John Kiely moves second in All-Ireland winners as manager over last 50 years

Looking in from the sideline it would be easy to shrug off John Kiely’s words to OffTheBall in the wake of their latest All-Ireland success as Limerick made it three in a row.

But this Limerick side is unlike other and is rapidly rewriting the history books.

Prior to his arrival, Limerick had won seven All-Ireland titles, with their previous success coming 44 years beforehand.

Since, they have claimed four in five years with Declan Hannon captaining the side to each success, making him the most successful captain of all-time.

To put it in context, Hannon has been captain for 36% of Limerick’s total All-Ireland wins.

But Hannon wasn’t the only one further etching his name into the history books with his manager John Kiely continuing his rapid descent up the rankings.

Kiely’s four All-Ireland wins as manager has seen him jump into second in the list of winningest managers over the last 50 years.

Prior to throw in, he was tied in second with Bertrie Troy (Cork), Pat Henderson (Kilkenny) and Cyril Farrell (Galway) as managers to have won the All-Ireland on three occasions since 1975.

But now Kiely stands alone in that regard with Brian Cody the only man ahead of him. The Kilkenny manager has won an incredible 11 All-Ireland titles as he led the Cats to an unprecedented period of success.

That looks like a record that will never be matched but while it isn’t one that the Galbally man will have his eye on, you couldn’t rule them out.

In his 32 games in charge, Limerick have won 24 of those contests with no defeat in the last sixteen. His Limerick have only been beaten six times with a third of those occurring in his first pair of games.

Without a defeat since 2019, this Limerick side have shown little signs in the way of stopping anytime soon but lengthy periods at the top are incredibly difficult to sustain.

Nonetheless, the latest achievement by Kiely is one that should be appreciated for its difficulty.

And whatever happens from here, he has forever etched his name into the record books.