{"id":404704,"date":"2026-04-18T06:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/404704\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T06:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:48:13","slug":"the-42-writers-look-ahead-to-all-ireland-shc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/404704\/","title":{"rendered":"The 42 writers look ahead to All-Ireland SHC"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. One storyline to watch out for in the provincial hurling championships?<\/p>\n

Declan Bogue:\u00a0To take a helicopter view, and it\u2019s one that the Hurling Development Committee will be keeping a keen eye on given the make-up of the Kildare backroom team, but I really hope that Kildare and Offaly can be seriously competitive in Leinster. A win or three would be splendid. But given how hard it is to blur the various tiers in hurling, just avoiding morale-sapping margins of defeat would be a good thing for the aspirations of several counties.<\/p>\n

Sin\u00e9ad Farrell:\u00a0Too many to choose from: Have rumours of Kilkenny\u2019s demise been greatly exaggerated? Is this the year that Waterford finally unpick the lock and qualify out of Munster? How will Galway\u2019s kids handle the championship pace of life? And how will Tipperary\u2019s All-Ireland defence unfold? There\u2019s lots to get excited\u00a0about.<\/p>\n

Ronan Early: I\u2019m particularly interested in Clare. Such a disappointing defence of the All-Ireland title last season, but such fine margins in their Munster elimination \u2013 one point from their two home games could well have been four, or at least three. If they can get out of the province then a glorious final chapter is possible for their stalwarts, but fail and it\u2019s quite probably the end for some household names. Their game with Tipperary on Saturday night, 16 May has a season-defining feel to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"tony-kelly\"
\n Clare hurler Tony Kelly. Natasha Barton \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

Natasha Barton \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

Ciar\u00e1n Kennedy:\u00a0I\u2019ve deleted this answer twice, but I\u2019m going to stick with my gut. Dublin can win Leinster for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

Fintan O\u2019Toole:\u00a0Who will lose out in the high stakes Munster qualification race? Waterford have struggled to emerge but will fight desperately to change that pattern of results, while Clare\u2019s difficulties last year as reigning All-Ireland champions, are a reminder to the top three from 2025, that everyone is vulnerable.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

2. Pick one game you\u2019re looking forward to in the provinces?<\/p>\n

DB:\u00a0Ack sure it has to be Tipp-Cork. In Semple Stadium, a full house with some of the Tipp tickets being sent back and no doubt, snapped up by young Rebels. But you can pick any week and it\u2019s the same story.<\/p>\n

A noble mention to the meeting of Down and Antrim in the Joe McDonagh Cup, which will become the de facto Ulster final in the absence of anything official.<\/p>\n

SF:It has to be the repeat of the All-Ireland final this weekend \u2013 Tipperary v Cork in Thurles will make for compelling viewing.<\/p>\n

RE:\u00a0Sorry to be unoriginal, but 19 April, Tipp-Cork in Thurles has been pencilled into at least 100,000 calenders since the fixture was set.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

CK:\u00a0Well you could pick one every weekend, but in the here and now it\u2019s hard to look past Tipperary v Cork this weekend. Imagine the confidence the winners will take from it? The repeat of last year\u2019s All-Ireland final could set the tone for the entire summer.<\/p>\n

FOT:\u00a0Let\u2019s go for the opening provincial hurling game of the season. Galway, who enjoyed a richly positive league, host a Kilkenny team in Salthill this afternoon, seven weeks after they trounced them by 18 points. The Kilkenny response will be fascinating and the insight into Galway\u2019s summer aspirations.<\/p>\n

\"eoin-cody-dejected-after-the-match\"
\n A dejected Eoin Cody after their loss in March to Galway. John McVitty \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

John McVitty \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

3. Which player are you most looking forward to watching?<\/p>\n

DB:\u00a0Ah there\u2019s loads. Noel McGrath for the range of passing. Ronan Maher for the defiance. Aaron Gillane for his combustible danger. D\u00e1ith\u00ed Burke. John Conlon. Shane O\u2019Donnell.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m a sucker for the tricksters. Can we please, please see a fit Austin Gleeson this summer? Ultimately, I\u2019ll be glued to Cian Lynch.<\/p>\n

SF:\u00a0Galway\u2019s Aaron Niland.<\/p>\n

RE: Loads, but Cian Lynch is always at the top of the list for me.<\/p>\n

\"austin-gleeson-and-iarlaith-daly\"
\n Waterford’s Austin Gleeson with team-mate Iarlaith Daly. \u00a9INPHO<\/p>\n

\u00a9INPHO\n<\/p>\n

CK:\u00a0Austin Gleeson, I just hope we actually get to watch him. We barely saw Gleeson in a Waterford jersey in 2025, but just look back at some\u00a0of his clips for Mount Sion last summer \u2013 he\u2019s still got it. If he\u2019s fit and even a shadow of his former self, honestly, it might make my summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FOT:\u00a0Darragh Fitzgibbon \u2013 Cork\u2019s captain and most important player is brilliant to watch in full flight \u2013 and John McGrath, Tipperary\u2019s supreme goal poacher enjoyed a striking revival last year.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

4. Name the three teams that come out from Leinster?<\/p>\n

DB: Kilkenny and Galway, and I think Wexford will make their home game against Dublin count and squeeze through.<\/p>\n

SF:\u00a0Galway, Kilkenny, Dublin.<\/p>\n

RE: Galway, Kilkenny and Wexford.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

CK:\u00a0Dublin, Kilkenny, Galway.<\/p>\n

FOT:\u00a0Galway and Kilkenny, and then Dublin to complete the trio, bettering Wexford in that key mid-May game.<\/p>\n

\"niall-o-ceallachain\"
\n Dublin manager Niall \u00d3 Ceallach\u00e1in. Tom O\u2019Hanlon \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

Tom O\u2019Hanlon \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

5. Name the three teams that come out from Munster?<\/p>\n

DB:\u00a0Sheesh. Limerick get there all the time. Tipperary will get the heavy lifting done early. And Clare will pip Cork to third place.<\/p>\n

SF:\u00a0Limerick, Cork, Tipperary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RE: Limerick, Clare, Cork.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CK: Limerick, Cork, Tipperary.<\/p>\n

FOT:\u00a0Limerick, said with conviction. Tipperary and Cork, said with less conviction, torn between that pair and Clare for two to emerge.<\/p>\n

\"gearoid-hegarty-and-aaron-gillane-celebrate-after-the-game\"
\n Limerick hurlers Gearoid Hegarty and Aaron Gillane after their win in the league final. Laszlo Geczo \/ INPHO<\/p>\n

Laszlo Geczo \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. One storyline to watch out for in the provincial hurling championships? Declan Bogue:\u00a0To take a helicopter view,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1965,10447,178259,4183,61,60,10562,6999,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-404704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-hurling","9":"tag-all-ireland","10":"tag-closer-look","11":"tag-gaa","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-leinster","15":"tag-munster","16":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}