John Bresnan. Sees 1994 as Limerick's big chance Out of the blue Limerick are back. Without showing any warning sign whatsoever, the Shannonsiders have swept aside all opposition to claim their first Munster crown in thirteen years and emerge as the bookies favourites to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup on September 4th. Supremo Tom Ryan, trainer Dave Mahedy and selectors Liam Lenihan and Rory Kiely have worked wonders in a short space of time to assemble a well-oiled machine which is going to take a lot of stopping. Who can put their hand on their heart and honestly say "I told you so?" Not too many. Limerick haven't scraped through either - they've done it in style, playing a fast flowing traditional brand of hurling, consistently scoring freely when given even the slightest opportunity. Scores rained between the posts against Cork, Waterford and Clare; but will Antrim be subjected to the same treatment at Croke Park on Sunday? The Glensmen could provide Gary Kirby and co. with their stiffest challenge in the Championship to date but as former county star of the sixties John Bresnan knows only too well: "Complacency can be the undoing of any team. Antrim are certainly going to have to be watched", he warns. John Bresnan hails from the little village of Herbertstown, south east of Limerick city near Hospital and only sixteen miles away from Tipperary town. He remembers first getting interested in the national code because basically "there was very little else to do at the time". Always extremely big and strong for his age, John was hurling with Herbertstown at Minor level at the age of fourteen and broke into the county Minor team two years later in 1957. The following year he lined out at full back on the Limerick team which defeated Galway by 5-8 to 310 to give the Shannonsiders their second ever All-Ireland Minor title. Stephen McDonagh's father John played at right full back and Ciaran Carey's uncle Eamonn was right corner forward on the that team. "In 1959 I was five weeks overage for the Minor team", reflects the former Herbertstown, Faughs and Young Irelands clubman. As it transpired, John didn't get much of an opportunity to establish himself on Herbertstown's adult team. He explains: "I left Herbertstown in '58 and came to Dublin in November of that year. I joined Young Irelands who are no longer in existence and played with them for about four years, winning a Dublin Senior League title with them in the early sixties". Bresnan then transferred to the Faughs in season 1963 / '64 and went on to collect a Dublin Senior League and a county Championship medal with them. In 1960 he broke onto the Limerick Senior team, remaining there for eight years before hanging up his boots. Those were lean times for the Shannonsiders, although John recalls reasonably good years in '63 and '66. But the elusive seventh All-Ireland title didn't arrive until '73, five years after the big full back from Herbertstown had departed the scene. "I gave the game up in '68 because I had picked up an injury and had a lot of difficulty trying to sort it out. It was a shin bone injury and I remember being in plaster for four months in 1967. I was still pretty young but decided to bow out". Not without a little resistance though - at that time Senator Rory Kiely was county Chairman and he called to John's Lucan home on a number of occasions in an attempt to persuade him back, but to no avail. Considering what happened in 1973, does John have any regrets about not trying to hang in there for another few seasons? "Well, I don't know if I would've still been there that long, but I might have made it to '71 when we won the League". On Limerick's '73 All-Ireland winning team were a number of players who John Bresnan had played alongside, the likes of captain Eamonn Grimes, Eamonn Rea, Bernie Hartigan, Phil Bennis, Eamonn Cregan, Jim O'Donnell and Jim Hogan. "The closest we got to a Munster title when I was a player was in 1966 when we were very unfortunate to be defeated by Cork in the Munster semi final and they went on to win the All-Ireland", the Limerick exile recalls ruefully. One unique aspect of John Bresnan's career was that while he was playing full back on the Limerick team he was also lining out at full forward at Senior level for the Faughs in Dublin! "The club had a good supply of full backs and I ended up playing at full back for the county and full forward for the club", he recalls. During his stint in the forward line he proved to be something of a prolific scorer while on the county team John was a hard tackling number 3 who boasted more than his fair share of skill. "I didn't believe in just hitting the ball anywhere. I always tried to use a bit of skill whenever possible", he points out. During his career Bresnan played alongside some gifted players with the Faughs - the likes of Mick Kennedy and Eamonn Long, Billy Dwyer from Kilkenny and Niall Quinn's father Billy Quinn from Tipperary. "That was a very good club team and I played with some great players. The Vincents and Crumlin were two of the top teams on the Dublin scene and I also ended up playing against Young Irelands after leaving them. They had great players like Mick Ryan of Tipperary, Eamonn Carey of Limerick and former Kilkenny star Bill Walsh. The Faughs and Young Ireland's teams were made up mostly of outsiders who had come from the country while most of the other clubs consisted of all Dublin natives". What was the most enjoyable thing about John's hurling career? "Playing with the clubs in Dublin you got to know people from all over the country, an in my case most of these friendships have been retained". For several years John Bresnan had very little active involvement with the G.A.A., except for remaining a member of the Faughs club. He has found, however, that once you become involved with the Association, it's difficult to sever the ties. Living in Lucan for the past 27 years, he has been a selector with the local Lucan Sarsfields Under 21 football team for two seasons now. His son Conor is on that team and lined out at midfield on the Dublin Under 21 side which was defeated by Meath in this year's Championship. Conor also plays on the Lucan Intermediate team now, as do about ten of the lads who helped the Sarsfields win the Under 21 Southside Football League last year. Whilst still in Limerick, John himself played football at Minor and Junior level with Hospital. How surprised has Limerick's star of the sixties been to see the class of '94 earn the Munster crown? "Its easy to say with hindsight, but I had a notion that they might beat Cork in the first round. It was obvious that Tom Ryan was putting in a very big effort and they were fired up for that game. I was thrilled to see them beat Cork and then in the Munster final they played some fantastic hurling, particularly in the first fifteen minutes of the second half when they shot some excellent scores from all corners". But John Bresnan is very wary about Limerick's chances on Sunday. "They will have to be very careful against Antrim who are big, strong and very fit. Limerick are hot favourites with the bookies and Antrim would appear to have nothing to lose. Favourites always have to be cautious as Tipperary, Cork and Kilkenny all found out to their expense. All four remaining teams must feel that this is their year, and their chances are equal. No doubt, Limerick will take the game very seriously. If they can find the same form as they did against Clare they'll take stopping. This a young team and players like Ger Hegarty, Mike Houlihan, Gary Kirby, Pat Heffernan and Ciaran Carey are all very experienced". Despite his reservations John, who has given thirty years of service to Park Developments (Dublin) Ltd., feels that this weekend the Shannonsiders could take a step closer to their first All-Ireland title in 21 years. "I feel that Limerick haven't had an opportunity like this in several years and they must see this as a great opportunity to win an All-Ireland. I'm confident that they will do enough to win against Antrim and I have a sneaking feeling that Offaly will qualify from the second semi-final. With Eamonn Cregan - a former Limerick star - at the helm in Offaly that should be an interesting confrontation". 'Interesting is probably an understatement Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 5th August 1994 Tweet

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