The 2018 Limerick county hurling team season was the

Limerick senior hurling team The Limerick county hurling team represents Limerick in hurling and is governed by Limerick GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior ...

's 127th active season of participation in

inter-county Inter-county, or inter county is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) terminology which refers to competitions or matches between counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term can also be used to describe the players o ...

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of pla ...

. During the season, Limerick played in the Munster League, the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, the

Munster Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurlin ...

and the All-Ireland Championship. It was the team's most successful season in nearly half a century. Veteran players James Ryan and

Gavin O'Mahony Gavin O'Mahony (born 11 June 1987) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Kilmallock and was a member of the Limerick senior inter-county team from 2007 until 2017. O'Mahony announced his retirement from inter-county ...

retired from inter-county hurling within days of each other at the end of the previous season, while 2017 championship panellist

Stephen Cahill Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to deat ...

was also an absentee. Notable players returning included

Kevin Downes Kevin Downes is an American actor, writer, producer, director, and co-founder and Chief of Production and Distribution of Kingdom Story Company. Downes grew up in Visalia, five hours north of Los Angeles. Many of the Christian films he parti ...

, who missed the 2017 season due to a cruciate injury, and David Reidy, who rejoined the Limerick panel after a year with the Kildare senior hurling team. Other additions included several players from Limerick's 2017 All-Ireland Under-21 Championship-winning team, such as

Séamus Flanagan Séamus Flanagan (born 1997) is an Irish hurler who plays as a full-forward for club side Feohanagh-Castlemahon and at inter-county level with the Limerick senior hurling team. Club career Flanagan joined the Feohanagh-Castlemahon club at a y ...

. On 19 August 2018, Limerick won the All-Ireland title for the 8th time in their history after a 3-16 to 2-18 defeat of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

in the All-Ireland SHC final at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and h ...

. Leading by nine points at one stage in the second half and by eight with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Limerick withstood a sensational Galway comeback, which included late goals by

Conor Whelan Conor Whelan (born 31 October 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a right corner forward for club side Kinvara and at inter-county level for the Galway senior hurling team. Playing career University of Galway As a student at the Universit ...

and

Joe Canning Joseph Canning (born 11 October 1988) is an Irish hurler who plays for club side Portumna and previously at inter-county level with the Galway senior hurling team. Often considered one of the greatest players of his generation and widely rega ...

, to win by a single point. It was their first All-Ireland title since

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

. Limerick were described as the "worthiest All-Ireland champions" of all time after playing eight games to win the title, including defeats of the traditional big three - Kilkenny,

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

- as well as the 2017 All-Ireland champions Galway and runners-up

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. Over 80,000 fans lined the streets of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

Players and staff

Backroom staff

All-Ireland Championship

Knockout stages

Statistics

Scorers

Clean sheets

References