2019 Fitzgibbon Cup Preview

Fitzgibbon Cup 2019

Once again there will be much local interest in this years Fitzgibbon Cup with three Limerick colleges involved.

UL will be looking to retain the crown they won last year. Indeed, the competition has been won by a Limerick college in each of the last four years with Mary I’s back-to-back success sandwiched between triumphs for UL.

Nine of Limerick’s All-Ireland winning squad were involved in that UL side while a further six features in Mary I’s victories in 2016 & 2017 just demonstrating the calibre of player involved in the competition.

Below we look at each group involving a Limerick college ahead of the beginning of the campaign on Sunday January 20.

Group A: UCC, UL, NUIG, UCD

Champions and favourites UL have been drawn in Group A alongside UCC, NUIG and UCD. In WHAT has been described as the toughest group in the competition, the holders will have their work cut out for them. All-Ireland winner Seamus Flanagan is no doubt UCD’s star man while new member of the Limerick senior hurling panel Conor Boylan plies his trade for UCC.

Limerick representatives:

UL: Kyle Hayes, Barry Murphy, Barry Nash, Lorcan O’Leary, Tom Morrissey, Dan Joy, Kevin O’Brien, Ronan Lynch, Jamie Power

UCD: Seamus Flanagan, UCC: Conor Boylan

Group B: Limerick IT, IT Carlow, Trinity, Garda

LIT have been drawn in Group 2 and for the first time in seventeen years, they won’t be under the guidance of Davy Fitzgerald. They will fancy themselves to make it out of the group where top of the table should come down to their clash with 2017 finalists IT Carlow

Limerick representatives:

LIT: Diarmuid Byrnes, Andrew La Touche Cosgrave, William O’Meara, Oisin O’Reilly, Peter Casey, David Dempsey, Brian Fanning, James O’Riordan and Bryan Curtin

Trinity: Eoghan McNamara, Daniel Long and John Noonan.

Garda: Barry O’Connel, Darragh Stapleton, Dylan Sheehan, Barry Cusack, Stephen Foley and Anthony Hartnett.

Group C: Waterford IT, DCU, Cork IT

Finalists from last year, DCU will expect to make it out of this group where it’s likely WIT and CIT battle it out for second spot.

Limerick Representatives

Group D: DIT, Mary I, Maynooth University

Mary I feature in Group D alongside DIT and Maynooth University. Jamie Wall’s side will be disappointed with anything other than a first placed finish as they look to reclaim the crown they lost to UL last year.

Limerick Representatives:

Mary I: Aaron Gillane, Thomas Grimes and Sean Hogan.

Fixtures

Sunday January 20

UL v UCC in UL at 2.30pm

Carlow IT v LIT in Carlow @ 2pm

DIT v Mary I in Dublin @4pm.

Wednesday-Thursday January 23-24

NUIG  v UL in Galway

LIT v Garda in Limerick

Mary I v Maynooth in Limerick.

Wednesday-Thursday January 30-31

UCD v UL in Dublin

LIT v Trinity in Limerick.