Limerick hurling success 'goes way beyond sport', says bishop

THE Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has said the success of the county hurlers on the field “goes way beyond sport”.

He praised man-of-the-match Cian Lynch for his comments made in the immediate aftermath of the win, where he emphasised the need for teamwork.

And he has thanked manager John Kiely and the rest of the team for the “joy and example” they have given the people of Limerick in winning a third All-Ireland hurling title in four years.

For the first time in history, the Treatymen won the Liam MacCarthy cup in consecutive years, with victory over Cork in Croke Park.

“It has been such a difficult 18 months or so for everyone but we are very privileged to have had our spirits lifted by their brilliant hurling and ultimate success,” Bishop Leahy said, “Everyone involved have been responsible for bringing the people of Limerick on such a journey that has been a wonderful distraction from our other challenges and woes in this world today. They really have raised the spirits of the entire county, put a smile on our faces and wiped stresses away for so many. That is a gift to us all that we have to be very grateful for.”

He said there is an even more profound message coming from the team, squad management and background set up.

“For me, there was a deeper life-lesson from them, captured brilliantly by Cian Lynch in his post-match interview when he talked about the team ethic. He talked about the last 18 months, how they were always able to depend on each other and how every man was ‘on the next man’s shoulders,” he said.

“I was struck in particular by his words: ‘for any young girl or boy aspiring to represent your county in any sport, be a team player and keep driving on’.  These are inspirational words that speak to the need to always be there for each other. It’s a lesson that can be translated to family, to the workplace, to friendship and can stand us in such good stead in challenging times and, no doubt, there were those along the journey for this team too. Essentially, the message we can take from this is that we can only do so much on our own in life but together with others, we can scale mountains, just like this Limerick team,” added the bishop.