As Limerick reaches for a 4 in a row in the GAA All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship this Sunday, it is fitting to reflect on the county's proud tradition with the GAA.
Dr. Matthew Potter, curator of Limerick Museum shares these Limerick GAA facts.
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Limerick has won a total of thirteen senior All-Irelands: Football in 1887 (the first ever All-Ireland Football final) and 1896. Hurling in 1897, 1918, 1921, 1934, 1936, 1940, 1973, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
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The MacCarthy Cup is called after Liam MacCarthy (1853-1928) born in London to Irish emigrant parents. His mother was Brigid Dineen from Crawford Lane in Bruff, County Limerick. Liam commissioned the cup and presented it to the GAA. It was first used in 1923. In September, Limerick Museum will mark the 50th anniversary of Limerick’s 1973 win.
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Denis Grimes (1864-1920) captained the Kilfinane team which won Limerick’s first All-Ireland Senior Hurling title in 1897 (played in 1898). The Kilfinane native played in goals. Around 1900, he moved to Wales where he worked in the coal mines. He never returned to Limerick. Denis died at the age of fifty-six and is buried in Wales.
Dr. Potter continues:
Kilfinane were Limerick’s FIRST All-Ireland senior hurling winning team. In those days, the county champions represented the county in the All-Ireland Championship. They won the 1897 All-Ireland Championship although the final was not played until 20 November 1898. In the final, which was played at Tipperary GAA Field, Tipperary Town, Limerick defeated Kilkenny represented by Tullaroan before a crowd of 5,000 spectators. The final score was 3-4 to 2-4
- Limerick man Frank Brazil Dineen (1863-1916) is the only person in its entire history to have served as Vice President (1892-95), President (1895-98) and Secretary (1898-1901) of the GAA. A native of Ballylanders, County Limerick, he was a famous athlete and a well-known journalist. However, Dineen’s greatest achievement was the acquisition of Croke Park for the GAA. In 1908, he purchased the dilapidated City and Suburban Sports Ground at Jones's Road, Dublin and refurbished it at his own expense, putting up terraces and improving the pitch. In 1913 the GAA bought Jones’s Road from him for £3,500 and renamed it Croke Park, after Archbishop Thomas Croke of Cashel. Frank B Dineen is the man who created Croke Park!!
In September, Limerick Museum will mark the 50th anniversary of Limerick’s 1973 win.
