The resilience shown by Clare hurlers Ryan Taylor and Tony Kelly to battle back from serious injuries has been lauded by team physiotherapist for the last three years, Shane Malone. While Shane has attended All-Ireland homecomings in his native Kerry following All-Ireland successes, he described last week’s welcome for the Liam McCarthy Cup in Clare as “incredible”. He will never forget the hundreds of Clare hurling supporters who lined the streets and rural roads to welcome the team home, which was a real “eye opener”. “The enthusiasm and love for Brian Lohan and the team is quite different from my previous experiences. I was very impressed by the volume of support out there for the Clare team. It shows the high esteem they are held within the county. “The response from Clare fans all year has been unbelievable. There is a great connection between Brian Lohan and the county and people respond when they like what they see. “The way …

      A bid by Tuamgraney’s Michael Blake to win an Olympic team medal in showjumping ended in disappointment when Team Ireland finished seventh in Friday’s final. Chef d’Equipe Michael Blake steered the Ireland Showjumping team into Friday’s Olympic final at the stunning Château de Versailles with a good display in the qualifier on Thursday. The Irish trio of Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor and Shane Sweetnam were hoping to produce a great performance in the final at the Chateua de Versailles but just fell short. Shane Sweetman on James Kann Cruz almost got Ireland off to the perfect start up until the final obstacle, which they clipped and knocked, as well as picking up one time penalty, leaving them on five penalties after one round. Derry rider Daniel Coyle on his mount Legacy kept Ireland in the hunt for major honours after a perfect round. They never knocked a barrier and were well inside the allotted time. This left …

  Tuamgraney’s Michael Blake has steered the Ireland Show Jumping team into Friday’s Olympic final at the stunning Château de Versailles. Chef dEquipe, Michael Blake was satisfied with the professional work of his athletes in the qualifier. “Today worked out very well. We had some tiny bits of misfortune. A lot more teams had a lot more. The horses are jumping well and I think they will jump better tomorrow because this is an unusual event in that there is no class beforehand so you’re going in cold. “But the course builder did a good job with that in mind. It was probably a bit of a surprise that 20 faults got in so it caused plenty of trouble but I would expect it to be tougher tomorrow. But we are looking forward to it and to being right in the mix at the business end,” he said. Ireland finished Thursday’s qualifier on an overall score of nine faults in …

  Irish President Michael D Higgins has led the tributes following the death of internationally acclaimed Tuamgraney novelist, Edna O’Brien, (93), describing her as “one of the outstanding writers of modern times”. “Edna was a fearless teller of truths, a superb writer possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed,” he said. “Through that deeply insightful work, rich in humanity, Edna O’Brien was one of the first writers to provide a true voice to the experiences of women in Ireland in their different generations and played an important role in transforming the status of women across Irish society.” “While the beauty of her work was immediately recognised abroad, it is important to remember the hostile reaction it provoked among those who wished for the lived experience of women to remain far from the world of Irish literature, with her books shamefully banned upon their early publication.” Paying tribute to the author, publishing house …

A former Doolin Coast Guard volunteer has confirmed plans are underway to try and set up a new search and recovery group after Monaghan-based divers completed a 555 kilometre round trip to recover the body of an Armagh teenager recently. Bernard Lucas confirmed this was one of several incidents where he and colleagues have helped families who lost relatives below the cliffs, as the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard’s cliff climbing unit was not available. He said that a few days after the body of the Armagh teenager was recovered, a woman fell off the Cliffs of Moher, was floating on the sea and had to be recovered by the lifeboat from Inishmore, which is almost 50 minutes away. Mr Lucas and a group of former Coast Guard volunteers now planned to set up their own search-and-recovery group once they can secure insurance and funding. “You can’t have a father looking down at his son at the bottom of …

This week’s Clare Champion includes a very special, 16-page souvenir supplement to mark Clare’s success in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. In this supplement we talk to Tony Kelly, Brian Lohan, Shane O’Donnell, John Conlon, Conor Cleary, Cathal Malone, Eibhear Quilligan, Brendan Bugler, Pat O’Donnell, Tommy Corbett, Deirdre Murphy, Davy Fitzgerald and many more. We also have all the colour from before, during and after the game, the excitement from the homecoming events on Monday night and a souvenir team poster. This collector’s item is in the shops now. Below, Dan Danaher chats to Brendan Bugler. Clare selector, Brendan Bugler believes the hurt of losing three Munster finals drove the team to scale new heights in extra time to help them edge Cork after a thrilling All-Ireland SHC decider. Speaking to The Clare Champion, the Whitegate clubman said sometimes a team learns more from a defeat and recalled the Clare management learned a lot from losing to Limerick in the Munster …

Residents of East Clare are being invited to share their views on the health of local rivers. Flagmount Digital Hub is the venue for open consultation with the Waters of LIFE project on Tuesday, July 30, and Thursday August 1. Waters of LIFE are an EU-funded project trialling water quality measures that work for local communities. The project is gathering local knowledge on the Graney sub-catchment and is developing an action plan for the area. The sub-catchment includes Lough Graney, Lough Atorick, Bleach River, Graney River, Corra River and Dromindoora River. Water quality solutions identified will be used to feed into future national and EU policy. There is an afternoon session from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and evening session 6.30pm to 8.30pm on both days. No appointment is necessary and locals are welcome to drop in and chat with catchment scientist, John Kelly. “We want to hear from people who live in the area and have something to say about its …

A young cancer survivor has urged young men to check their testicles regularly and to immediately consult their GP if there is any sign of swelling. Daniel Spaight (19), Bridgetown won an Individual Award at the Garda Awards ceremony for bearing testicular cancer bravely with humour despite experiencing “horrible” chemotherapy. He has been chosen to represent Clare at the National Garda Youth Awards. Another St Anne’s Community College student, Aaron Hunt also won an Individual Garda Award. Symptoms of this cancer include a lump or swelling in either testicle, a dull ache in the lower belly or groin, sudden swelling in the scrotum, pain or discomfort in a testicle or the scrotum, back pain and enlargement or tenderness of the breast tissue. Testicular cancer isn’t a common type. It can happen at any age, but it occurs most often between the age of 15 and 45. Mr Spaight spoke openly to his year group in St Anne’s Community College about …