2018 must feel like a bit of a blur for Cian Lynch
He helped end Limerick's 45-year wait for an All-Ireland title and on Friday night at Dublin's Convention Centre he was awarded the 2018 Hurler of the Year award.
It capped off an incredible year for Lynch who thrived in John Kiely's Limerick midfield and the Patrickswell great said that it was hard to believe that he was being mentioned in the same breath as some of hurling's greats after spending his years as a youth idolising the likes of Dan Shanahan and Henry Shefflin.
"It's what you dream of as a kid," Lynch said at the PWC All Star awards ceremony.
"Even seeing the videos there with Henry Shefflin, DJ Carey and even Joe Canning last year, I see my parents up there and they used to bring me to games as a young lad and I remember coming onto the pitch looking for Joe Canning's autograph, Dan Shanahan's autograph.
"I saw a picture of me with him in 2007 after they beat Limerick in the Munster final and for me to have the opportunity to stand up here it goes back to the small things, back to the family."
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Lynch added in a separate interview before the ceremony that he didn't believe the call when he was first told that he had won the Hurler of the Year award and that he did not think that he was in contention for hurling's top individual honour.
"When I answered it and he said, 'Cian, I've a bit of news, you're after getting the Hurler of the Year', it took me a second actually to realise what he said," Lynch added.
"To be honest, I didn't believe him. It never actually came into my head that I could possibly get it. It was
a great year for Limerick as a team and that was the only thing that I looked at around the start of the year and even since the 19th of August. Anything after that was a bonus.
"I was questioning whether I'd tell the mother and father or not and I kind of said to myself that I won't. It would be a great night for them to come up, they're coming up expecting nothing, and to see me go up and collect the Hurler of the Year Award is going to be extra-special for them.
"Because, at the end of the day, it does go back to the mother and father. They were there with me since Day One and it's an absolute honour to get it."
