Shane Stapleton and Michael Verney look at the history of Wexford v Limerick, brought to you by OrgaRetro.com — use the promo code ‘OurGame’ for 15% off these jerseys.
A clash of Wexford v Limerick is also a battle between Dancing at the Crossroads and The Cranberries.
The sounds will be remembered as much as the scenes from 1996 and 2018 respectively, as both counties ended long famines to reach the summit of hurling.
The Slaneysiders have lifted the All-Ireland title on six occasions, with the first coming with a 7-0 to 6-2 victory over the Treaty County in 1910 — a game that was reenacted with the old rules and gear a century later.
The Wexford People printed a report of the game from 1910, which went as follows:
Wexford entered the match as underdogs, as Limerick had come through Munster impressively.
A special Mass was celebrated in Castlebridge for all travelling to the final. Fr Pat Kavanagh said ‘men of Castlebridge, whatever you do today go and do it and do it well’.
The ‘Free Press’ reported that 10,000 people packed Jones Road for the occasion, paying a record gate of £300.
Incidentally, 1910 was the first year that goalposts as we know them were used. It was also the year that saw the introduction of the square and the parallelogram.
A Limerick goal was disallowed in the first-half for an infringement of the square, while Wexford had one disallowed in the second.
The game was reported to have been exciting from start to finish. Wexford completely dominated the first-half, with an early goal from Rich Doyle setting them up.
Although Limerick levelled, further goals from Doyle and Andy Kehoe gave the Castlebridge men momentum.
Wexford conceded a soft goal but this was followed by a goal from Dave Kavanagh and Doyle’s third. Wexford led by 6-0 to 3-1 at half-time.
They had to endure long periods of Limerick pressure in the second-half, but the Wexford defence was heroic as they held out for a remarkable 7-0 to 6-2 victory.
Limerick easily won the 1918 All-Ireland final against Wexford in late January of the following year, with an article from Century Ireland outlining the landscape of the era.
Limerick are the All-Ireland hurling champions for 1918. Their decider against Wexford, deferred from last year owing to the flu epidemic, was played before an estimated crowd of 10,000 spectators yesterday at Croke Park.
For such a large attendance, the quality of the contest was a disappointment. Only the Limerick men really showed up and they trounced the Slaneysiders by a scoreline of 9-5 (32 points) to 1-3 (6 points).
Of course, the All-Ireland final of 1996 is much fresher in the memory — the year that Liam Griffin’s men went down to 14 men but still outlasted the Treaty.
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