DECLAN NASH PICKS up the phone from the maternity ward six hours after the birth of his third boy and reflects that it’s “already been an amazing week”.
It could get better yet. This Sunday, he leads Kildimo-Pallaskenry, the club best known for producing now six-time hurling All-Star Kyle Hayes, into their first-ever senior showpiece: the Limerick football final.
They have gone from relegation semi-finalists in 2025 to eliminating the defending champions earlier this month. To emphasise their quantum leap, that extra-time victory over Mungret St Paul’s in the semi-final flipped a 12-point group-stage defeat. Fr Casey’s await in the decider at Mick Neville Park.
Hayes, who last night equalled Joe McKenna’s record as the Limerick man with the most All-Star awards, came into their midfield from the quarter-final onwards.
Nash feels that the 28-year-old could yet be held in similar local acclaim for his big-ball exploits.
“He would have played a bit of everything all the way up along,” says Nash, who manages the club’s hurling and football teams.
“The club football would have taken a back seat with his involvement with Limerick for so long, but he did play a round of championship with us last year, and he has played rounds of football previous years as well.
“He’s a phenomenal clubman. He’s obviously a generational talent in hurling, and if he keeps putting in the performances he’s putting in for us at football since he’s been around, they’ll be looking at him in the same light in football.
“But genuinely just his character, his calmness, his determination to do what needs to be done has been a breath of fresh air around the place.”
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Kyle Hayes playing for Kildimo-Pallaskenry in 2019. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
While Hayes joked at the All-Stars that he relies on the handpass because he can’t kick the ball, Nash says midfield was an obvious choice given his talent: “The way the game is around kick-outs and the middle third, and his natural ability to go looking for work, he’s hard to look beyond.”
Nash was brought on board as strength and conditioning coach for the hurlers in 2021 and the move into managing both teams by 2025 formed a “natural progression”.
“The crossover was so big, from an S&C point of view, it made sense to start training together, to reduce the nights that the lads were out, and it was probably the only way that it would work properly for the players,” he says.
“We had 13 lads that started the last round of hurling starting the football semi-final. We would have had different managers and different coaches, but last year was the first attempt at the one management team.
“We train both codes every night and what would happen is the duals might not play the opposite code on match week.”
The two villages, Kildimo and Pallaskenry, situated 15 minutes west of Limerick City, were formally unified just over a decade ago.
From a history spent down the grades, the new club began its rise from junior B in 2014 to now sit within an hour of the pinnacle of Treaty football.
Whether it’s more of a hurling or football area “depends who you ask”, Nash chuckles, but this is a well blended group. Five of their six defenders are 21 or under, while the group is led by Limerick senior footballers in Tony McCarthy and Peter Nash.
Asked about his younger brother’s unusual left-sided free-taking technique, where he faces away from the goals throughout, Declan says: “He’s a free-taker off both legs. He has a really driven mentality, so he has an awful lot of work put into his frees, and especially to get his left leg capable of being depended on in championship matches.
“He takes left-legged frees with Limerick as well, so it’s something he put an awful lot of work into.”
He adds with a chuckle: “Now, they were very kickable in the semi-final, so we won’t blow his head up too much, but he has put an awful lot of effort into it.”
Peter Nash scoring a goal in the Division 4 league final at Croke Park in 2025. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Nash, a former Limerick senior camogie manager, believes the flourishing maturity of his group and the greater bond forged between the older and younger lads has helped to spur them on.
They have a top-quality set-up too, with former Limerick dual star and incoming county football coach Stephen Lavin leading the training.
“He’s a really good forward-thinking coach,” says Nash. “I’ve just finished my Sports Coaching Master’s in UL and he’s in his second year in it, so we’d be very like-minded.”
When Nash couldn’t make training on Tuesday in advance of himself and Kathleen’s new arrival the next morning, the backroom team kept everything ticking over.
Speaking that afternoon, Nash gave an upbeat personal outlook for the remainder of the week.
“Once mammy and baby are happy and healthy, that’s the most important thing this week now.
“There’ll be no problem keeping busy anyway, which is very important on weeks like this!”
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Limerick's first-time finalists, Kyle Hayes inspiration, and a new arrival on county final week
DECLAN NASH PICKS up the phone from the maternity ward six hours after the birth of his third boy and reflects that it’s “already been an amazing week”.
It could get better yet. This Sunday, he leads Kildimo-Pallaskenry, the club best known for producing now six-time hurling All-Star Kyle Hayes, into their first-ever senior showpiece: the Limerick football final.
They have gone from relegation semi-finalists in 2025 to eliminating the defending champions earlier this month. To emphasise their quantum leap, that extra-time victory over Mungret St Paul’s in the semi-final flipped a 12-point group-stage defeat. Fr Casey’s await in the decider at Mick Neville Park.
Hayes, who last night equalled Joe McKenna’s record as the Limerick man with the most All-Star awards, came into their midfield from the quarter-final onwards.
Nash feels that the 28-year-old could yet be held in similar local acclaim for his big-ball exploits.
“He would have played a bit of everything all the way up along,” says Nash, who manages the club’s hurling and football teams.
“The club football would have taken a back seat with his involvement with Limerick for so long, but he did play a round of championship with us last year, and he has played rounds of football previous years as well.
“He’s a phenomenal clubman. He’s obviously a generational talent in hurling, and if he keeps putting in the performances he’s putting in for us at football since he’s been around, they’ll be looking at him in the same light in football.
“But genuinely just his character, his calmness, his determination to do what needs to be done has been a breath of fresh air around the place.”
While Hayes joked at the All-Stars that he relies on the handpass because he can’t kick the ball, Nash says midfield was an obvious choice given his talent: “The way the game is around kick-outs and the middle third, and his natural ability to go looking for work, he’s hard to look beyond.”
Nash was brought on board as strength and conditioning coach for the hurlers in 2021 and the move into managing both teams by 2025 formed a “natural progression”.
“The crossover was so big, from an S&C point of view, it made sense to start training together, to reduce the nights that the lads were out, and it was probably the only way that it would work properly for the players,” he says.
“We had 13 lads that started the last round of hurling starting the football semi-final. We would have had different managers and different coaches, but last year was the first attempt at the one management team.
“We train both codes every night and what would happen is the duals might not play the opposite code on match week.”
The two villages, Kildimo and Pallaskenry, situated 15 minutes west of Limerick City, were formally unified just over a decade ago.
From a history spent down the grades, the new club began its rise from junior B in 2014 to now sit within an hour of the pinnacle of Treaty football.
Whether it’s more of a hurling or football area “depends who you ask”, Nash chuckles, but this is a well blended group. Five of their six defenders are 21 or under, while the group is led by Limerick senior footballers in Tony McCarthy and Peter Nash.
Asked about his younger brother’s unusual left-sided free-taking technique, where he faces away from the goals throughout, Declan says: “He’s a free-taker off both legs. He has a really driven mentality, so he has an awful lot of work put into his frees, and especially to get his left leg capable of being depended on in championship matches.
“He takes left-legged frees with Limerick as well, so it’s something he put an awful lot of work into.”
He adds with a chuckle: “Now, they were very kickable in the semi-final, so we won’t blow his head up too much, but he has put an awful lot of effort into it.”
Nash, a former Limerick senior camogie manager, believes the flourishing maturity of his group and the greater bond forged between the older and younger lads has helped to spur them on.
They have a top-quality set-up too, with former Limerick dual star and incoming county football coach Stephen Lavin leading the training.
“He’s a really good forward-thinking coach,” says Nash. “I’ve just finished my Sports Coaching Master’s in UL and he’s in his second year in it, so we’d be very like-minded.”
When Nash couldn’t make training on Tuesday in advance of himself and Kathleen’s new arrival the next morning, the backroom team kept everything ticking over.
Speaking that afternoon, Nash gave an upbeat personal outlook for the remainder of the week.
“Once mammy and baby are happy and healthy, that’s the most important thing this week now.
“There’ll be no problem keeping busy anyway, which is very important on weeks like this!”
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