NA PIARSAIGH GAA CLUB
LIMERICK

Report: Munster Club Quarter-Final Na Piarsaigh 0-15Ballygunner 0-18The 2025 season came to an agonising end for our senior hurlers on Sunday afternoon in the Gaelic Grounds following a 3-point loss to Ballygunner. Our Waterford opposition won their 12th county championship on the trot this year, setting up a quarter final meeting with ourselves. This was the seventh meeting between the clubs in the Munster championship. We were victorious in our first 3 meetings, defeating Ballygunner in the semi-final of 2011 and the Munster finals of 2015 and 2017. We lost out to the Waterford side in the 2018 final, and the semi-final in both 2022 and 2023. William O’Donoghue had to sit out the game due to a hamstring injury picked up in the county final 2 weeks previous. He was replaced by Tommy Grimes in midfield. Conor Boylan also came into the starting line-up, taking Dylan Lynch’s spot at corner forward. Ballygunner looked the more impressive team from the opening exchanges, scoring 3 points without reply. Peter landed our first score after 10 minutes, adding his second not long after. We had 10 missed scoring opportunities in the first half, between missed frees, wides and balls dropping short. Ballygunner would go in 3-points to the good at half time. Our standout performer in the opening half was Mike Casey at centre back. The All Star nominee was simply outstanding at the heart of our defense. Half time score: Na Piarsaigh 0-05 Ballygunner 0-08The Waterford side were quickest out of the blocks again in the second half, extending their lead to 5 points. Our lads were doing their utmost to wrangle their way back into the tie thanks in no small part to the powerful performance of Daithí Dempsey. He didn’t get his name on the score sheet but Daithí was central to much of the positive Na Piarsaigh play all throughout the 60 minutes. We managed to reel in Ballygunner with 10 to play, Downesy drawing the game level from a free. Ronan would put us up by one moments later with another placed ball. Unfortunately for us, we would only register one more point in the remaining minutes while our opponents roared ahead. Ballygunners rearguard was proving very difficult to break down as we chased a goal with time almost up. The Waterford side looked so assured in defense, coupled with their well oiled running game. They would run out 3-point victors. I find it important to mention Shane Dowling’s fantastic campaign for Na Piarsaigh in 2025. Whether it be some of his exceptional saves throughout the championship along with his puckouts, executed to the highest precision. He was instrumental in both the semi-final and final this year, almost similar to a quarter-back in American football, always an option to receive a pass back from our defense for our outfield players to reset again. Shane’s second retirement from Limerick was announced early this week. A true inspiration for so many Na Piarsaigh and Limerick people alike. There’ll be a few more years for him in the sky blue jersey yet. Conor Boylan and Peter Casey showed their importance to Na Piarsaigh, both making full returns to the pitch in 2025. Peter gave a man of the match performance in our semi-final win over Kilmallock, scoring 5 from play in the opening half and also proving influential in the final against Doon. Conor made his first appearance in the 2025 championship in the county final, coming on in the second half and burying a goal to bring the game to extra time. Both big players for the big day and fantastic to see both men back doing the business for Na Piarsaigh after lengthy and undoubtedly frustrating spells on the sideline. Lastly, it was great to see Eoin Brosnan make his senior championship debut against Ballygunner on Sunday, coming on as a late sub close to the end of normal time. You’ll have a chance to see him, James Finn and a host of other young Na Piarsaigh talent take on Kildimo Pallaskenry in the U20 championship later this week. Updated fixture to follow in the coming days. Team: Shane Dowling, Jerome Boylan, Vince Harrington, Ronan Lynch(0-03f), Emmet McEvoy, Mike Casey, Mike Foley, Tommy Grimes(0-01), JJ Carey, Will Henn, Peter Casey(0-03), Daithí Dempsey, Kevin Downes(0-06, 0-04f 1'65), Adrian Breen(0-01), Conor Boylan(0-01).Subs: Keith Dempsey for Will Henn, James Finn for Mike Foley, Dylan Lynch for Adrian Breen, Eoin Brosnan for Tommy Grimes, Wayne Kearns for JJ Carey. Our senior squad that took on Ballygunner on Sunday.

Bank Holiday Monday 27th of October saw Na Piarsaigh host the David Bourke Memorial Tournament with teams from Galway, Cork, Limerick and Clare. It proved to be a great day of hurling in Páirc Uí Dromgúil. The boys being briefed by Latcha, Finbar and Damian. Austin is hidden in there somewhere. An early round loss to Blarney of Cork put us on the back foot and up against it with regard to participating in the final but true to form our lads lifted. We put in a huge hour of hurling beating Ballyea of Clare before getting over the line in round 3 versus Craughwell of Galway. Those wins put us into the final where we'd be matched against Craughwell again. Playing with a big breeze we didn't capitalise on our territorial advantage, and it needed a great goal by Charlie Collins to see us go in 4 points up at the break. 25 players strong. Craughwell, to their credit, threw everything at us in the second half. An early 2nd half goal made it a very nervous affair, but our lads literally put their bodies on the line and played some excellent hurling into a gale. When the final whistle went, it was Na Piarsaigh that were to prevail by 2 points. Craughwell proved stern opposition in the final. You can view the pre-match parade here.We had 25 players togged today and every one of them contributed to the team's success. They’re a credit to themselves, their parents and the club.Thanks a million to everyone that helped out on the day, the parents that brought food, the players, coaches and everyone that helped make the tournament such a success. The lads were in great spirits in the clubhouse afterwards. It was lovely to meet David's family on the day and have his sisters do the presentations of medals to all the players. David's family with the David Bourke Cup. Finally thanks to the ground staff for having the facilities in such good conditions and to Neil and all the clubhouse staff for all their help. Ballyea of Clare Na Piarsaigh Abu!!! Damian Daly, Finbar Ryan, Mike Collins, Micheál Lynch and Austin Ryan in club afterwards. Thank you to Micheál Lynch for compiling this excellent report. Lovely atmosphere in the club on Monday afternoon.

Senior Football Relegation Semi-FinalNa Piarsaigh 1-12Kildimo Pallaskenry 3-16Our senior footballers had a disappointing afternoon on Saturday, losing out to Kildimo Pallaskenry in the senior relegation semi-final. The result sees us face into a final that no team wants to be preparing for. Ballylanders will be our opponents with fixture details to be confirmed this week.Our opponents looked to be pulling away from us in the opening quarter, our lads struggling to maintain possession. It took us 23 minutes before we got our first score from play. A well worked move, moved up the field through the hands of Kieran Daly and Tommy Glynn, before Dylan Cronin stroked it over the bar. The score of the first half came from the boot of Evan Egan, landing a brilliant 2-pointer to leave a point between the sides at the break. Score at half time: Na Piarsaigh 0-08 Kildimo Pallaskenry 0-09Dylan levelled the game directly from the restart, his goal bound shot grazing the crossbar. That looked to be our last bit of positive play as Kildimo Pallaskenry started to pull away again, slotting their first goal on 37 minutes. They raised a few more white flags before Gordon buried a goal for Na Piarsaigh to cut the deficit to 4. Some bit of a lifeline you might say but for our opponents to lash one in at the other end straight from the restart. That extended their lead to 7-points with 8 to play. They got their third goal on the stroke of full time.Team: Eoghain Sherlock, Fionn O’Tiarnaigh, Ralph Leonard, Christy O’Hagan, Cathal McMullan, Dean McLoughlin, Ronan Houlihan(0-01), Donal Ó Conaill, Jack McCarthy, Gordon Brown(1-00), Evan Egan(0-07, 0-04f 1*2pt), Kieran Daly(0-02f), Daniel Collins, Dylan Cronin(0-02), Tommy Glynn. Subs: Adam Jordan, Jim Beary, Eoghan Vukovic, Aaron Rush. U20 Hurling Championship Round 2Na Piarsaigh 1-16Bruff 0-14Our U20 hurlers had a hard-fought win over a dogged Bruff team on Thursday night in Páirc Uí Dromgúil to register their first victory of this year's championship. A welcome result following their narrow defeat to Mungret in the opening round only a few shorts weeks ago. It was point for point for most of the opening half with Alex Kearns kicking off the scoring with a placed ball. He’d score 3 more frees along with 2 from play before the half time break. Brossie added his first inside 5 minutes before Bruff got off the mark. We looked the better team in the opening exchanges, creating a handful of decent goal chances, snuffed out by the Bruff defense. Their full back line came to the rescue on no more than 3 occasions, refusing to let us get a foothold on the game. The same could be said for our full back line, led by John O’Keeffe at full, and flanked by Mikey Duggan and Harry McGann. They didn’t give Bruff a sniff of a goal chance all throughout the hour. The first half ended as it began, with Alex converting a free and Brossie sending one over from play. Score at halftime: Na Piarsaigh 0-09 Bruff 0-07Fresh off his extra time exploits in the senior final the weekend previous, James Finn was a colossal at centre back on Thursday night. He was dominant in the air along with being a serious threat going forward. An absolute joy to watch. He was greatly assisted by Adam Fitzsimons to his left who also had a solid game for Ardscoil Rís in their Harty Cup win over Cashel recently. David O’Keeffe added to our scoring midway through the second half, moving up from midfield to land a lovely point. The next play saw us finally break through the Bruff rearguard. A great team goal, started with James Finn carrying the ball out from our half back line, splitting the Bruff defense with a floating pass to Mark Hogan. Mark drew in the Bruff fullback, offloading to Brossie for him to dispatch to the net. We did well to ground out what was left of the game, limiting Bruff to a handful of frees. Alex converted a few more placed balls before David got his second on the stroke of full time. Team: Darragh Jordan, Mike Duggan, John O’Keeffe, Harry McGann, Tadhg Mullane, James Finn, Adam Fitzsimons, David O’Keeffe(0-01), Ronan Benson, Paul McDonogh, Mark Hogan, Sam Jordan, Alex Kearns(0-10, 0-06f 1'65), Eoin Brosnan(1-03), Josh Sheehan(0-01)Subs: John O’Tiarnaigh, Conor Bermingham, Ferdia Minihane, Louis Murphy. Our U20 squad