Fintan O'Toole

INSIDE THE LIMERICK dressing-room that week, there was a groundswell of annoyance.

The previous Sunday they had ran out in Croke Park. The prize of Division 2 promotion was already achieved but they wanted silverware, something tangible to offer as proof of the strides they were making. Westmeath pipped them by a point. The 2003 league was closed off on a low note.

They had little time to stew on the defeat. The throw-in for the Munster championship was taking place the following Sunday.

But that element of anger remained internally in their camp. Another chance at a trophy had slipped by, another chance for a meaningful achievement.

As the week dragged on and the test of facing Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh loomed large, the mood shifted to one of fierce determination.

“The main goal at the start of the year was to get promoted to Division 1, but we really left that title behind us in Croke Park,” recalls Muiris Gavin, a long-standing member of the Limerick forward line.

“I remember the Wednesday night before the Cork game, the talk was the chance had been there against Westmeath and we didn’t take it. We felt that anger with ourselves. We had blown it and it just wasn’t going to happen again. Cork were probably on the receiving end of that as a result.

“We were so determined to put it right. There was a focus and Liam (Kearns) was big on it, that it was all good getting out of Division 2 but to get real respect you needed to beat a big side in Munster.”

May will mark the 20th anniversary since that famous afternoon for Limerick football. Gavin shakes his head at the thought that almost two decades have passed. The 2023 Limerick football model head back to the same venue today, a second-tier league meeting with Cork. The setting and opposition spark memories of a different time.

“It was a landmark win for us really. A couple years previously it was just to try and win a championship game. But we were building under Kearns, it was one that we had targeted, either Cork or Kerry.”

Different strands came together to form the setup that powered their rise. Limerick won their first Munster U21 football title in 2000, reaching the All-Ireland final later against Tyrone. The bulk of that team came through to supplement the older group already in existence.

And in Kearns they had a manager who harnessed their sense of ambition.

“There were about eight U21s came through. They were a very strong group. Admittedly we came from a low base but around the time they came through, we were making huge progress each year. But if you want to be taken seriously, you need to beat a Cork or a Kerry and announce yourself.

“Liam was the right manager for us at the time. He set goals for us at the start of every year and pushed us hard. There was no inferiority complex, we felt we were there on merit. This was a natural next step for us to take. It was a special time really.”

They achieved their goal in dazzling fashion, the 0-16 to 0-6 scoreline spoke volumes. It ended a wait since 1965 for a comparable win for Limerick over Cork. The start of a summer where Cork’s fortunes nosedived and Limerick flew high.

Gavin was the scoring star on the day. He posted nine shots over the bar, all but one from a free.

There was a deep-rooted personal ambition to perform, one that had grown over the winter.

“I captained Monaleen in the Munster club final against Nemo in December of the previous year, ’02. We were well beaten and I didn’t perform on the day. It didn’t happen for me. We were a young team and they were very seasoned.

“All through the spring I knew I was going to be captain of this Limerick team. Knowing Cork were first round of the championship, in my own head I needed to set that right.

“My free-taking was going very well during the league. I had the confidence it was going well but a lot of it was the determination of bad days beforehand and just not letting it happen again.”

Gavin took personal satisfaction at his scoring return against a Cork team backboned by an outstanding Nemo side, fresh off their All-Ireland final success over Crossmolina.

He celebrated the feat that night.

They all did.

“We’d a great night in Cork, went back to the Silversprings, Tommy Moran’s hotel. There was a big Limerick contingent there, family and friends, and there was great excitement.

“We enjoyed that night, we’d a great group, more like a club team, had great nights out after games. Liam was big on that, he always wanted us to celebrate as a team. It’s funny 20 years later you remember the bus journeys and the nights out after as much as the games.”

The schedule allowed it at the time to bask in the glow of success. They defeated Cork on 11 May, were back out on 15 June when they had eight points to spare over Clare before the July final with Kerry. The bond between them tightened all the time.

“It did make it more memorable. For a county team it became like a club team. We were very close and that became a strength then itself on the pitch. We fought and gave everything on the pitch for each other. It was a stable, consistent team. A lot of that was built up from doing so much together.”

Disappointment visited them in that year’s Munster final against Kerry. Six days later they had to take on the Sam Maguire holders Armagh in Dr Hyde Park, Stevie McDonnell bagging a hat-trick in the Orchard win.

Limerick came back for more in 2004 but the Munster title eluded them once more at the final stage, as it did further down the road for the 2009 and 2010 versions.

In that eight-season stretch, Limerick played five Munster finals, losing four and drawing one. The defeats were by an accumulated margin of 13 points. Every day there were occasions where victory appeared within their grasp. Fine margins.

“It was the ultimate goal and we didn’t achieve it,” reflects Gavin.

“The first year in Killarney we probably didn’t perform, maybe in hindsight that was the day to do it. By ’04 we were probably stronger as a team but Kerry, Jack O’Connor came in and introduced players like Paul Galvin and Aidan O’Mahony. Declan O’Sullivan had come in ’03. They turned out to be legends of the game.

“We put them to the pin of their collar but if you don’t win you’re not going to be remembered. You need to get over the line. You look at the likes of Westmeath and Laois at the time, football seemed much more open than it is now. The drawn game in ’04 in the Gaelic Grounds, ultimately we had our chances near the end. That’s the difference. No complaints.”

For a time Limerick football fell off a cliff, plummeting down to the basement divisions. Slowly they have pulled themselves back up. Gavin looks at the current team and has been impressed with the climb they have made upn the football ladder, hailing the transformative work of Billy Lee.

“Billy did an absolutely massive job. Compare when he took over to when he left, it speaks for itself. There’s plenty there now for Ray Dempsey to work with.”

Gavin does his own bit at the coalface. He’s senior manager of his club Monaleen and on a wider level has helped construct the Limerick Football Academy system.

“I’m still involved, every year just trying to help it, 10 years with Paul Kinnerk and Stephen Lavin now. It’s a great academy for just coaching. A huge number of kids going through it. We’re hoping some of them will go on and play inter-county. Most of them, it’ll be about trying to send them back to their clubs as good footballers and better players. It’s a great setup to be a small part of.”

Kinnerk adds stardust to the operation. Limerick is now indisputably hurling country. The coaching mastermind on the sideline is Gavin’s club-mate, someone he watched as a teenager with Monaleen develop into a player who won county medals and then have a revolutionary impact on hurling coaching.

“In the club we’re hugely proud of him. He’s a friend first and foremost. That first county we won in ’02, I think he was the youngest on the panel. He’s obviously a genius when it comes to coaching. When we set up the Academy, one of the big things for me was just walking around on a Saturday morning, learning from him. I realised that even though I’d gone through an inter-county career at that stage but I knew very little about coaching. I’d learn from just listening to him.

“Then see the coaching sessions he took for Monaleen. The club team won the All-Ireland intermediate hurling there a few weeks ago and Paul took a good few sessions for them, he’s different class. It’s great to have a Monaleen man so well-known and so high-profile on the national stage.”

Gavin has had a watching role for Limerick’s current league campaign as they compete in a new environment in Division 2. They are pointless after three games but the early fixtures stacked against them, taking on the reigning Ulster and Leinster champions.

Dublin’s arrival brought a splash of glamour to the Gaelic Grounds, today’s trip to Páirc Uí Chaoimh provides another test.

“The glamour element is huge. A few of us were in the stand and we were trying to count the All-Ireland medals on the pitch and I think we got to nearly 50. That’s a great novelty for Limerick football and it does add to it. They bring their own crowd. It was an enjoyable game to watch, I saw the Cork game on TV last week and same thing again, Dublin elevate it from a normal league game.

“They gave Dublin too much respect, first 20 minutes and just stood off them. They were eight, nine points down before they started to play but once they did play, they actually did an awful lot well. It was a very respectable performance for 40 minutes. But that’s not enough. Against Louth they did an awful lot right but they just need to keep at it now. They’ll learn more from being in Division 2. You’d like to think they could stay in it but they need to pick up points.”

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