Cian Lynch

His six uncles, Ciarán, Paul, Pa, Seán and Nigel Carey, were senior team mainstays during a golden era for the club in the 1980s and 1990s.

After an unremarkable juvenile and underage career, Lynch was 17-years-old when he joined the club's senior team, stating: "I was in fifth year at school and was with the county minors. It was my second last year minor so I was only coming and going so I didn't play that much that year. I was kind of concentrating on the minor and my own age group."

Cian Lynch (born 3 January 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays as a centre forward for Limerick Championship club Patrickswell, where he has held the role of captain, and the Limerick senior team.

Recognised for his exceptional skill level but remaining the ultimate team player, he is widely considered one of the best players in the current game and has often been described as a "midfield magician".

He is also one of only two players to win the 'hurler of the year' award more than once, with the only other player to do so being Henry Shefflin with three wins.

On 27 February 2011, Lynch was introduced as a substitute when Ardscoil Rís won the Harty Cup title after a 3-19 to 0-03 defeat of C.B.S. Charleville in the final.

He was also introduced as a substitute in the subsequent 2-10 to 1-11 defeat by St. Kieran's College in the All-Ireland final.

Lynch began his inter-county career at minor level with Limerick in 2012, with whom he won back-to-back Munster Minor Championship titles in his last two years with the team.

Lynch was just 16-years-old when he was added to the Limerick minor panel shortly before the start of the 2012 Munster Minor Championship.

On 2 May 2012, he made his first appearance for the team, scoring a point from left corner-forward in a 0-16 to 1-12 quarter-final defeat of Cork.

Lynch made his senior club championship debut with Patrickswell as a 17-year-old in 2013 and has since established himself as one of the mainstays of the team.

Once again eligible for the minor grade in 2013, Lynch was retained on the team by manager Brian Ryan.

On 23 July 2013, he lined out at wing-forward when Limerick won their first Munster Minor Championship title in 29 years after a 1-20 to 4-08 defeat of Waterford in a replay of the final.

In 2014, he joined the Limerick under-21 team and was integral in the team's All-Ireland Under-21 Championship wins in 2015 and 2017.

On 22 February 2014, Lynch was captain of the Ardscoil Rís that defeated Scoil na Trionóide from Doon by 2-13 to 0-04 in the final of the Harty Cup.

During his studies at Mary Immaculate College, Lynch was selected as a forward for the college's senior hurling team.

Lynch was appointed captain of the Limerick minor team in advance of the 2014 Munster Minor Championship.

On 22 July 2014, he won a second successive Munster Minor Championship title after a six-point win over Waterford in a final replay.

On 7 September 2014, Lynch captained Limerick to a 2-17 to 0-19 defeat by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.

Lynch was in his final year with the minor team when he was drafted onto the Limerick under-21 team for the 2014 Munster Under-21 Championship.

On 4 June 2014, he made his first appearance for the team in a 2-20 to 1-14 quarter-final defeat by Clare.

Lynch joined the Limerick senior team for the 2015 season.

He has since won four All-Ireland Championship titles, three Munster Championship titles and two National Hurling League titles with the team.

An undefeated run through the 2015 County Championship campaign saw Patrickswell qualify for the final, with Lynch's side ultimately facing a one-point defeat by Na Piarsaigh.

Lynch was again called up to the under-21 panel for the 2015 Munster Under-21 Championship, becoming the only senior panellist on the team.

On 30 July 2015, he lined out at left corner-forward when Limerick defeated four-in-a-row hopefuls Clare by 0-22 to 0-19 to win the Munster Under-21 Championship title.

He was a member of the Patrickswell team that won County Championship titles in 2016 and 2019.

Lynch has been named on the GAA–GPA All-Star Team and the Sunday Game Team of the Year three times each and the Under-21 Team of the Year twice.

On 27 February 2016, he won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal as Mary I won their first ever title after a 1-30 to 3-22 defeat of the University of Limerick.

For the second successive season, Patrickswell remained undefeated on their way to the 2016 County Championship final.

Lynch scored three points from play and ended the game with his first winners' medal after a 1-26 to 1-07 win over Ballybrown.

Lynch was at full-forward when Mary I retained the title in 2017 following a 3-24 to 1-19 defeat of Carlow Institute of Technology.

Lynch joined Patrickswell at a young age, a club with whom his family had a long tradition.

He was also named GAA–GPA Player of the Month in his first championship season and was GAA–GPA All-Star Hurler of the Year in 2018 and 2021.

Lynch first came to prominence as a hurler with Ardscoil Rís in Limerick.

Having played in every grade, he was just 15-years-old when he earned selection for the college's senior hurling team.

After two unsuccessful seasons, Lynch was appointed team captain in advance of the 2019 County Championship.

After a third undefeated run through the group stage in five years, Patrickswell qualified for the 2019 final.

Lynch ended the game with a second winners' medal after scoring three points in the 1-17 to 0-15 defeat of Na Piarsaigh.

In 2020, he had a significant role in Limerick becoming the first team since Tipperary in 1961 to have a 100% winning record in all competitions in a single season.