There are thousands of green and white flags flying in the midwest wind this weekend as Limerick go for an historic four wins in a row - or their fifth All Ireland hurling title in six years, since they broke the 45 year old curse back in 2018.

The local papers and social media are full of the 'Limerick 4 Ever' messages and hashtags, and ‘Go fourth and conquer’ is the timely and apt headline on the local Limerick Leader Newspaper, which has literaly gone big on the green ink this week.

There is no doubting Limerick’s dominance in the past six years after a long famine of victories following their win in 1973, also against Kilkenny, but despite this superiority and skill, there is much anticipation and nervousness also, about going for a fourth win in a row.

At Na Piarsaigh club on the northside of Limerick, they have been busy with 150 young boys and girls attending a GAA Cúl camp all week.

It’s a club which has four players on the Limerick panel this year - Will O’Donoghue, the Casey brothers Mike and Peter, as well as Conor Boylan. And they have had eight club players involved in the team since 2018.

They are also the only Limerick club ever to have won an All Ireland club championship, another emblem of winning ways for them, and the roots of many a young hurlers dream.

Former chairman and club stalwart Timmy O'Connor has been watching those young players as they progressed and developed, many onto county level.

"This is where it all starts," he said.

This is the grassroots level, where you get young boys and girls playing hurling and camogie from an early age, developing their skills and a love of the game, and they hope they can advance to underage, minor and inter-county level.

"I was at the 1973 final when Limerick won, and at every match since then. But I never thought I’d wait 45 years until 2018 for another Limerick hurling victory.

"It’s just electric here in Limerick at the moment, its surely the golden age of Limerick hurling and long may it last," he said.

Former Na Piarsaigh clubman and Limerick hurler David Breen, who captained Limerick in 2012, praises this current team, describing them as being on "different level altogether".

"They have a terrific backroom team in John Kiely and Paul Kinnerk who have provided consistent coaching to the team and who despite their young average age are now a very experienced and dedicated bunch of lads, who are playing a different type of very tactical game, compared even to the time that I was playing up to 2016. Now you are seeing the fruits of all that hard work.

"I think it will be a very tight match on Sunday. Kilkenny are no strangers to the big stage and are well capable of performing for 70 minutes. They have a similar bench to compete with Limerick and have the experience of whatever mistakes they made last year, they will not repeat again.

"Limerick have been slowing building back up to their best since their [Munster championship] defeat to Clare. It’s all set up for Limerick to produce their best now, cos they’re going to need it," he said.

Read more: Kilkenny fans hope to break All-Ireland drought on Sunday

Liam O'Donoghue and Eamon Cregan were team mates on the 1973 Limerick winning team. Cregan also managed Limerick in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Both have credited the backroom team and the emergence of the academy as playing a vital role in this team’s superb success.

"They are a super team and a great bunch of athletes. They have all come up through the academy which was established by the GAA, with the help of JP McManus, and have gone through all the necessary professional training and nutrition, and psychological approach to the game.

"Look at the size of them and the superb hurling they perform. You need never worry, even if they are five or six points down, they will find a way out and come back and win a match for you. They are brilliant," Liam said.

Eamon Cregan also believes the backroom staff have made a huge difference, and done a fantastic job. He notes there are a number of teachers in the management and part of the team itself which has brought a professional approach and discipline to its pinnacle.

"But you can never play against Kilkenny and write them off, and Limerick certainly aren't doing that. I don’t believe Limerick are even thinking about considering four wins in a row. They are just thinking about winning their next match which is the All Ireland final.

"I’m putting my faith in the team and the backroom team and my heart says they will just about do it," he predicts.

Aine Fitzgerald is Editor of the Limerick Leader newspaper, and they have just produced a 32-page special hurling supplement.

"We could have produced double that volume, given the interest and stories surrounding the team and the match build-up. Their success has also brought great pride and given a huge boost to the city and county.

"You’d think that since 2018 we’d be used to it by now, but we’re not. Every year more and more people are getting behind the team, particularly abroad.

"We’ve been talking to some of the troops in Lebanon about how they’ll watch the match and get to wear their green Limerick jerseys. I think the excitement is palpable particularly in these final days leading up to the match, and of course great crack as well," she said.

And the 'Limerick Abú’ boat, regarded as a symbol of good Limerick luck, is back out on the River Shannon again, after poor weather and very heavy rain sank her in recent weeks.

Owned by Christy Keogh and normally moored at the Curraghgour Boat Club, it’s a green boat decked [pun intended] out in all the green and white Limerick flags, and she has been anchored under King Johns Castle for the past six years as part of the build up to Limerick’s games.

"She is our good luck charm at this stage, and we were determined to save her as she has become synonymous with all the excitement leading up to the matches , and she was always prominently placed just beside the city’s famous castle.

"We’ve become sort of superstitious about it. She sank in 2019, and Limerick sank that year as well. But we just wanted to get her up floating again and we did, and it’s great to have her back out and visible on the water, a symbol of the great Limerick support," Christy said.