WHEN THE DUST had settled in Croke Park on Sunday evening, the crowd had largely drifted away from the stands, and the outcome of a pulsating hurling tie was being absorbed, two pillars of the Limerick and Clare teams stood next to each other on the pitch.
John Conlon, the Clare stalwart who had been called ashore after 48 minutes, and Nickie Quaid, the Limerick icon who had lasted the full game, but by his own admission afterwards, had been fortunate not to spend time on the sideline for that foul on Peter Duggan.
The two chatted freely on a patch of grass around the 45-yard line on the Davin End side of the stadium. Conlon turned 37 in January, Quaid joined him on that age last month. The next generation were playing around them, Ava Conlon running in a carefree fashion, Grainne and Daithí Quaid availing of the opportunity to puck around.
John Conlon with his daughter Ava after the game. Grace Halton / INPHO
Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO
Limerick's Grainne, Nickie, Daithi and Orla Quaid after the game. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
Intercounty road
Their fathers have been on the intercounty hurling road for some time. Conlon made his senior championship debut in June 2009, thrown in off the bench to join a forward line against Tipperary. Quaid got his first taste of it twelve months later, pressed in at midfield against Cork. Over time they found homes further back the pitch, Conlon manning the central defensive channel for Clare, Quaid zealously protecting goalmouths for Limerick.
They have seen and done it all, savouring the winning feeling along the way. Quaid triumphs on the Liam MacCarthy Cup duel 5-2 and edges out Conlon 3-2 on the All-Star count. In terms of universal hurling acclaim for their prowess on the pitch and their attitude off it, they are ranked as equals.
Nickie Quaid during his debut for Limerick in 2010. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
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John Conlon during his debut for Clare against Tipperary in 2009. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO
Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO
This semi-final defeat spelled the end of Conlon’s role this season, victory prolongs Quaid’s involvement for another fortnight, yet there seemed a collective realisation that days like this are dwindling at this stage of their careers. Having invested so much into this contest, the pair were stepping back to appreciate a game of shuddering ferocity and intensity.
Theme
And that was a recurring theme everywhere you looked during the post-match scenes. The cursory handshakes were replaced by opponents pausing to briefly embrace. The Limerick and Clare hurling communities live cheek by jowl, their lives intertwined. At times over the past few years they have gone off in different directions, Limerick locked in a constant struggle with Cork teams, while Clare played out a trio of All-Ireland semi-finals in succession against Kilkenny.
Limerick's Diarmaid Byrnes consoles Clare's David McInerney after the game. Grace Halton / INPHO
Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO
But Sunday was a reminder of just how captivating the Clare-Limerick hurling rivalry has been in the post-Covid era. It took us 13 years to a get a knockout Croke Park hurling clash between the counties. That 2013 game fell flat given Clare’s widespread superiority, this was a more nerve-shredding, tension-filled affair, the result never quite nailed down until the final blast of Thomas Walsh’s whistle.
The round-robin draw in Ennis on 15 May 2022 represented the benchmark for their meetings. There have been games that fell apart, such as the one this May when Limerick cruised home, or low-key affairs like 12 months ago when Clare were already out of contention and Limerick already through.
But the 2022 final in Thurles, the pair of 2023 showdowns in the Gaelic Grounds, and the 2024 encounters in Cusack Park and Semple Stadium, were compelling for those watching in a variety of ways.
Limerick's Adam English and Clare's Ryan Taylor. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Tone-Setting
That was replicated on Sunday. Clare’s tone-setting opening as they hounded Limerick when in possession. The daylight inserted between the teams on the scoreboard when Clare went seven clear approaching half-time, inspired by Tony Kelly’s positioning close to goal that yielded a string of scores. Limerick’s defiance in clawing their way back into contention either side of half-time. The implications of the penalty incident where Clare were boosted by a goal, but Limerick incurred not further damage. Then Limerick’s sheer resilience in digging out victory by outscoring Clare 1-5 to 0-0.
Perhaps the game was best captured by the twin displays of Peter Duggan and Gearoid Hegarty. Duggan was particularly dominant in the opening period, a towering presence that Limerick could not handle in the air, and he also clipped over three points, including one glorious score engineered under the Cusack Stand in a tight pocket of space. Hegarty, by his manager’s admission afterwards had been a peripheral first-half figure, but stormed in to the second half to become the dominant character.
Gearoid Hegarty in action for Limerick against Clare's Adam Hogan.
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Peter Duggan in action for Clare against Limerick. Grace Halton / INPHO
Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO
Hegarty was a magnet for puckouts and defensive clearances. He may have been scoreless by the finish but that masks the chaos he caused the Clare defence in winning frees that were pointed and releasing team-mates in opening play as he gained primary possession.
In a hurling championship that has struggled to ignite at times, this game burned brightly throughout. The Limerick-Clare rivalry delivered.
The complexion will be different when they next meet. Shane O’Donnell had confirmed midweek that this would be his last season, Sunday serving as a departure game. Declan Hannon’s retirement last October had already removed one of the principal figures from both camps, O’Donnell’s exit maintains that trend.
Shane O'Donnell with his family after the game. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
It’s hard not to see others following suit over the next couple of seasons, plenty players on both teams are in their thirties with significant miles on the clock. A Munster round-robin game is on the cards in Limerick next summer, yet whenever they cross paths in Croke Park again, the sense of a new era will likely hit home.
They’ve kept pushing on for quite a while. It would have been easy for Quaid to call it a day when he snapped his cruciate in the winter of 2024, or Conlon to bow out after the serious finger injury he sustained in a freak accident last summer.
But they rebounded and got themselves right to be fighting fit come throw-in on Sunday afternoon, and were able to savour that post-match championship feeling later in the evening sun.
For their persistence and enduring excellence they deserve to be saluted.
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The Limerick-Clare rivalry delivered again, a fitting tribute to the icons on both sides
WHEN THE DUST had settled in Croke Park on Sunday evening, the crowd had largely drifted away from the stands, and the outcome of a pulsating hurling tie was being absorbed, two pillars of the Limerick and Clare teams stood next to each other on the pitch.
John Conlon, the Clare stalwart who had been called ashore after 48 minutes, and Nickie Quaid, the Limerick icon who had lasted the full game, but by his own admission afterwards, had been fortunate not to spend time on the sideline for that foul on Peter Duggan.
The two chatted freely on a patch of grass around the 45-yard line on the Davin End side of the stadium. Conlon turned 37 in January, Quaid joined him on that age last month. The next generation were playing around them, Ava Conlon running in a carefree fashion, Grainne and Daithí Quaid availing of the opportunity to puck around.
Intercounty road
Their fathers have been on the intercounty hurling road for some time. Conlon made his senior championship debut in June 2009, thrown in off the bench to join a forward line against Tipperary. Quaid got his first taste of it twelve months later, pressed in at midfield against Cork. Over time they found homes further back the pitch, Conlon manning the central defensive channel for Clare, Quaid zealously protecting goalmouths for Limerick.
They have seen and done it all, savouring the winning feeling along the way. Quaid triumphs on the Liam MacCarthy Cup duel 5-2 and edges out Conlon 3-2 on the All-Star count. In terms of universal hurling acclaim for their prowess on the pitch and their attitude off it, they are ranked as equals.
This semi-final defeat spelled the end of Conlon’s role this season, victory prolongs Quaid’s involvement for another fortnight, yet there seemed a collective realisation that days like this are dwindling at this stage of their careers. Having invested so much into this contest, the pair were stepping back to appreciate a game of shuddering ferocity and intensity.
Theme
And that was a recurring theme everywhere you looked during the post-match scenes. The cursory handshakes were replaced by opponents pausing to briefly embrace. The Limerick and Clare hurling communities live cheek by jowl, their lives intertwined. At times over the past few years they have gone off in different directions, Limerick locked in a constant struggle with Cork teams, while Clare played out a trio of All-Ireland semi-finals in succession against Kilkenny.
But Sunday was a reminder of just how captivating the Clare-Limerick hurling rivalry has been in the post-Covid era. It took us 13 years to a get a knockout Croke Park hurling clash between the counties. That 2013 game fell flat given Clare’s widespread superiority, this was a more nerve-shredding, tension-filled affair, the result never quite nailed down until the final blast of Thomas Walsh’s whistle.
The round-robin draw in Ennis on 15 May 2022 represented the benchmark for their meetings. There have been games that fell apart, such as the one this May when Limerick cruised home, or low-key affairs like 12 months ago when Clare were already out of contention and Limerick already through.
But the 2022 final in Thurles, the pair of 2023 showdowns in the Gaelic Grounds, and the 2024 encounters in Cusack Park and Semple Stadium, were compelling for those watching in a variety of ways.
Tone-Setting
That was replicated on Sunday. Clare’s tone-setting opening as they hounded Limerick when in possession. The daylight inserted between the teams on the scoreboard when Clare went seven clear approaching half-time, inspired by Tony Kelly’s positioning close to goal that yielded a string of scores. Limerick’s defiance in clawing their way back into contention either side of half-time. The implications of the penalty incident where Clare were boosted by a goal, but Limerick incurred not further damage. Then Limerick’s sheer resilience in digging out victory by outscoring Clare 1-5 to 0-0.
Perhaps the game was best captured by the twin displays of Peter Duggan and Gearoid Hegarty. Duggan was particularly dominant in the opening period, a towering presence that Limerick could not handle in the air, and he also clipped over three points, including one glorious score engineered under the Cusack Stand in a tight pocket of space. Hegarty, by his manager’s admission afterwards had been a peripheral first-half figure, but stormed in to the second half to become the dominant character.
Hegarty was a magnet for puckouts and defensive clearances. He may have been scoreless by the finish but that masks the chaos he caused the Clare defence in winning frees that were pointed and releasing team-mates in opening play as he gained primary possession.
In a hurling championship that has struggled to ignite at times, this game burned brightly throughout. The Limerick-Clare rivalry delivered.
The complexion will be different when they next meet. Shane O’Donnell had confirmed midweek that this would be his last season, Sunday serving as a departure game. Declan Hannon’s retirement last October had already removed one of the principal figures from both camps, O’Donnell’s exit maintains that trend.
It’s hard not to see others following suit over the next couple of seasons, plenty players on both teams are in their thirties with significant miles on the clock. A Munster round-robin game is on the cards in Limerick next summer, yet whenever they cross paths in Croke Park again, the sense of a new era will likely hit home.
They’ve kept pushing on for quite a while. It would have been easy for Quaid to call it a day when he snapped his cruciate in the winter of 2024, or Conlon to bow out after the serious finger injury he sustained in a freak accident last summer.
But they rebounded and got themselves right to be fighting fit come throw-in on Sunday afternoon, and were able to savour that post-match championship feeling later in the evening sun.
For their persistence and enduring excellence they deserve to be saluted.
*****
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