Mary I manager Jamie Wall says an all-Limerick Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup final is a unique event that pits friends and county colleagues against eachother.
A whopping 10 of John Kiely’s Limerick squad will face off at Croke Park on Friday evening, seven with holders UL and three more with Wall’s MICL.
Tipperary and UL star Darragh McCarthy will be lining up against inter-county teammate Adam Daly too.
There are plenty more links between the two panels, like Wall and UL coach Shane McGrath who are close pals.
That’s why ex-Cork underage star Wall says ‘rivalry’ is the wrong word for what will be a repeat of the 2024 final, which MICL won.
“Rivalry is a funny word because a lot of these lads are best friends with guys in the other college,” said Wall. “Some of them are better friends with guys in the other group than their own teammates. A lot of them would have gone to school together before they ever went to third level.
“A lot of them are going to be in training together with Limerick this week and next week. That makes it very hard to keep things to yourself in terms of setups and all the rest of it! But no, it’s a very healthy rivalry and a unique kind of a thing really.
“Even myself, I roomed with Shane McGrath on a stag party for his brother, Cormac. We’ll be on opposite sides at Croke Park but I was only chatting to him during the week. And we’ll all shake hands afterwards, which is the real spirit of it.”
Limerick star Colin Coughlan is captain of UL who smashed 10-55 in their group before knocking out UCC and University of Galway.
Brian Ryan’s side have inter-county icons McCarthy and Adam Screeney up front along with Limerick’s Aidan O’Connor.
As for MICL, they topped Group D before knocking out Dublin duo UCD and DCU, the latter after extra time last week.
Limerick star Shane O’Brien missed the DCU game with a bug after hitting 1-30 in the previous three games.
“Hopefully if they’re fit and ready to go, they’ll be playing,” said Wall. “If not, then it’s going to be next man up. That goes for everyone on the panel.”
Oisín O’Farrell, with 6-11 for the tournament, and Shane Walsh, from the famous Tullaroan family in Kilkenny, have been key figures too for MICL.
It could be a classic final with Croke Park providing a fitting stage.
“The Croke Park factor is going to be a lovely thing for players,” said Wall. “It’s going to be a unique experience for them. A bit of variety is great with the venues and if it’s back to Galway, or if it’s down in the Mardyke or somewhere like Abbeydorney again next year, that’s part of what the Fitzgibbon is about too.”
It’ll be a special occasion for Wall himself who watched his sister, Kate, and brother, Philip, play for St Finbarr’s and Kilbrittain respectively in All-Ireland club finals at Croke Park over winter.
“It’s been an amazing few weeks for the family,” said Wall, who guided MICL to Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup titles in 2017 and 2024.
“It’s just a bit of a coincidence that it all happened for us in the space of a few weeks. Maybe the stars just aligned for Philip and Kate’s teams, especially with them being twins.”
