I know 31 counties think they’ll never hear the end of this year’s All-Ireland Hurling Championship final, but remember it has been a long, long journey for Limerick. Forty five years. That’s how long it’s taken a proud hurling county to bridge the gap between All-Ireland Hurling Championship wins.

Looking at the age profile of the team, I reckon many of their parents weren’t even born back then. And what a bare knuckle ride this year’s final turned out to be.

Anyone who was around for the 1994 final will never forget the Offaly comeback that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and left the city and county bereft. I honestly think it took years for Limerick to recover from that defeat. As Richie Bennis said, the county was haunted by it.

But then again if you look at the age profile of the Limerick team hardly any of them were even born back in 1994, so the spectre of that match wasn’t there to defeat them.

Still, you can imagine the anxiety levels when with only minutes to play Galway took a jack hammer to a massive Limerick lead. Eight miserable minutes of extra time ensured palpitations for anyone with a connection to Limerick. Then with just a point between the teams, Joe Canning with his eye on the posts and all the action happening in front of the Limerick goal – anything could have happened. The final whistle couldn’t come fast enough.

So congratulations to the team, their families and everyone involved in any way who helped achieve this wonderful win. It sure has made a sports-mad county and city very happy. The excitement over the last few days has been wonderful. Right up to the final things had been low key. It was as if the county didn’t want to invest too much emotion in it. The thought of defeat just wasn’t bearable. But they got their win and a young generation has a new set of heroes to emulate.

Congratulations too to all those who got their Leaving Cert results and college places this week. It’s a nail-biting time for families and if things haven’t turned out as hoped, take a deep breath, count to 20 and take a closer look at that second or seventh choice course offer. You never know, it could be the best choice after all.

Time to change course

And so to end. After 11 great years I’m signing off as editor of Irish Country Living (ICL). Thanks to all our great readers for your support, encouragement and advice over the years. It really meant so much to me. Thank you as well to everyone who worked with me on ICL. It’s always been a real team effort. As for the future, I’m looking forward to doing more writing and you will find my column elsewhere in ICL.

I want to warmly welcome Amii McKeever as the new editor and wish her the very best of success. I’ve known Amii for over 10 years and she is a great fit for the job. I’m sure you will give her the same great support that you gave me. So thank you all again and I look forward to meeting many of you at the Ploughing Championships and the Women & Agriculture Conference later in the year.