Sports

The Lohan name will always be synonymous with Clare hurling as Brian and Frank followed in the footsteps of their father Gus by not only donning the Clare jersey, but captaining their county too. In terms of honours, the siblings hold the upper hand as they soldiered together for two All-Ireland and three Munster titles while also collecting personal honours along the way. That association continues with Brian now the man tasked with steering the Clare hurling ship as manager and there is no doubt that he will seek the views of his younger brother as time progresses. Their on field demeanour tended to be quite different, with Brian’s swashbuckling clearances and token red helmet being the stuff of Banner folklore. For Frank, it was more about the unseen work with the crucial hooks and blocks that often go unnoticed. He personified the mantra of doing the basic things right, and that was evident in a career that lasted for …

If you were to assign movie titles to the members of the All-Ireland winning Clare team of 1995, chances are The Quiet Man would be Michael O’Halloran. The Sixmilebridge man was a key component of the full back line that annexed the McCarthy Cup twice in three seasons, with his rise to prominence immediate after making his full senior debut during the 1995 campaign. Since his retirement from on field duty, he has been a key figure in the underage scene at his native club. He says the glory days are not something he tends to dwell on much, mostly due to the analysis he gets at home. “I try to avoid the nostalgia thing as much as I can to be honest. I have three children myself who are 17, 14 and 12 and they have told me I was awful. Youtube is an awful infection. People expect the 1995 thing to be the stuff of legend but when …

Starting on Monday The Clare Champion in association with LIT will be launching a series of workout videos to help you stay in shape at home. The series will consist of 3 short videos per week, posted at lunch time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and will cater for all fitness levels. Keep an eye on our social media channels for more details.

The great historical events are the ones that are instantly recognisable with the briefest of mention. The Famine, The Great War, The Emergency and The Troubles are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to those points on the calendars that need no further expansion to demonstrate their importance. In a sporting context, there is no doubting what people in Clare are referring to when you hear 1995 mentioned. There was only show in town that year, and what a show it was. The long hot summer that saw Biddy Earley’s curse finally banished and put Anthony Daly’s name alongside Amby Power’s in the pantheon of Banner sporting greats. The pitch invasion near the end of the Munster final, the fact is was proud Clare man Noel Walsh who would hand the provincial cup over, and the outpouring of emotion all melded together to create an unforgettable time. The gravity of those historical events can also be viewed …

By his own admission, it has been a very strange few weeks for Clonlara’s John Conlon. 2020 was meant to be the year he would captain the Clare senior hurlers in the championship under the watch of new boss Brian Lohan, and while that honour was bestowed on him for the National League campaign, a number of factors conspired to ensure this year’s campaign came to a sudden and cruel finish. On what would turn out to be the last collective training session for the squad before the Covid-19 measures came into effect, Conlon found himself living the nightmare of that dreaded cruciate ligament injury. It was a freak accident that would rule him out for the remainder of the campaign, but it still remains to be seen if there will actually be a campaign to miss. It meant a spell of waiting for surgery lay in store, but a phone call from the team at the Santry Sports Clinic …

A CLARE hurler is the latest person to come on board to help the nation keep fit and well when confined to home due to the Coronavirus pandemic. David Reidy, the sports and marketing officer at Limerick Institute of Technology, has developed an online exercise programme. Starting next week, he will present recorded videos of 20 to 30 minutes, which will be posted on The Clare Champion and LIT social media forums at lunchtime on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Starting on Monday and running over three weeks, the Éire Óg hurler will present a total of nine training routines, which will suit people of all level of fitness and ages. “I’m looking forward to this challenge. People who are stuck in their home during this crisis need to keep their mind and body active. I’m showing them through The Clare Champion and LIT social media how they can do this without having any kind of gym equipment. If they have …

It has already been a whirlwind experience for Ailish Considine in her blossoming career in the Women’s AFL, but you have to go to a whole other level to describe how the last few weeks have panned out for the Kilmihil woman. With the outbreak of Covid-19 bringing an abrupt and premature end to the 2020 season for Considine and the rest of her Adelaide Crows teammates, it meant that she was left with a decision to make as to what her next step would be. That was until the rapidly evolving nature of the global pandemic suddenly kicked into top gear and left her in a frantic scramble to make it home before border closures would effectively leave her stranded. That journey home is one that she will not forget for some time to come, with a combination of the evolving Covid-19 crisis and Murphy’s Law combining to ensure it was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons. …

A decision on the potential future of the 2020 GAA championships will be discussed this weekend with the extension of the Covid-19 restrictions until the first week of May meaning a much changed campaign is in store. The uncertainty surrounding how 2020 will play out is something that Clare senior hurling star David Reidy feels some players are struggling to plan around. “We are doing our work at the moment and trying to get the touch sharp, while having in the back of our minds that we are still training for a championship. The biggest thing at the moment is the uncertainty around it and it put a bit of fear in us to an extent because we are wondering what exactly are we are training for. No one knows if there will be a championship, or if there is one, when will it be? We just have to prepare as if there will be one because it could be …