| 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final | |
| Event: | 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship |
| Team1: | Limerick |
| Team1score: | 0-30 |
| Team2: | Kilkenny |
| Team2score: | 2-15 |
| Date: | 23 July 2023 |
| Stadium: | Croke Park |
| City: | Dublin |
| Man Of The Match1a: | Peter Casey |
| Referee: | John Keenan (Wicklow) |
| Weather: | Cloudy with a moderate to fresh northerly breeze 17°C[1] |
| Attendance: | 82,300 |
| Previous: | 2022 |
| Next: | 2024 |
The 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, the 136th final of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and the culmination of the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 23 July 2023.[2] [3]
The match was televised live on RTÉ2 as part of The Sunday Game, presented by Joanne Cantwell from the Croke Park studio with analysis by Anthony Daly, Dónal Óg Cusack and Liam Sheedy. Commentary on the game was provided by Marty Morrissey alongside Michael Duignan.[4]
Defending champions Limerick won the game by 0-30 to 2-15 to claim their four-in-a-row and their fifth title in six years.[5] [6]
The match drew a peak audience of more than 1 million on RTÉ. The TV audience for The Sunday Game coverage peaked at 1,125,000 by the end of the final, the highest since 2019.[7]
See main article: Kilkenny–Limerick hurling rivalry.
Kilkenny finished second in the Leinster round-robin and so advanced to the Leinster Final.As Leinster champions, Kilkenny advanced to the All-Ireland semi-final.
Limerick finished second in the Munster round-robin and so advanced to the Munster Final.As Munster champions, Limerick advanced to the All-Ireland semi-final.
On 13 July, the GAA named Wicklow's John Keenan as the referee for the final, his first All-Ireland final. He previously refereed the 2016 All-Ireland minor final, the 2018 All-Ireland Under-21 final, the 2019 Leinster hurling final and the 2022 Munster hurling final. His umpires were Tommy Redmond (Tinahely), Eddie Leonard (St Patrick's), Paul Reville (Turin) and David Clune (Delvin). His linemen were Galway's Liam Gordon and Wexford's James Owens, with Gordon also the standby referee. The sideline official was Shane Hynes from Galway.[12]
Both teams confirmed that they would return home to their respective counties straight after the match and not remain in Dublin overnight. Limerick would return to Fitzgerald's Woodlands House Hotel and Spa in Adare while Kilkenny would go to the River Court Hotel in Kilkenny.[13]
The final was shown on a big screen on Pery Square in Limerick where an all ticket crowd watched the match.[14]
The Offaly team that won the 1998 All-Ireland Final was presented to the crowd before the match.[15]
Paddy Deegan opened the scoring for Kilkenny in the opening minute of the game, a lead which was held for a further five minutes before Limerick could equalise through Cian Lynch, this would be the only time the sides were level until deep into the second half. Limerick would for a brief moment, take the lead of the game when Diarmaid Byrnes knocked over Limerick's second point of the afternoon. However, Limerick's bright start was negated when, in the 10th minute, Eoin Cody picked up a loose ball in the Limerick box, and tucked it low into the bottom-right of the Limerick net, giving Kilkenny a two point advantage. By the 14th minute, two of Limerick's half-back line, William O'Donoghue and Diarmaid Byrnes received yellow cards for foul play. Kilkenny would go on to dominate much of the first half proceedings, leading by as much as six points by the 27th minute. At the end of the first half, Kilkenny led by three points on a 1-09 to 0-09 scoreline.
Limerick started the second half intensely, rejuvenating their hopes of a fourth successive championship, bringing the scores to within a point by the 40th minute. Yet the afternoon was about to take another turn when a piece of individual brilliance saw Deegan scored a goal for Kilkenny, breaking the right side-netting of the Limerick goal. This saw Kilkenny extend their lead to five points in the 42nd minute. Limerick would bravely respond to this turn of events, aggressively seeking possession and scoring five successive points to bring the scores level for only the second time in the contest with 13 minutes remaining in normal time. From this point onwards, Limerick took control of proceedings, taking the lead for the first time since the sixth minute, when Darragh O'Donovan made it 0-18 to 2-11 in the 58th minute. In total, Limerick outscored Kilkenny 0-21 to 1-06 in the second half, completing a stellar comeback and running out comfortable winners. The game finished Kilkenny 2-15 (21 points), Limerick 0-30 (30 points). This fourth consecutive championship meant Limerick became only the third county, since the competition began in 1887, to win four All-Ireland hurling titles in a row.[16] [17] [18]
While David Blanchfield was named on the Kilkenny squad to start at right wing back, he was unable to due to injury. Walter Walsh started in the position instead wearing the number 24 jersey. While starting in the half back line, Walsh operated across the half forward line, with Conor Fogarty dropping back to cover the number 5 position, and John Donnelly occupying the midfield area.
| GK | 1 | |||
| B | 2 | |||
| B | 3 | |||
| B | 4 | |||
| HB | 5 | |||
| HB | 6 | |||
| HB | 7 | |||
| MF | 8 | |||
| MF | 9 | Cian Lynch (c) | ||
| FW | 10 | |||
| FW | 11 | |||
| FW | 12 | |||
| FW | 13 | |||
| FW | 14 | |||
| FW | 15 | |||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| 16 | ||||
| 17 | ||||
| 18 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| Manager: | ||||
| John Kiely | ||||
| GK | 1 | |||
| B | 2 | |||
| B | 3 | |||
| B | 4 | |||
| HB | 24 | |||
| HB | 6 | |||
| HB | 7 | |||
| MF | 8 | |||
| MF | 9 | |||
| FW | 10 | |||
| FW | 11 | |||
| FW | 12 | |||
| FW | 13 | |||
| FW | 14 | |||
| FW | 15 | Eoin Cody (c) | ||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| 16 | ||||
| 17 | ||||
| 18 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| Manager: | ||||
| Derek Lyng | ||||
Stand-in captain Cian Lynch accepted the Liam MacCarthy Cup from GAA president Larry McCarthy in the Hogan Stand alongside the injured Declan Hannon.[19]
Diarmaid Byrnes speaking to RTÉ after the match said "it needed a big half-time talk" to inspire Limerick's second period demolition of Kilkenny.[20]
Limerick manager John Kiely credited his team for both their resolve and their ability to stick to the process in the white heat of battle.[21]
Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng speaking to RTÉ after the match admitted Limerick were relentless in the way they ground down his side as the 70 minutes elapsed.[22]
Highlights of the final were shown on The Sunday Game programme which aired at 9:30pm that night on RTÉ2 and was presented by Jacqui Hurley.[23]
The Limerick team returned home straight after the final where a private event was held at the Fitzgerald Woodlands House Hotel in Adare.[24] An estimated 20,000 people turned out to welcome home the team at a public homecoming event at Pery Square in the city centre from 5pm the next day, where a list of live acts and music entertained the crowds in advance of the team's appearance.[25] [26] [27]