Shane Dowling to make sensational return for Limerick hurlers

Shane Dowling is making a dramatic return to the Limerick hurling team, more than four years after being forced into retirement.

Dowling, an All Star forward in 2014 and a crucial impact player as Limerick won their first All-Ireland in 45 years in 2018, called time on his career due to chronic knee problems in 2020, with the ailments not even allowing him to play a meaningful role for his club Na Piarsaigh as an outfield player.

However, he was reinvented as a goalkeeper for the club in recent seasons, winning a county title last year and also proving a valuable asset from frees and penalties. But with Limerick’s long-serving netminder Nickie Quaid ruled out for the bulk, if not all, of the 2025 inter-county season with a cruciate ligament injury, Treaty boss John Kiely has invited Dowling to rejoin the squad.

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Following Barry Hennessy’s retirement as Quaid’s understudy in 2022, Jason Gillane, brother of star forward Aaron has emerged as the second choice goalkeeper and 31-year-old Dowling will joust with him and Conor Hanley Clarke for the No 1 jersey for the 2025 campaign.

Dowling was just 27, and already the county's all-time leading scorer, when forced into retirement and missed Limerick’s greatest era as they won four All-Irelands in succession and five Munster titles. He was part of the first Limerick side to win Munster in 17 years in 2013 and won his All Star the following year, though his cameos off the bench during the All-Ireland run, especially in the semi-final and final wins over Cork and Galway respectively, were particularly memorable.

His superb batted finish in the 2019 semi-final against Kilkenny looked as though it might save Limerick’s blushes but they slipped to a one-point loss in what proved to be his final appearance for the county, with news of his retirement emerging the following year as he embarked on a career as a columnist with Mirror Sport and analyst with RTE.

Dowling departed with one All-Ireland, two Munster titles and an Allianz League - but now he has the opportunity to add to that collection with Limerick already installed as next year’s All-Ireland favourites.

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