DAN MORRISSEY ATTENDED his first All-Ireland final in 1999 as six-year-old and he’s been to every one since.
The Limerick defender was in Croke Park to witness Cork’s defeat of Kilkenny that year, while in recent years he’s been involved more often as a player than supporter.
In recent years, All-Irelands have typically involved John Kiely’s side.
“’99, Cork and Kilkenny, was my first one. I was only six. I’ve been to every All-Ireland since then.
“There wasn’t many that Limerick were in the first number of years – it was always your Tipps, Corks, Kilkennys,” recalls Morrissey. “It is a bit mad now that we’ve been in three finals in four years. Limerick supporters haven’t been used to that success.
“The 2014 final with the Hawk-Eye incident at the end, for excitement, that probably stands out the most. There’s been some great finals. Limerick and Kilkenny in 2007, the first time Limerick had been in a final in years. I remember the excitement around the county at the time. I was only 14, only young, but I remember it well.”
That 2014 decider was JJ Delaney’s last All-Ireland final for Kilkenny. Like Morrissey, Delaney made the move from wing-back to full-back with great success.
“JJ was one of my favourite players growing up. The way he played the game, he wasn’t such a big lad but he used always come out with the ball, whether it was a high ball or a ruck.
“He changed from half back to full-back in his latter years so yeah, he’s definitely someone I would have looked up to growing up.”
Following Limerick’s surprising last four defeat to the Cats in 2019, Morrissey still went to watch the final against Tipperary when many of his team-mates couldn’t even stomach it on TV.
“Tipp were fully deserving of the All-Ireland that year. I still went up to it. Tipp were a good bit better on the day. We did have regrets from that semi-final. It does take a good few weeks or even months to get over it.
“But you can’t keep dwelling on the past the whole time. Once the 2020 season started, we might have went back training November 2019. A line was drawn. We just said we move on. there is no point looking back saying, ‘What if this or that’. You just have to get on with the future. You can’t change the past.
“A few boys didn’t even watch that All-Ireland final. I would always watch it. I won’t lie, it probably was a tough watch knowing you could have been there. Look, it was in our own hands. I wouldn’t put it down to that 65 decision. There were other chances in the game to win it and we didn’t take them. the blame was with us that we weren’t in the final that year.
“When you get the feeling of winning like we did in 2018, you just want to get back there as much as you can. Because you see everything that goes with it in terms of the celebrations, what it means to family and friends in the whole county.
“Once you get the feeling of winning, you just want to win as much as you can for as long as you can. That’s been the case every year since.”
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