"Even the dogs on the street know who goes to win on Sunday," quipped Limerick woman, Joan Leddin as she nodded at her two dogs, Ted and Gin decked out in green and white colours just like her house, a Limerick enclave amidst a sea of red and white off Friars Walk on Cork's southside.
Leddin, whose brother Brian is a Green Party TD for Limerick and whose late father, Tim and late uncle, Frank and cousin, Joe all served as Mayors of Limerick, is unabashed in her support for the Shannonsiders in Sunday's Croke Park All-Ireland hurling decider.
"I'm in Cork 22 years but I'm only here in Annmount, off Friars Walk since Covid. There's a great community here and my neighbours are the finest but I couldn't let them away thinking I wasn't a Limerick woman, so when I was back in Limerick at the weekend, I got myself some bunting,"
With strings of green and white pennants stretching from her rooftop to her gate, Leddin has left no one in any doubt as to her allegiance but she's looking forward to some good-natured banter – particularly from her neighbour, Marie Finn whose son, Mick served as Lord Mayor of Cork in 2018.
"My stepmother, Kathleen is a former Mayor of Limerick and she's coming down here on Saturday and Mick is also dropping over with the current Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Colm Kelleher as we're having a small street party to mark the 130th anniversary of the building of the street.
“People are thinking of putting up a big screen on the road to show the match on Sunday, which will be nice but, if Cork win, they’ll all be happy here , but if Limerick win, I’ll have to figure out where to hide in case my neighbours turn out not to be as nice as I thought they were.” she joked.
Leddin’s neighbour and Cllr Mick Finn’s mother, Marie is also looking forward to the game – her late husband, also Mick was a staunch Barrs man, while her brother-in-law Mossie hurled with Cork and won an All-Ireland in 1952 and her son, Tim hurled with the Cork U-21s and the Barrs.
And she has a strong tie to this year's Cork team as former Cork keeper and three-time All-Ireland medal winner and current Cork selector, Ger Cunningham is her nephew – little wonder then that Marie has her house decked out in the Blood and Bandage of the Rebels.
“I’ve been following Cork since I got married – over 60 years – my late husband was Barrs and Cork through and through. I used to joke with him if I died, he couldn’t come to my funeral if there was a match on and he didn’t disagree,” she said with a smile “so we are dyed in the blood Cork.”.
