Under the management of John Kiely and, with much underage success to boast about, there was a sense that this current Limerick side could deliver Liam MacCarthy.
Of course the county was down this road before at the start of the noughties - a hat-trick of All-Ireland Under-21 crowns ratcheted up expectations that surely would see Limerick claim the ultimate prize.
There would be no rich dividend. The wait would go on until the 19 August, 2018. Joy unconfined after a one-point win over Galway.
"I'll be honest, I thought we were a year off the ultimate success," said Seamus Hickey, speaking at the launch of the Gaelic Players Association's annual report.
Hickey, who is the GPA Chief Executive and was a non-playing sub in this year's final, added: "I thought there was a natural growth with a younger team but I felt it was going to come.
"I didn’t think it was going to be 2018 but maybe that’s why I’m over the hill and why all these boys have medals in their pockets!
"I’ve been on the journey as much as anybody, so it’s great.
"We are still basking and we'll probably bask for a bit longer. A friend of mine from Cork told me: 'Fair play to ye, I suppose we won't have to worry about ye for another 45 years'.
"Now, that reveals something about the fella I was talking to. But yeah it's fabulous and it will be as long as we enjoy it. So it's great."
Hickey also referenced the concluding stages of this year's league as a point where all involved felt that things were starting to click.
He continued: "The Galway game (Limerick won to clinch promotion from 1B) in the league was huge. It was a seminal moment. They were the benchmark as All-Ireland champions.
"How serious or otherwise they were taking the league wasn’t our concern. It was in Salthill.
"My boys were born the week of so I missed the game but they were down nine points at half-time so being able to do that, you’re just stacking fuel on top of an already simmering belief.
"The Clare quarter-final, we didn’t play well a lot of the time but then got crucial goals in extra-time to force it further. We held our nerve in the free-taking competition, not a great way to decide a game but we came out the right side of that.
"Against Tipp, who were considered to be the number one contenders for the year along with Galway, we took them all the way to extra-time.
"So we proved we were able. From the Galway game I saw that there was something really special."
