A storming second-half saw the young Cats reach the All-Ireland final at Croke Park today.
Kilkenny secured a 12-point win over the Munster champions - and an August 18 final place.
They’ll play the winners of today’s second semi-final between Galway and Wexford and will chase a first title since 2014.
It’ll be be a revenge mission whoever they play because Wexford beat Kilkenny in the Leinster final and Galway overcame them in the quarter-final group stage.
There was no danger of defeat here with Timmy Clifford, Liam Moore and Billy Drennan all outstanding as Kilkenny turned in a second-half from heaven.
Drennan top scored for Kilkenny with 1-8 while Clifford was Man of the Match with 0-6.
And there was a huge display from the midfield duo of Moore and James Aylward who hit 0-5 between them. Kilkenny got the perfect start too when Jack Doyle netted after 32 seconds.
Cathal O’Neill was Limerick’s leader and they fought back to level terms on four occasions throughout the half, taking the lead briefly.
But Kilkenny retained a narrow 1-12 to 0-13 lead and built on it with a huge second-half display.
Points from Clifford Drennan and Moore stretched the gap to five before Drennan blasted in their second goal.
It left eight between them and Kilkenny cruised it from there, outscoring Limerick by 0-7 to 0-2 in the closing minutes.
Kilkenny scorers: B Drennan (1-8, 5f), T Clifford (0-6), L Moore (0-4), J Doyle (1-0), I Byrne, P McDonald (0-2 each), A Tallis (1f), J Aylward 0-1 each.
Limerick scorers: C O’Neill (0-9, 6f), A O’Connor (0-3), P Kirby
(1 s/l), J Quilty (0-2 each), E Hurley, E Stokes (0-1 each).
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
