Limerick county football team

Limerick

Sport:	Football
Irish:	Luimneach
Nickname(s):	The Shannonsiders The Treaty County
County board:	Limerick GAA
Manager:	Jimmy Lee
Captain:	Cillian Fahy [1] [2]
Home venue(s):	Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale
Recent competitive record
Current All-Ireland status:	Munster (QF) in 2025
Last championship title:	1896
Current NFL Division:	4 (2nd in 2025; promoted to Division 3)
Last league title:	None
First colours Second colours

The Limerick county football team represents Limerick in men's Gaelic football 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 Football Championship, the Munster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

Limerick's home ground is Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale. The team's manager is Jimmy Lee.

Limerick was the first Munster county to win an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC). It has won two All-Ireland Senior Championships. The county last won the Munster Senior Championship and the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 1896. Limerick have never won the National League.

History

Limerick won the first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) in 1887 and repeated this success in 1896, when it became the first non-Leinster team to beat the then all-conquering Dublin in a championship match.

The team did not play in the Munster Football Championship (1941-1942) due to Foot and Mouth in 1941 (1949-1950) & (1953–1964).

Limerick plays in Division 4 of the National Football League.

1887 All Ireland SFC-winning Limerick county football team

1896 All Ireland-winning Limerick county football team

Panel

Team as per Limerick vs Kildare in the Tailteann Cup final, 12 July 2025 Based on: ^{[3] [4]} Note that Emmet Rigter, Danny Neville and Cillian Fahy's positions differ slightly in the team announcement from the Limerick Leader and the match report, which follows the RTÉ broadcast numbers. All numbers confirmed by live coverage of The Sunday Game , except 22 (Diarmuid Buckley of Father Casey's, in the Limerick Leader ) is A Masterson on RTÉ (see 0:08:18 here).

No. Player Position Club 1 Josh Ryan Goalkeeper Oola 2 Jason Hassett Right corner-back Mungret St Paul's 3 Darren O'Doherty Full-back Newcastle West 4 Mark McCarthy Left corner-back Father Casey's 5 Killian Ryan Right half-back Mungret St Paul's 6 Iain Corbett Centre-back Newcastle West 7 Tony McCarthy Left half-back Kildimo-Pallaskenry 8 Tommie Childs Midfield Galtee Gaels 9 Darragh O'Hagan Midfield Mungret St Paul's 10 Paul Maher Right half-forward Adare 11 Cillian Fahy (c) Centre-forward Dromcollogher–Broadford 12 Danny Neville Left half-forward Askeaton/Ballysteen/Kilcornan 13 Emmet Rigter Right corner-forward Newcastle West 14 James Naughton Full-forward St Senan's 15 Peter Nash Left corner-forward Kildimo-Pallaskenry

No. Player Position Club 16 Jeffrey Alfred Substitute Adare 17 Cormac Woulfe Substitute St Senan's 18 Tadgh O'Siochru Substitute Monaleen 19 Conall O'Duinn Substitute Monaleen 20 Barry Coleman Substitute Rathkeale 21 Sean Clancy Substitute Galtee Gaels 22 A. Masterson Substitute 23 Darragh Murray Substitute Monaleen 24 Rory O'Brien Substitute Father Casey's 25 Andrew Meade Substitute Rathkeale 26 Rob Childs Substitute Galtee Gaels

^INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.
^RET Player has since retired from the county team.
^WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

Management team

Appointed August 2023: ^{[5] [6]}

• Manager: Jimmy Lee
• Head coach: Micheál Cahill
• Performance co-ordinator: Adrian O'Brien
• Strength and conditioning coach: Dylan Kenny

Managerial history

Dates	Name	Origin	Provincial titles	National titles
1979–1981	Des McDonnell	Monaleen
1982–1983	Donie Nestor	Askeaton
1984–1987	Raymond O'Hagan	Mungret St Paul's
1987–1988	Paddy O'Dwyer	Claughaun
1988–1993	P. J. Bourke	Oola
1993–1994	Ger Power
1995–1997	David Quirke	Oola
1997–1999	Paddy Mulvihill
1999–2005	Liam Kearns		2004 McGrath Cup [7] 2005 McGrath Cup [8]
2005–2010	Mickey 'Ned' O'Sullivan		—	2010 NFL Division 4 [9]
2010–2013	Maurice Horan	Na Piarsaigh	—	2013 NFL Division 4 [10]
2013–2016	John Brudair	Dromcollogher–Broadford	—	—
2017–2022 [11]	Billy Lee	Newcastle West	2020 McGrath Cup [12]	2020 NFL Division 4 [13]
2022–2023	Ray Dempsey		—	—
2023	Mark Fitzgerald		—	—
2023–	Jimmy Lee	Newcastle West		2025 NFL Division 4 [14]

Players

Notable players

For individual player details, see Category:Limerick inter-county Gaelic footballers.

• Seanie Buckley: defender, ^[15] captained Limerick to the 2010 NFL Division 4 and 2013 NFL Division 4 titles ^[16] 13 seasons and 40 championship appearances for Limerick (Dromcollogher–Broadford) ^[17]
• Brian Fanning: full-back who played between 2016 and 2021, winning the 2020 McGrath Cup and 2020 NFL Division 4 title ^[18] (Pallasgreen)
• Jamie Lee, who went to New South Wales in February 2020 ^[19]
• Johnny McCarthy: 2009 All Star nominee ^[16] midfield or attack; ^[15] from the St Kieran's club, McCarthy played 14 seasons for Limericks, including 46 championship appearances, among them the 2004, 2009 and 2010 Munster SFC finals ^[17]
• Seamus O'Carroll: ^[20] of Castleknock (Dublin)
• Seán O'Dea, of Kilteely–Dromkeen, who played 16 seasons for Limerick ^[21]
• Donal O'Sullivan, of Monaleen, who was Limerick's joint captain and goalkeeper when he retired after the 2023 season, ^[22] a doctor ^[19]
• Josh Ryan, a forward with Oola, ^[23] later turned goalkeeper (see 2025 Tailteann Cup final)

Records

• James Naughton scored 4–12 against Waterford at Mick Neville Park in the 2025 National Football League, one point more than the previous record for highest individual score in a single inter-county match, set by Frankie Donnelly of Tyrone against Fermanagh in the 1957 Dr Lagan Cup. ^[24]

All Stars

Limerick has no All Stars. ^[25]

Honours

National

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
  • Winners (2): 1887, 1896
• Tailteann Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2025
• National Football League Division 4
  • Winners (4): 2010, ^[9] 2013, ^[10] 2020, ^[13] 2025 ^[14]
• Dr Croke Cup
  • Winners (1): 1897

Provincial

• Munster Senior Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 1896
  • Runners-up (13): 1888, 1895, 1901, 1905, 1922, 1934, 1965, 1991, 2003,^{[ citation needed ]} 2004, ^[26] 2009, ^[27] 2010, ^[28] 2022 ^[29]
• Munster Junior Football Championship
  • Winners (4): 1916, 1929, 1939, 1950
• Munster Under-21 Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 2000
  • Runners-up (3): 1984, 2001, 2005
• Munster Minor Football Championship
  • Winners (1): 1956
  • Runners-up (4): 1950, 1997, 1998,^{[ citation needed ]} 2021 ^[30]
• McGrath Cup
  • Winners (7): 1985, 1987, 1991, 2001,^{[ citation needed ]} 2004, ^[7] 2005, ^[8] 2020 ^[12]
  • Runners-up (3): 2007, 2008,^{[ citation needed ]} 2017, ^[31] 2023 ^[32]

References

1. "Fahy named new Limerick football captain". Hogan Stand. 15 January 2025.
2. "Limerick full of confidence and ready to cause an upset in Tailteann Cup final". RTÉ. 7 July 2025. 'There has been a great buzz around the camp', Limerick captain Cillian Fahy told RTÉ Sport ahead of the Croke Park decider.
3. Shaughnessy, Paul (11 July 2025). "Limerick senior football team announced for Tailteann Cup final against Kildare". Limerick Leader.
4. Keane, Paul (12 July 2025). "Tailteann Cup final". Limerick GAA.
5. "Jimmy Lee set to take over as Limerick football manager". RTÉ. 20 August 2023.
6. "Lee reappointed Limerick football manager". Hogan Stand. 12 September 2024.
7. "Limerick's Cup of joy". Irish Independent. 26 January 2004.
8. "Limerick retain their McGrath Cup crown". RTÉ. 30 January 2005.
9. "On this day 2010: Limerick footballers claim League crown in Croke Park". Limerick Leader. 24 April 2020.
10. "Limerick 0–16 Offaly 1–11". RTÉ. 27 April 2013.
11. Duffy, Emma (23 August 2022). "Billy Lee steps down as Limerick senior football manager after six years". The42.ie. Lee, previously one of the longest-serving managers in the game, first took charge ahead of the 2017 season.
12. Clancy, Tom (11 January 2020). "Limerick stun Cork to seal famous McGrath Cup final win". Limerick Leader.
13. "Limerick claim football league title glory and Wicklow book promotion with key win over Wexford". The42.ie. 24 October 2020.
14. Shaughnessy, Paul (29 March 2025). "Goal-hungry Limerick claim Division 4 Football League title with thrilling Croke Park win over Wexford: Limerick defeated Wexford 3–11 to 0–18 in the Division 4 league final in Croke Park on Saturday evening". Limerick Leader.
15. "Limerick football pair call it a day". Hogan Stand. 22 January 2018.
16. "Limerick duo announce retirement from inter-county football: The Treaty County stalwarts clocked up over 80 Championship appearances between them". Irish Examiner . 22 January 2018.
17. Duffy, Emma (22 January 2018). "End of an era as long-serving Limerick duo call time on their inter-county careers: Johnny McCarthy and Seanie Buckley have called it a day". The42.ie.
18. Neville, Jack (10 January 2022). "Billy Lee confirms departure of senior player from football ranks". Limerick Post.
19. "Why three players swapped inter-county football for Sydney". RTÉ. 1 June 2020. Donal O'Sullivan is a doctor. He found it difficult to get away and would have to train by himself. Iain Corbett was out in Lebanon.
20. Raleigh, David (18 May 2023). "Father of retired Limerick footballer crushed to death by 'unsafe' automatic steel gate". The Irish Times. Mr O'Carroll's son, Seamus, who recently retired from the Limerick senior football team, and who is a garda based in Dublin city, excused himself from the court as evidence of his father's fatal injuries were read into the record by Limerick coroner John McNamara.
21. "Limerick football panel named as O'Dea bows out". Hogan Stand. 21 January 2025.
22. Roche, Frank (23 November 2023). "Limerick's Donal O'Sullivan calls time on inter county career". Irish Independent.
23. Verney, Michael (18 October 2022). "Limerick footballer Josh Ryan set for long injury lay-off after suffering broken tibia in club hurling action". Irish Independent.
24. Keaveney, Mal (25 March 2025). "Naughton enters record books". Limerick Post.
25. Breheny, Martin (2 November 2016). "All-Star path needs new direction". Irish Independent. Longford, Carlow, Limerick, Waterford and, of course, Kilkenny have never won a football All-Star award.
26. O'Riordan, Ian (19 July 2004). "Defiant Kerry take time to excel". The Irish Times.
27. "Heartbreak for Limerick". Irish Independent. 6 July 2009.
28. "Kerry 1–17 Limerick 1–14". RTÉ. 4 July 2010.
29. Byrne, David (28 May 2022). "Kerry cruise past Limerick to win 83rd Munster SFC title". RTÉ.
30. "Cork complete Munster underage clean sweep with football final success over Limerick". The42.ie. 11 August 2021.
31. "Kerry win McGrath Cup final in extra-time". RTÉ. 22 January 2017.
32. Keogh, John (20 January 2023). "Cork prove too strong for Limerick in McGrath Cup final". Limerick Leader.

External links

• Official website