The 2018 Limerick county hurling team season was the Limerick senior hurling team's 127th active season of participation in inter-county hurling. During the season, Limerick played in the Munster League, the National League, the Munster Championship 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 retired from inter-county hurling within days of each other at the end of the previous season, while 2017 championship panellist Stephen Cahill was also an absentee. Notable players returning included Kevin Downes, 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.
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 in the All-Ireland SHC final at Croke Park. 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 and Joe Canning, to win by a single point. It was their first All-Ireland title since 1973.
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 and Tipperary - as well as the 2017 All-Ireland champions Galway and runners-up Waterford. Over 80,000 fans lined the streets of Limerick to welcome the team home the day after the final.
Players and staff Backroom staff Position NameManagerJohn KielySelectorBrian GearySelectorJimmy QuiltySelectorAaron CunninghamCoachPaul KinnerkStrength and conditioning coachJoe O'ConnorGoalkeeping coachTimmy HoulihanPerformance coachCaroline CurridStatisticianSeán O'DonnellStatisticianKieran HickeyStatisticianConor RealeStatisticianRuairí MaherLogisticsEamon O'NeillLogisticsConor McCarthyKitmanGer O'ConnellMaor CamáinAlan FeelyDoctorJames RyanPhysioMark van DrumptPhysioMark Melbourne
All-Ireland Championship Knockout stages DateRoundOpponentsResultScorersAttendance7 July 2018PreliminaryQuarter-finalCarlow5-22 - 0-13A Gillane 1-6 (0-2fs), P Casey 1-3, T Morrissey 0-5, G Mulcahy, D Byrnes (0-1 '65') 1-1 each,K Hayes 1-0, G Hegarty 0-2, C Lynch, B Nash, S Flanagan, D O'Donovan 0-1 each.6,00014 July 2018Quarter-finalKilkenny0-27 - 1-22A Gillane 0-5 (2f), T Morrissey 0-4, K Hayes, G Mulcahy, G Hegarty, D O'Donovan (1 sideline) 0-3 each,P Casey 0-2, S Flanagan, D Byrne, D Hannon, S Dowling 0-1 each.18,59628 July 2018Semi-finalCork3-32 - 2-31(aet)A Gillane 0-13 (0-7 fs); S Dowling (1-0 pen; 0-1 f) 1-4 (0-1 f); C Lynch 1-1; G Mulcahy 0-4; P Ryan 1-0;G Hegarty 0-3; D Byrne (f), D O’Donovan, S Flanagan, K Hayes, T Morrissey, B Nash, D Reidy 0-1.71,07319 August 2018FinalGalway3-16 - 2-18G Mulcahy 1-2, K Hayes 0-4, T Morrissey 1-1, S Dowling 1-0, A Gillane 0-3 (0-2f), D Hannon 0-2,D Byrnes, D O’Donovan, C Lynch, S Flanagan 0-1 each.71,073
Statistics Scorers PlayerMunster LeagueNational LeagueMunster Ch.All-Ireland Ch.OverallScoreTotalScoreTotalScoreTotalScoreTotalScoreTotalAaron Gillane1-21246-67850-10101-27308-125149Tom Morrissey0-0880-14140-15151-11141-4851Séamus Flanagan3-05140-14140-0990-0333-3140Graeme Mulcahy—2-04101-0692-10165-2035Diarmaid Byrnes0-0331-13160-0661-0472-2632Gearóid Hegarty0-0111-11141-0580-0882-2531Shane Dowling——0-19192-05112-2430Cian Lynch0-0220-0770-0991-0361-2124Kyle Hayes—1-0360-0551-08112-1622Darragh O'Donovan0-0330-0330-0550-0660-1717David Reidy—0-1515—0-0110-1616Barry Nash1-07100-011—0-0221-1013Paul Browne0-0220-099——0-1111Pat Ryan0-0111-036—1-0032-0410Peter Casey———1-0581-058Colin Ryan—0-066——0-066Oisín O'Reilly—1-025——1-025Barry O'Connell0-0110-044——0-055Barry Murphy—0-0111-003—1-014Declan Hannon0-011——0-0330-044Andrew La Touche Cosgrave0-022———0-022Dan Morrissey——0-022—0-022Paddy O'Loughlin0-011———0-011David Dempsey——0-011—0-011Total5-587313-1772163-9210111-9612932-423519
Clean sheets PlayerMunster LeagueNational LeagueMunster Ch.All-Ireland Ch.TOTALNickie Quaid 1 4 1 1 7Barry Hennessy 0 1 0 0 1Totals1 5 1 1 8
References