Limerick seal 13th All-Ireland hurling title with final win over Galway

Limerick have won the All-Ireland senior hurling championship for the 13th time in the county's history and the sixth time since 2018, after beating Galway in the final.

The Liam MacCarthy Cup returned to the county for the first time since 2023, and manager John Kiely summed up his feelings afterwards as "great satisfaction, a shared sense of joy".

What happened

Limerick produced what the manager described as a relentless performance, taking their chances when they came and denying Galway room to settle. Byrnes contributed four points to the winning effort.

Kiely acknowledged that the margin on the scoreboard was flattering in one sense, but argued it was earned through application and quality rather than any collapse from the opposition.

Why it matters

• Limerick's 13th All-Ireland senior hurling title, and their sixth since 2018
• The win follows a 2024 semi-final defeat that ended their 'drive for five' hopes and a 2025 quarter-final exit to a Dublin side reduced to 14 men
• Byrnes scored four points in the final
• Kiely credited coach Paul Kinnerk, psychologist Caroline Currid and the medical team led by Adrian O'Brien as part of a collective effort
• The panel came together on 15 November, with Kiely describing the training application since then as incessant

Kiely also reflected on his own playing days, recalling the 1994 and 1996 finals that Limerick lost and saying the hurt from those defeats never fully leaves you. He said the priority was seeing this group reach its potential after two seasons in which he felt the team had left something behind at key moments.

What's next

Kiely was quick to note that the challenge will not ease, pointing to Clare, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford as serious opponents within the Munster Championship, and predicting that Galway will come again. For Limerick, the task now is to defend a title they have reclaimed after two years without it.