BY Sunday evening, he was being spoken about in the same context as Christy Ring, hurlings ultimate immortal. A man he now shares the distinction with of lifting the Liam MacCarthy on three occasions as an All-Ireland-winning captain.

ater, on RT, John Kiely displayed no visible awkwardness as he praised the sheer honesty of the guy sitting beside him.

Back in The Sunday Game studio, Shane Dowling amusingly described his former team-mates helpful tendency in the boom/bust world of elite sport of always gravitating towards equilibrium.

You wouldnt know, Dowling explained, if you were at a party or a funeral with him.

And yet, it was only after hed hoisted Liam MacCarthy for the first time in 2018 that Declan Hannon felt real atonement. And it was a month after that before he felt comfortable enough to speak publicly about the toxic fallout from the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final and the caustic reaction he (then 20) endured and the demons it empowered in his head.

There were messages off random people and letters, he explained in October 18. Anonymous venting penned, presumably, to make the young hurler feel worse. I thought from listening to it that I was after costing Limerick an All-Ireland, and it was my fault, like. It was hard.

Its all a far cry now because in the middle of all this Limerick glory resides Hannon. And at the core of him is a personal story that makes his success all the more admirable with the applied context.

So here it is. In 13, Limerick infused with the shamanic energies of John Allen won Munster for the first time in 17 years. Hannon was 20, but he was no unknown.

In 2009, he scored 1-16 for Adare against Newtownshandrum in a Munster club semi-final played 10 days before his 17th birthday. Hed been on the Limerick squad since 11. In 13, Allens empowerment of that group revealed their potential.

At the Gaelic Grounds, after they beat Cork by nine points in the Munster final, the delirium seemed to be rooted as much in what was to come as what had just happened.

And why not? The hurling world had turned more quickly that summer than in the previous 20 years.

After seven years of Kilkenny and Tipp grudgingly passing Liam MacCarthy back and forth across their border, the All-Ireland semi-final line-up that year was: Limerick, Clare, Cork, Dublin. The revolutionaries descended on Croke Park.

And yet, five weeks after the Cork victory, Limerick arrived at GAA HQ and made the horrific discovery that they had forgotten to bring their game with them. Almost every semblance of it. Their touch, their striking, their ability to win aerial duels and individual battles.

The goal they conceded to Darach Honan was nothing shy of calamitous. And then, cruellest of all, there was Hannon. A forward and Limericks free-taker that year.

In the opening 31 minutes, before Shane Dowling came on to relieve him of the burden, Hannon scored two of six placed balls. He misfired four frees and a 65, each within range. By the 50th minute, he had been subbed off.

I do frees with guys every night before training. Declan Hannons striking was superb, Allen explained afterwards. The best all year, 10 out of 10, every time. Now Shanes striking was very good as well. But over the course of the nights, Declan was ahead of Shane, most nights.

Now, obviously, he missed a number of frees and wasnt in great form today. We were just hoping that hed turn the corner.

Limericks expectation had been bloated, both by the length of their famine and the margin of their Munster final win.

And so Hannon became a rod for the anger of an outraged fan base. I just let it affect me way too much, he explained in an interview that, coincidentally, took place on World Mental Health Day: October 10, 2018.

I didnt talk to anybody about it, didnt want to see anyone, didnt even want to go down to the club training because I thought they were talking about it, he recalled.

I remember we had club championship two weeks after it, and I didnt want to go out onto the field at all. I was embarrassed going out here after what happened two weeks previous, letting people down and stuff like that. I didnt want to go anywhere. That is no way to live.

He also admitted feeling guilt at the likely feedback his parents had encountered, albeit they kept it from him. But even five years and an All-Ireland later, Hannon couldnt comprehend that mindset. Of someone who would sit down to write a letter of condemnation anonymously and then send it to a 20-year-old athlete, as though their anger demanded and deserved validation. He or she was obviously a bit angry and wanted Limerick to win, he pointed out, but I wanted Limerick to win as well. I didnt go out there to upset people.

Clearly, he parked it. Hannon has praised the influence of Caroline Currid, the sports psychologist now working with Limerick. Initially, she helped Hannon put the experience behind him but, more importantly, equipped him with the ability to defuse criticism.

But not before Hannon toiled through a couple of seasons wondering whether his legacy would forever be his worst experience in a Limerick jersey.

I suppose that was the killing thing: thatyou didnt want to play 10 years for Limerick, and that be the memory that everyone has of you.

But his legacy, that as one of hurlings great captains, was already secure before people started mentioning him in the same breath as Ring last Sunday.

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Limerick captain Declan Hannon has banished the demons of '13 and stinging personal criticism to be spoken about like Ring - Independent.ie