Páirc Uí Chaoimh to host Allianz NHL Division 1 final between Limerick and Kilkenny on Sunday April 9

A general view of Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Colm Keys

Páirc Uí Chaoimh is to host the Allianz Division 1 hurling final between Limerick and Kilkenny on Sunday April 9 at 2pm.

The GAA's Central Competition Controls Committee has fixed the game for the Leeside venue, the first time it will host the hurling league final since 1980.

Semple Stadium in Thurles would routinely be the choice for a Limerick/Kilkenny game of this nature but there may be a sense that the 'Pairc' needs more games of this profile after its redevelopment and this was seen as an opportunity.

Outside of big Munster Championship games, Páirc Uí Chaoimh has hosted All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals in 2017, the year it reopened after redevelopment, and 2018.

Limerick last won a league final in Croke Park in 2019 with Kilkenny winning it the year before in their own UPMC Nowlan Park when they beat Tipperary.