Sausages sizzled, Cork fizzled – Limerick serves its hurling piping hot!

Last Sunday, Limerick didn’t just host a hurling match - it staged a spectacle.

A sea of 43,000 voices swelled along streets and green areas, into pubs and food queues, in a show of sporting fervour and community pride that got the heart pumping. As the sun beamed down, the air was thick with the scent of sizzling cooking oil, sweat, and sunscreen.   

Before a sliothar was even struck, the energy was unmistakable. Young and old sprawled beneath the trees in the shade at Greystones Park, the buzz of pre-match talk - including remedies for the impending sunburn-  echoed across the green. 

On the city side of Ennis Road, the Roaster Coaster was hard at work, drawing supporters with the irresistible smell of hot food: a goujon meal for €13, sausage suppers, quarter pounders, and classic hot dog meals. For many, this is part of the ritual - something to bite into while soaking up the pints and the pre-match buzz. 

Over on the Clare side of the Ennis Road, the Bunda Truck was firing into action for its first day out. The queues grew long, the chatter grew louder, and all the while, the heat from the fryers kept pace with the rising tension across the road. 

Because while food trucks filled bellies, the real heat was building in TUS Gaelic Grounds. That’s where the Bunda Truck’s owners, Kyle Hayes and Darragh O’Donovan, were about to step into a different kind of fire -  the white-hot intensity of Munster hurling. 

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The sight of Cork's blood-red jerseys surging into the terraces was something to behold. Their colour dominated the eye, their numbers perhaps edged the crowd count, but the green of Limerick -  though softer - roared louder.

In the cauldron of noise, Limerick fans showed up with full voice and fierce heart. Two weeks earlier, John Kiely had issued a rallying cry for the supporters to play their part. On Sunday, they answered. The moment the players stepped onto the field, TUS Gaelic Grounds erupted. Adam English, speaking to Joanne Cantwell on The Sunday Game afterward, summed it up perfectly: “The supporters give you 10% coming down the straight line... and listen, they were brilliant today.”

English himself delivered a performance that felt years in the making.

In 2018, he and Ben White of Cappawhite captained Scoil na Trionoide Naofa, Doon to victory in the U15 Munster B competition. That same year, Limerick ended a 45-year wait for All-Ireland senior glory. John Kiely, fittingly, handed out their medals at the time. 

“Two names to keep an eye out for,” wrote Donal O’Regan in the Limerick Leader that week of the school boys.

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Seven years on, Kiely watches that same English boy lead his county on the senior stage, stick in hand, head held high. English delivered a lesson, a masterclass, reminding us all that the roots of greatness can often play out quietly but steadily - until a day like Sunday reveals them in all their glory.

It’s Clare up next. Another mighty occasion, another mass movement expected along Ennis Road. And if all goes well - if form holds, hunger remains, and if the chips - and sliothars -  bounce kindly - Limerick could be back at TUS Gaelic Grounds on June 7, hosting a Munster final.

Sunday was a reminder of all that’s great about this county: its passion for sport, its sense of occasion, its pride in the jersey. It was about more than the scoreboard. 

Limerick loves its hurling. It lives it.

And when the hurlers perform, the county rises to the occasion - together.