The Kerry hurlers' historic victory over Tipperary last Saturday has set up a Munster Hurling Cup semi-final date with All-Ireland champions Limerick this weekend.
Among the Kerry group will be faces familiar to Limerick players from the county's club scene. Paudie Ahern from Killeedy, along with Louis Dee and Niall Mulcahy from Mungret, were all on the Kingdom panel for the weekend's win. The trio qualify to play for Kerry through their parents.
Ahern, who scored three points from play against Tipperary, won an All-Ireland U21 title with Limerick in 2017. Many of the Limerick players who have won three All-Ireland senior titles in recent years - like Kyle Hayes, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey, Sean Finn and others - were teammates.
"He’d be a bit younger than me," said Limerick midfielder Will O'Donoghue on Tuesday said when asked about Ahern.
"I know he hurled with a good few of the lads, Kyle and fellas like that. I’d know him from the lads.
"Niall Mulcahy from Mungret is on the panel and their goalie [Louis Dee] as well was on the Limerick U21 panel.
"It’s fantastic to see guys putting themselves forward and developing if they are eligible to play with Kerry and they’re obviously bringing a lot to that set-up too so fair play to them."
11 January 2022; Irish Life announces four-year partnership with GAA Healthy Clubs. Pictured at the announcement at Croke Park in Dublin is Limerick hurler William O'Donoghue. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
O'Donoghue, who won his first All-Star in December, hopes to line out for Limerick against Kerry on Sunday.
The Na Piarsaigh man feels that if the rules which allow players to transfer to another county were to be loosened, it could create problems.
"It’s probably a tricky one, isn’t it? If you loosen it a bit more, next thing it becomes an issue," he said.
"But I don’t see why you would want to move somewhere where you are not working or don’t have any connection to. It’s probably best if those kinds of things are there, but I don’t know.
"If someone wants to play, more power to them if someone wants to put themselves forward. But maybe once you start relaxing rules you create more problems."
Featured image: 9 September 2017; Paudie Ahern of Limerick during the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling All-Ireland U21 Championship Final match between Kilkenny and Limerick at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Co Tipperary. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
To date, GAA Healthy Clubs has engaged 300 clubs and with the sponsorship, they expect to see an additional 375 clubs join the growing movement by January 2024.
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