KEVIN Downes and partner Grace Sheahan have gotten engaged in the plush surroundings of the French Pyrenees.
The overjoyed couple shared photos to Instagram announcing their life-changing milestone.
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Kevin was part of Limerick’s 2018 All-Ireland winning panel[/caption]
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The pair beamed in several fab photos[/caption]
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Collioure on the south-east coast of France provided the idyllic backdrop[/caption]
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Grace showed off her gorgeous ring in this close-up shot[/caption]
They captioned it simply with the date of their engagement which was June 8.
The happy reveal prompted countless well-wishes with TJ Reid’s wife Niamh De Brún-Reid as well as David Clifford’s girlfriend Shauna O’Connor among the many to congratulate them.
Shauna hailed: “Omg the best news!!! Massive congratulations, so so happy for ye! Enjoy the celebrations xx.”
In a similar vein, Amy Murphy praised: “The best news for the cutest two!”
Lastly, Eve Dervan joked: “Still crying!”
Downes was part of the Treaty’s panel in 2018 when they won what was a breakthrough All-Ireland – their first since 1973.
The 33-year-old has also won the ultimate honour with his club as Na Piarsaigh stormed to the club All-Ireland crown in 2016.
The club posted a congratulatory message of its own on social media.
It read: “Huge congrats to our senior hurling star Kevin Downes and his partner Grace on their engagement over the weekend.”
The 2025 Limerick panel look well-equipped to get their hands back on Liam MacCarthy on July 20’s showpiece.
Though their six-year reign as Munster kingpins was ended last week by Cork in dramatic fashion, they remain most people’s favourites to wind up climbing the Hogan Stand steps.
If they do reach yet another All-Ireland final, a third Championship match-up with the Rebels could well be in store too.
In the wake of some social media videos showing celebrating Cork celebrations mocking their Treaty foes, it would contain enough narrative power to equal any Hollywood script.
MULLANE WARNING
Earlier this Waterford great John Mullane warned Pat Ryan’s charges that they may come to regret singing about Limerick “f***ing off home” in one pub recording.
Speaking on the Indo GAA podcast, he said: “Just watching the celebrations after the match, I think the Limerick players were going in and (John) Kiely called them back, and he got the whole Limerick players to sit through the celebrations.
“You’re even seeing some of the videos circulating…
“Now it’s fantastic to see the Cork players and management celebrating in the manner in which they are, and they’re fully entitled to celebrate.
“To win a Munster Championship is so hard, you should rightly celebrate it in the manner in which it deserves to be celebrated.
“But if you’re a Limerick player and you’re on that Limerick management team, you’re watching those celebrations.
“And you’re seeing some of those videos circulating around, knowing that we should’ve won that match.
“I can only imagine how peed off some of those Limerick players were on Saturday night, knowing what Limerick City would’ve been like if they’d won.
“There’s a lot of fuel there now, there’s a lot of fuel now there that they can go and use in their favour.
“It’s just set up lovely if these teams meet in six weeks’ time. Even the little drama at half-time added to it all too.
“There’s even a bit of…I wouldn’t say hatred…but there’s probably a bit of dislike brewing among the supporters.”
The Rebels’ collective mood was sure to have been particularly jubilant since they’d been walloped by 16 points when the two sides had met just 20 days previously.
