who contested eight consecutiveMunster Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) finals (1917–1924 inclusive), a record that has never been equalled.[citation needed]
The team won five consecutiveNational Hurling League (NHL) titles during the 1930s, a record still unequalled.[citation needed] Those titles were won in1933–34,1934–35,1935–36,1936–37 and1937–38. Limerick also won four consecutive Munster SHC titles, and remains the only team other thanCork to have done so. After winning All-Ireland SHC titlesin 1934 andin 1936, another All-Ireland SHC title followedin 1940. The team from this era did much to raise the profile of the sport: whereas around 30,000 people attended the1930 All-Ireland SHC Final, attendances had risen to 50,000 by the 1940 final and players such as the Mackeys (John andMick), Ryans (Timmy andMick), Clohesseys (Dave andPaddy),Bob McConkey andPaddy Scanlon were recalled[by whom?] for decades afterwards. Victory in 1940 left Limerick with six All-Ireland SHC titles and as the only team from outside the "big three" (Cork,Tipperary andKilkenny) to have won more than one All-Ireland SHC title.Dublin had at that stage also six All-Ireland SHC titles but no native ofthat county had played on any of its winning teams. Limerick won a sixth NHL title in1946–47 but success soon became a rarity.
Limerick won the1970–71 NHL title and soon followed this by winning the1973 All-Ireland SHC, its seventh title. Four further NHL titles followed that century:1983–84,1984–85,1991–92 and, lastly,1997.
The2018 season concluded with Limerick winning the2018 All-Ireland SHC, the team's first since 1973, with a 3–16 to 2–18 point defeat of Galway inthe final.[2] The team built on this success, winning the NHL in2019,2020 and2023, the Munster SHC in2019,2020,2021,2022,2023 and2024 and the All-Ireland SHC again in2020,2021,2022 and2023.
Clubs contest theLimerick Senior Football Championship. That competition's most successful club isCommercials with 16 titles, followed byClaughaun with 14 titles.
Limerick won the firstAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1887 and repeated this success in 1896, when it became the first non-Leinster team to beat the then all-conqueringDublin in a championship match.
Limerick plays in Division 3 of theNational Football League, having been promoted from Division 4 in2025.
Between 1953 and 1964, Limerick did not play in the Munster Football Championship.
Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010-2015, "Our Game, Our Passion",[3] five new camogie clubs were expected to have been established in the county by 2015.[4] Three Limerick clubs have won theAll-Ireland Club SCC. They areGranagh-Ballingarry (3), Ballyagran (1978) and Croagh Kilfinny (1975).
Limerick contested theAll-Ireland SCC final of 1980, losing to Cork in a replay.[5] They first contested the Munster Championship in 1922-4, but the game struggled and had to undergo further revivals in 1932, 1947 and 1960. This culminated in the county team's appearance in theAll-Ireland JCC of 1977 and the county team's appearance in theAll-Ireland SCC final of 1980, which Limerick lost to Cork in a replay.
Former Limerick hurlerCiarán Carey managed the Limerick camogie team when it was in the second tier.[6] He won both league and championship honours when doing so.[6] This included the 2007 edition of theAll-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship.[7]
Former Limerick hurling goalkeeperJoe Quaid managed the Limerick camogie team to the 2014 edition of the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship.[8]
Declan Nash – who had been the team'sstrength and conditioning coach for the previous three years – became Limerick camogie manager after the incumbent, John Tuohy, left when the 2018 National Camogie League had ended. Nash was to continue in the role of Limerick camogie manager into the 2019 season.[9] When Nash was manager in 2019,Ciarán Carey became involved with the Limerick camogie team again, this time in an "advisory role".[6][7]
Retired bank official Pat Ryan was appointed Limerick camogie manager for the 2021 season. Ryan referred positively to his previous experience of being involved with the Antrim camogie team when his banking work brought him to that part of the country, "they were a great bunch of girls – we had girls coming an hour and a half from Ballycastle or five hours on a bus from Galway".[10]
John Lillis was manager of the team for a heavy (2–19 [25] to 0–11) defeat in the 2023 championship, which left Limerick facing the prospect ofrelegation.[11]
Joe Quaid returned as Limerick camogie manager for the 2024 season.[8] In 2025, as Limerick exited the championship with a heavy (4–26 [38] to 0–8) defeat, Quaid complained about the structure of the competition and spoke about "the big problem, turnover of players. I hope all these girls will stay together next year".[12][13]
Agnes Hourigan was a notablepresident of theCamogie Association during the 1970s.Pamela Fitzgerald fromNewcastle West played for the team, as did the Olympic athlete and field hockey internationalNaomi Carroll.
Limerick has the following achievements in camogie.[14]
Ladies' football began taking hold in Limerick during the 1970s, with clubs like Ballyagran and Mungret pioneering the movement. Despite early struggles with player numbers and resources, momentum built in the 1990s with the formation of a development committee focused on school and youth engagement. As of 2025, Limerick competes in Division 3 of the Ladies' National Football League.
Limerick's progression in the Ladies' National Football League is as follows:•2016 Division 4 champion: Limerick gained promotion.•2024 Division 4 finalist: Limerick narrowly lost to Carlow, but gained promotion to Division 3 for the 2025 season.
Limerick's championship success is at Junior level:•2010 All-Ireland Junior Championship: Limerick defeated Louth in the final, with Marie Curtin scoring 2-5 and receiving Player of the Match.•2018 All-Ireland Junior Championship: Limerick defeated Louth by 5–6 to 0–8 in the final at Croke Park.•Runner-up finishes:•2009 – Loss to Antrim•2023 – Loss to Down
Club players who became notable for their involvement in different sports:•Aoibheann Clancy (Galtee Gaels) – former underage GAA player who chose soccer, later made a substitute appearance for the Republic of Ireland.•Marie Curtin (Mungret St Paul's) – dual star in soccer and GAA; Player of the Match with 2–5 in the 2010 All-Ireland Junior final. Earned 55 caps for the Republic of Ireland in soccer.
