Brian Ryan delighted to make history with UL at Croke Park

By Paul Keane

With three Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup titles secured in the previous four seasons, UL had pretty much done it all in the competition coming into 2026.

The one thing they hadn't managed was to win any of those titles at Croke Park, a box they ticked in quite comprehensive fashion on Friday evening.

With 13 points to spare on Limerick City rivals MICL, UL strode to a landmark final win, their 10th ever, matching the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup success enjoyed by the UL footballers at the same venue on Wednesday evening.

UL have joined UCC, UCD and University of Galway as the only third level institutions to have won the two titles in the same season.

And what better place to create history than Croke Park?

"It's magnificent, it's absolutely magnificent," said UL manager Brian Ryan of the decision to take this year's finals to the Dublin venue. "We played on a couple of pitches in the last couple of years and, all due to respect to the clubs that organised them, they wouldn't be on a par with Croke Park.

"So you're going to see the best of the talent. Plus, the inter county managers want their players playing on good pitches where they won't pick up injuries easily. You're less likely to pick up injuries on pitches like this."

The pristine surface, and vast acreage, allowed UL's brilliant young talents like Darragh McCarthy, Adam Screeney, Jack Leahy and man of the match Cathal O'Neill to fully express themselves. And boy did they take their chance to do just that.

"They did," agreed Ryan after watching his side hit 4-31, the largest tally registered in over a century and the most points ever struck in a Fitzgibbon decider. "The space here gave us a great opportunity to really execute that. We needed to get the ball in fast to them, in open space, and when we did that we had the calibre inside, we knew that."

Mary I, chasing a fourth title and a repeat of their 2024 final win over UL in Abbeydorney, led by 0-4 to 0-2 early on. But UL's first goal, from Jack O'Neill in the sixth minute, shoved them into the lead and they never looked back after that, raising two more green flags in the opening quarter hour. They had 13 points to spare in the end - a nice way to secure the Fitzgibbon/Sigerson double.

"The UL Sport department and the GAA club invest heavily, both academically and in terms of scholarships for these young players," said Ryan. "So it's a great reward for the people who are at the coalface of sport in UL. Sport plays an important part of college life in UL."

But spare a thought for Mary I who, a decade after beating UL in the 2016 final to clinch their maiden win, registered a pretty impressive 3-21. They had their own star performer in Shane O'Brien, who hit 1-12 after missing the semi-final with a bug.

"He was a handful," said Ryan of the Kilmallock club man. "In fairness, we put Darragh Langan on him and he did a fine job but Shane did create chances. And if more chances arose, he would have punished us."

O'Brien, from a penalty, Tipperary's Joe Caesar and substitute Ben Currivan all struck goals for Mary I in the second half as they did everything in their power to reel in the tournament favourites.

UL responded to the O'Brien goal with three points, to the Caesar goal with two points and to the Currivan goal with three more points.

"That's what we worked on over the last couple of weeks, that once we conceded a score we got back on the horse pretty quickly and got the next score," said Ryan. "So that the three points for the goal becomes a two-pointer really."

Ryan was grateful to the various inter-county managers that he dealt with over the last month or so as he prepared the UL team.

"We appreciate it and are thankful for their commitment to supporting the players," said Ryan who fielded players from Galway, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Clare, Offaly and Laois during the win.

"The Fitzgibbon is over five weeks but it's a competition that will last long in the memory of those players' hurling careers."