Shane Dowling column: Limerick-Clare will be like a clash of the gladiators

There was only one flag flying from my window when I was six years of age - and it wasn’t Limerick’s.

Instead, it was the saffron and blue of our near neighbours, Clare.

My father must have wondered what he was rearing, but there was context to it.

Across the road lived Ger Hoey, a stalwart of St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield, with whom he won an All-Ireland club title in 1999, alongside Banner legends Ollie Baker, Seanie McMahon and Jamesie O’Connor.

Ger brought me to many a training session in Roslevan and so I associated more with those Clare players than I did with Limerick’s at that time. And with the innocence of youth and my sense of place not having kicked in yet, it was Clare that I wanted to win when the two counties collided. How times have changed.

If you’re not from Clare or Limerick, it’s something that may be difficult to grasp.

Rivalries like Cork and Kilkenny or Dublin and Kerry in football are formed as a result of frequent meetings in All-Ireland finals, but this one is different.

I was born a stone’s throw from Na Piarsaigh GAA, on the Ennis Road. A few pucks of a sliothar and I’m across the border to Clare.

People from both counties grow up together, go to school together, work together. The hurling rivalry dials up and down depending on where the teams are at and it was mute for a good number of years with little in the way of success for either.

That has changed in recent years. I was jealous as hell watching Clare lads that I had played with and against climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand and now that Limerick have had a run of success, the blood is boiling over in Clare.

Their team now have a manager they would die for by the looks of their performances; they have taken the green machine down already this year and are coming back to the same venue to repeat the trick.

I’m no historian but it reminds me of the colosseum in Rome. A quick Google search tells me that ‘it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, and famous battles’.

Ok, so some of that language doesn’t exactly equate with a game of hurling, but you take my point. It’s set to be a famous battle of a different kind, however, and there are parallels to be drawn between Clare and a dangerous animal hunting down prey in the shape of the Limerick team.

Their supporters can forget about taking over the Gaelic Grounds though. That can only happen if Tony Kelly walks the steps of the Mackey Stand after the game.

As for the game itself, I re-watched the round robin tie between the teams a few weeks back on Wednesday.

John Kiely said this week that Limerick didn’t work anywhere near hard enough on that particular evening and he wasn’t lying. Clare were much the better side.

But you’d expect that Limerick will be a different animal this time. Who’s to say Clare won’t be too?

At some point, tactics will go out the window to a large degree and it will be like two tribes going at it in the colosseum. Lock the gates and leave them at it.

Galway to turn the tables on Kilkenny

There is no point in saying otherwise - the Leinster final is very much playing second fiddle to the Munster showpiece this weekend.

Croke Park may only be a quarter full on Sunday, maybe more.

I was at last year’s Leinster final, billed as Cody v Shefflin, and was expecting fireworks but got none. I couldn’t believe the lack of intensity from both teams.

I left thinking that there was no way that either team could compete for an All-Ireland but how wrong I was.

Galway should have beaten Limerick and then Kilkenny ran them to the wire. Both teams within a puck of a ball of them. So, who knows?

Again, from what we have seen this year, it has been so disappointing. Dublin-Galway wasn’t good; it was exciting because of the close finish.

Now, I must credit dublin. They actually played very well in the first half, but Galway were cat and can count themselves very very lucky to be hurling on Sunday. But they’re there.

No different to Limerick, who were within two points of being knocked out of the championship, one point from playing against Offaly, and now are in a Munster final.

I have no doubt that Henry has them in the palm of his hand after the last performance.

As I said recently, I have no idea where Kilkenny are at. Adrian Mullen is going to be a massive, massive loss - no question.

I believe Galway will win it. On the back of how bad they were in last year’s Leinster final, and their performance against Dublin, Henry will be demanding a big one and I think he’ll get it.

Rebel legend left an outstanding legacy

The beauty of the GAA is that you are privileged to meet many great people over the years and fall into the company of players that you idolised growing up.

Unfortunately for me, I never had the pleasure of crossing paths with Teddy McCarthy and, sadly, that opportunity will now never come following his untimely passing this week.

But I’ve always been acutely aware of how much of a legend he is.

Over the last few days, various clips and images of him in action have surfaced on social media and they all stopped me in my tracks. He was class.

It’s obvious that he was held in very high regard and his death has come as a shock to everyone.

Only last weekend, he was attending games.

I have no doubt that all of the kind words and messages are a source of comfort to his family at this time but there is no getting away from the grieving process that they are going through as a result of the sudden loss of a loved one.

The legacy that he left is, and always will be, there for everybody to remember. May he rest in peace.

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