Limerick star Diarmaid Byrnes back in the zone

It was approaching midnight in Dubai as Diarmaid Byrnes settled in to watch Limerick's opening match of this year’s league campaign.

The reigning Hurler of the Year spent the start of the year in the United Arab Emirates, where his partner Elaine works as a teacher.

A homebird by nature, he admits it’s unlikely he would have set sail were she not based on foreign soil, but says the experience was an enrichening one.

And one where hurling still featured to some degree as the 29-year-old even togged out for Dubai Celts.

"I played a few games, a bit of training, but didn't go too mad," he says.

Yet it was the return of serious inter-county fare – a league opener with an almost championship feel - on Leeside as nearly 20,000 passed through the turnstiles to see the Rebels emerge with a one-point win, that reminded him of where he wanted to get back to.

"It was unbelievable," he said, speaking at the launch of John West Féile 2023 at Croke Park. "You could even hear the atmosphere over speakers on the TV.

"I thought, for a league match, 20,000 below in Cork for the month of February, imagine what it’s going to be like in championship.

"I was missing home then. I was kind of like, 'Get me back’."

Thankfully, from a Treaty perspective, leaving these shores on a permanent basis holds little interest for the Patrickswell man.

He returned for Limerick’s last two games of the league campaign, and despite being an integral part of a team bidding for a fifth Liam MacCarthy in half a dozen years and voted the best hurler in the land, the first game back against Westmeath brought about nerves more associated with a rookie.

"On the bus, I forgot my airpods. It was like, ‘who will I talk to?’. Everyone has their little routine.

"I was like, ‘Jesus,