Shamrocks and Tullaroan to clash in Kilkenny senior hurling final

The County Final is one full of history and tradition as the two clubs leading the Roll of Honour in Kilkenny collide in a game that is scheduled to be screened live on TG4.

Despite sharing 41 senior crowns between them, the Shamrocks (21 titles) and Tullaroan (20 titles) have never met in a county final so Sunday’s encounter will certainly be a unique one.

The modern era has been all about the Shamrocks with only one of Tullaroan’s victories arriving in the same timespan that the Ballyhale club have scooped 21 titles and their win over O’Loughlin Gaels in 2025 saw them belatedly overtake the Sash as the top dogs in Kilkenny club hurling.

Tullaroan haven’t even been in a senior final since 1994 and they only graduated to the current senior ranks when winning Kilkenny, Leinster and All-Ireland Intermediate titles in 2019.

The rise for the club has been gradual in recent seasons as they qualified for a couple of county semi-finals but with new Kilkenny selector David Mulcahy now overseeing matters, the men from Tullaroan have found a new level of consistency with victories over Mullinavat, O’Loughlin Gaels and Bennettsbridge securing their place in the decider.

The victory over O’Loughlins in the quarter-finals really made people stand up and take notice as they battled to a rare win over the 2023 champions as the likes of Padraig Walsh, Shane Walsh, Dylan Simpson and Mossy Keoghan really stepped up to the mark in the four point success.

Kilkenny star Gearoid Dunne then took the eye in the win over Bennettsbridge and with a big array of scoring, the Sash have shown steady improvement throughout the year with the return of ACL casualty Tommy Walsh also a big feather in their cap as they look to cause an upset in this weekend’s final.

The underdogs have a lot going for them as they look to complete a bit of history and end the 32 year wait to their last title but with the Shamrocks in opposition, there is still a huge mountain to climb on Sunday afternoon.

Even though Henry Shefflin departed the defending champions to take over as Kilkenny boss, the standard in the club has remained the same with former player Mark Aylward overseeing a fine campaign thus far that saw them crowned league champions.

It means the club is now chasing a double if they get over the line on Sunday and on the back of a stern test from Thomastown in the semi-final, they will be a tough nut to crack when the ball throws-in.

In many ways the Shamrocks look even better than they did this time last year when it comes to personnel with the addition of youngsters Killian Ryan and Jake Mullen, the overall strength in depth has improved.

With attacking talent in the shape of Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid and Eoin Cody in addition to Niall Shortall who has proven to be a goal machine throughout the championship, the defending champions would appear to have the edge if the final turns into a shootout so it’s up to Tullaroan to try and restrict the Shamrocks attacking line as best as they can.

The Ballyhale side are also fairly watertight at the back with Dean Mason, Joey Holden, Evan Shefflin, Darragh and Killian Corcoran all proving difficult to pass while Richie Reid and Ronan Corcoran are more than efficient around the midfield area.

Th reality is Tullaroan will need to be almost perfect on Sunday with huge games needed from the likes of Mossy Keoghan, Shane Walsh and Gearoid Dunne in attack and a couple of goals may also be required to put the champions off their game.

The fairytale victory for Tullaroan is not beyond a possibility but it’s still hard to look beyond the Shamrocks in a final and after getting a huge fright the last time out, expect the Ballyhale side to come out on top.