Shannon RFC face Nenagh in Thursday's Limerick Charity Cup final

SHANNON RFC travel to North Tipp this Thursday evening to face Nenagh Ormond in this season's Limerick Charity Cup final at New Ormond Park, 8pm.

Shannon go into the game on the back of preserving their All-Ireland League Division 1A status for next season thanks to an impressive play-off win over Highfield on the back pitch at Thomond Park on Saturday last.

The Parish side reached this week's Limerick Charity Cup final by defeating local rivals Young Munster 16-8 in their semi-final back last September.

Charity Cup finalists Nenagh Ormond finished in third place in Division 2A of the AIL at the end of the regular season. However, the Tipp side lost out to Blackrock College in the promotion play-offs.

Nenagh Ormond also reached the Munster Senior Cup final in March where they suffered a narrow defeat to Young Munster.

Originally known as the Hospital Cup, the Limerick Charity Cup competition was introduced in 1924 by Garryowen’s Jack O’Sullivan to raise funds for Barrington and St John’s Hospital in Limerick.

A dynamic character, Jack was a founder playing member of Garryowen, going onto play for Munster and winning two Irish caps. He also won five Munster Senior Cup medals.

He went onto become President of Garryowen, the Munster Branch and the Union, and was responsible for bringing the first international game to Limerick in the late 1800s, with Ireland playing Wales on that occasion.

The name of the competition changed five years after it was introduced to encapsulate other charities that became involved. Garryowen were the first winners of the competition.