Clare’s outstanding All-Star midfielder, Colm Galvin, is to spend the summer in the US and will not be available for the county’s Munster championship campaign, which begins on Sunday, May 24 when the Banner men take on Limerick at Semple Stadium in Thurles.
Clare fans will be glad to hear, however, that the Clonlara man has not ruled out playing some part in the championship.
Rumours of Galvin’s desire to travel to the US have been circulating for the past few seasons but have been quite strong since last autumn, after he played a key role in helping Clare to a third successive All-Ireland U-21 title.
The 22-year-old will leave Ireland on April 28 and will play his hurling this summer with Tipperary in the popular North American venue of Boston, where he has work lined up.
His absence is a huge blow to Clare hopes of championship success and also a massive loss to his club, Clonlara, who were beaten championship semi-finalists and beaten league finalists in the county last season.
According to Galvin, the time is right now to travel, as he has no summer exams to contend with at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick and is not due back to his studies until September.
Club and inter-county commitments kept Galvin in Ireland in recent years, as he starred on the Clare teams that won three successive All-Ireland U-21 titles from 2012 to 2014, while also winning an All-Ireland senior medal in 2013.
“If I didn’t do it this year, I wouldn’t do it. I’ve been thinking about doing this for the last two or three years. The big thing is that I have no exams at all, so I don’t have to worry about that and I’m not back in college until September,” he said,
Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald has assured Galvin that the door remains open for a return to the Banner County squad, if he comes home early.
“Davy’s been very good. I let him know around December and he had an inkling that I might be going. I brought it up again around February and he’s been very supportive. He said that there would be a place there for me when I come back but that I’d have to fight hard. I couldn’t ask for any more than that.”
The midfielder acknowledged that he would have to work desperately hard to win his place back in the team, if Clare are still involved in the championship when he comes home.
“Trying to walk back into a team and a panel training like dogs would be very hard. I’m not sure what date I’ll be back. I don’t know myself and that’s the truth. It depends on how I get on out there. I don’t have a return flight booked. Davy tried to get me to stay on a few occasions but I had my mind made up and he understood where I was coming from. There’s no doubt that myself and Davy will still be in contact while I’m away.”
Galvin admitted that he will desperately miss the Clare set-up and inter-county hurling.
“What I’ll miss most is the big match days and the preparation for that. I wish the lads the best of luck for the year and I hope they bring back silverware. I’ll be out there watching them on TV whenever they are playing.”
Galvin is confident that Clare will respond positively to relegation from Division 1A to have a big say in the summer months.
“We were unlucky but Clare are a good summer team and I’d be expecting a lot out of them this year. While I was there, I was going to play for Clare during the league but Davy knew for the last two or three weeks that I was going away.
“I said I’d give my all before I left and I made a conscious decision that I’d finish with the national league. Things didn’t work out too well, unfortunately and while there have been lots of stories flying around lately, it’s time for everybody to get behind the team now.
“My father managed the Clonlara team last year and he tried to get me to stay around. Sean Stack is in charge now. The club will, hopefully, still be involved in the championship when I get back and I already have a gym programme to work on while I’m away.
“I’ll have to do the training myself to keep any way fit because there would be a lot of work involved in getting back on the Clare panel if I didn’t keep myself in shape,” he said.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.