Limerick legend Richie Bennis calls on parishes to move Mass times for Munster final

THE NOVEL Munster final throw-in time of 6pm on Saturday has posed a problem for Mass-goers and those who worship at the altar of Limerick hurling.

Many are normally in church pews in or around that time instead of armchairs, bar stools or lucky enough to be in seats in the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

Limerick Live understands that not even Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has the power to tell parishes to bring Mass times forward or push them back due to the clash with Cork - that it is a matter for parishes themselves.

And then there are all the Limerick parishes in the Cashel & Emly Archdiocese, not to mention the parish of Castleconnell and Ahane is in Killaloe Diocese.

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When contacted by Limerick Live, hurling legend Richie Bennis called on parishes to move Mass times to facilitate Limerick fans who want to watch the match on Saturday evening. 

For example, the time of Masses in Kilmallock, Kilfinane and Ardpatrick have been moved to the earlier 5pm timeslot on Saturday. The Mass time in Doon has also been been changed to 5pm due to the special hurling occasion.

Patrickswell’s Richie, who won an All-Ireland with Limerick in 1973 and almost brought us to the Promised Land as manager in 2007, is a daily Mass-goer. He famously brought his players to church before the All-Ireland semi-final and final during their amazing run to Croke Park in 2007.

However, Richie concedes there may be sensitive reasons for some Mass times not being changed on Saturday night. He says they are very lucky to have three priests in Patrickswell - Fr Michael Cussen, Monsignor Michael Lane and Fr Éamonn Fitzgibbon.

Turning to the match itself in the TUS Gaelic Grounds, Richie said: “I’d be very confident."

Although he qualifies that by saying everything went right for Limerick during the 16 point round robin defeat of Cork. Richie said it reminded him of Limerick’s second half performance against Tipperary in 2021 when they blitzed Liam Sheedy’s men.

“If everything goes right for Cork we could be in trouble. Sport is funny,” said Richie.

But win, lose or draw, Richie says this generational Limerick team “owe us nothing”.