SEAMUS HICKEY HAS decided to go out at the top.

The 31-year-old announced his retirement from Limerick duty this morning, just months after the county won their first All-Ireland hurling crown since 1973.

The Murroe-Boher native made his debut for the Treaty in 2006, won Young Hurler of the Year the following season, the Munster crown in 2013 and an All-Star in 2014.

Hickey mainly featured as a substitute during the 2018 championship campaign, with his last appearance arriving off the bench against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final.

It was a busy year for Hickey as his wife Ellen gave birth to twin boys in March.

“It has been God’s great blessing and an enormous privilege to wear the Limerick jersey from my teenage years through my entire adult life,” Hickey said in a statement released through the GPA.

“It is an even greater blessing to have been part of an incredible group of people in 2018 and to deliver to Limerick what the proud sporting county deserved: the Liam McCarthy.

“I have now decided to step away from the Limerick senior hurling panel. I am eternally grateful to my club Murroe Boher, to the GPA for their incredible support and guidance, to the exceptional teammates I’ve had, the inspiring managers, the perennially selfless backroom teams, the successes, the failures and everything I have learned along the way. 

“It was all made possible by the phenomenal support I receive constantly from my extraordinary wife and children, my parents and my family. They have given so much of themselves so that I could live my dream. My dream off the field has now grown bigger than the one on it and I look forward to being the very best husband, father, brother and son I can be.

“God is good, Luimneach abú!”

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