Declan Hannon adjusting to life on the other side as Limerick prep for another dance with Clare

One of the trickiest aspects of Munster final day last month for Declan Hannon was trying to locate a parking spot near Páirc Uí Chaoimh. All-Ireland medals are priceless, but parking meters don’t recognise a Celtic Cross as legal tender.

For the man who captained Limerick during an unprecedented era of success, sitting in the stand for the provincial decider was another step in his transition from committed player to loyal supporter.

The five-time All-Ireland winner announced his retirement in October last year. He missed the latter stages of the 2023 championship due to a knee injury but remained a key member of the squad that summer and featured in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Dublin.

That game would mark his last in the green of Limerick, but the three-time All Star intends to hurl away with Adare for a few more years yet.

Still, every player takes a different approach to the intercounty game after retiring. Many make a clean break entirely, some get involved in media work, and others move seamlessly to the role of supporter.

Hannon has slotted into the latter category, for the most part. He went to several of Limerick’s league games this season and was at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in early June to watch them wrest back control of Munster.

“It is such a different perspective as a supporter,” he says. “You have all the stuff beforehand, trying to find parking, and then afterwards you are manoeuvring around the traffic trying to get home. It’s a lot different to just hopping on the bus and getting out of there.

“You can’t replicate the feeling of being on the field, so it takes a bit of adjustment. But I’ve been at a good few games now as a supporter, so it has been enjoyable getting to experience it from that side as well. I’m content with the decision I made.”

Hannon has found himself to be a largely restrained spectator, but there’s one aspect of crowd interaction that has challenged him.

“Hearing comments from supporters about players out on the field when they are kind of your best buddies, that took a bit of getting used to,” he says.

“But I’ve found the more games I’ve gone to, the more I’ve learned to take no notice, to say nothing. I’m fairly reserved at games, I’m not a fan who is up roaring and bawling and shouting.”

Limerick, who won six Munster titles in a row between 2019-2024, celebrated this year’s triumph with the gusto of a team claiming a first provincial title in decades.

For a side with bucketloads of medals already acquired, it was an insight into Limerick’s level of motivation this summer.

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“I’d say it was just a result of the disappointment from the last couple of years. Limerick had gone from collecting a few trophies most years to having nothing last year and losing the Munster final to Cork. So there was that factor,” says Hannon.

“And you also have the rivalry that has built up between the two teams over the years as well. There is really nothing between them, so I’d say the players were relieved at the end to win down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. And the celebrations were a way to try engage the supporters as well and to get them to enjoy the whole occasion.

“It was great to see, you’d swear they hadn’t won anything before. Sometimes teams could win and they don’t celebrate a whole pile at all, so I thought it was great.”

The final whistle brought up a range of emotions for Hannon, but the main one was pride.

“It’s funny, it was such a tense game all the way through that at the end when they won, you were just so proud of them. You’d be really delighted for them, because you know how much work they put in and you know the amount of training they had done to achieve that.”

Hannon is living in Dublin these days, so Croke Park on Sunday will be a closer trip than Páirc Uí Chaoimh was a month ago.

Limerick enter their semi-final as favourites against neighbours Clare, while Cork are tipped to overcome Leinster champions Galway on Saturday.

But if a Limerick-Cork All-Ireland final is being discussed by some externally, Hannon says no such conversations are being entertained within the walls of the Limerick dressingroom after recent lessons.

“As we well know in Limerick, it doesn’t always go according to plan. You only have to go back to last year if you need a reminder of that.

“We went up and lost to Dublin in an All-Ireland quarter-final, so you need to perform every day you go out.

“You can see it in the football recently, there have been some surprise results this year, so I think teams will be on high alert this weekend because there is not much between any of the sides left in the All-Ireland.”

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