WHILE hopes were high that the event would go from strength to strength when it was launched back in 1971, Féile na nGael has developed beyond all expectations would prove to be.
This weekend the 40th national festival of U-14 hurling, camogie and handball will take place across Clare involving over 5,000 boys and girls.
Planning for this year’s event has been underway since the beginning of the year and all in the Féile executive are satisfied that this year’s promotion will match the high standard that has been set by previous committees.
It’s been all of 24 years since the festival first came to the Banner county and the staging of the 1986 and 1987 festivals in Clare proved hugely successful. County officials are confident that this year’s event will be equally so.
The teams will arrive on this Friday morning and first round games are scheduled for early afternoon before all teams, both hosts and visitors, will assemble at Cusack Park for what is expected to be one of the highlights of the weekend, the Féile parade.
Led by the Artane band and featuring a further seven bands, all 129 teams will parade in their club colours through the streets of the town from the county grounds to the finishing point at the Clare Marts on the Quin Road.
Earlier on Friday afternoon at 4.30pm. Ennis Town council will host a civic welcome to mark the staging of Féile in Clare and this event will be attended by national and local officials in the GAA, camogie and handball.
From early on Saturday morning it will be action all the way on the county’s hurling and camogie fields and in the handball clubs as the teams battle for the honours. Group games will continue in the morning and early afternoon with competition semi-finals set for Saturday evening.
The finals will begin at 10am on Sunday and all field finals will take place in Clarecastle and Cusack Park with the Division 1 decider set for 3pm after which the closing ceremony will take place.
“Féile is characterised by the remarkable level of welcome and hospitality extended by both the host families and the participating clubs to all of the visiting teams and their supporters. This is the main contributory factor in making this a unique and most special event”, according to the chairman of the Clare Féile organising committee, Ger Hickey.
In his welcoming address, Hickey says “its worth noting that there is a record number of handball entries this year, an indication of the growing popularity of what has heretofore been the ‘Cinderella’ of our games”.
The Feakle man who is Clare’s representative on the Central council goes on to sah that “since Féile was last held in the county, Clare has enjoyed much success and it would be my sincere hope that our teams would achieve similar success again before Féile returns”.
“The high level of participation has meant that the national and local committees have had to seek the assistance of clubs from outside the county to facilitate and accommodate visiting teams,” the chairman said.

The first Clare team in Féile

A SPECIAL relationship has existed between Ruan GAA’s association and Feile Na nGael since the club became Clare’s first representatives at the competition in 1971.
When the competition was launched and hosted by Tipperary it was for teams at U-15 level. Ruan, managed by Des Crowe, now a member of the county executive in Clare, were hosted by Nenagh
“It was truly a great occasion and our All-Ireland competition. We played a couple of matches before going out in extra time in our last one. The following day we took part in a huge parade in our club colours and hurling boots and marched through Thurles town,” said team member and now club PRO, Ger Lyons.
“The A final was between Eoghan Ruadh from Dublin and Blackrock from Cork who were a physically smaller side but with more skill on board, emerged as the inaugural winners of the competition,” Ger continued.
“This marked the emergence of young Tom Cashman who was to play a starring role for Cork in later years. It also proved an uplifting platform for Ruan who went to become one of the strongest underage clubs in the Banner for the next decade,” said Lyons, now a prominent referee who will be in charge of a number of games this weekend.
“The first Féile was inspiring, as it was an enjoyable and a proud time for Ruan hurling club, its players, supporters, and officials who had endured some lean times prior to that period. Ruan later went on to host other clubs in the intervening years of this most enduring and successful Gaelic pageant, which has proved a splendid platform for all that is good in Gaelic culture,” Lyons concluded.

Tones record still stands

GER Loughnane was still busy as a club and county player when he took on the role of coach/trainer of the Wolfe Tones U-14 hurlers in 1986. The Feakle man had been making a name for himself as a coach in the previous couple of years after taking up a teaching appointment in Shannon.
Loughnane’s first major success came when he led Wolfe Tones to the National Féile Division 1 title in 1986, the first year that the festival was hosted in Clare.
Loughnane had been in charge of the squad for the previous couple of years, leading them to U-12 and U-13 honours in the years leading into the Féile competition.
In the group stage, Wolfe Tones accounted for Faythe Harriers from Wexford, Sixmilebridge and St Finbarr’s from Cork to secure a semi-final spot. In the semi-final they accounted for Portumna from Galway, setting up a final meeting with Kilkenny’s Piltown which the Shannon outfit won on a scoreline of 5-6 to 3-2.
Loughnane was assisted by Fr Peter O’Loughlin, now parish priest in Kilmihil, and the victorious panel comprised Denis Riordan (captain), Sean Treacy, Gary McGettrick, Pat Finlay, Barry O’Donnell, John Molamphy, Jason Lennon, Brian McDonald, Sean Power, Ciarán O’Neill, Brendan Lyne, Ray Divinney, Paul O’Rourke, Derek Grainger, Greg Keane, Evan Moore, Patrick Tierney, Martin Hartigan, John McGrath and John Markham, now the Wolfe Tones senior manager.
A year later Wolfe Tones, now managed by Alan Cunningham, assisted by Brendan Keane and Johnnie O’Sullivan, went in search of another title with all but four of the ’86 winning squad.
In the group games in ’87 the Shannon boys defeated Birr from Offaly, neighbours Newmarket and Wexford’s Raparees to set up a semi-final meeting with Sixmilebridge which they won. This set up an all Clare final clash with Éire Óg and the Shannon boys proved too strong winning by 4-4 to 0-2.
The members of this victorious panel were Gary McGettrick (captain), Michael O’Neill, Joe Costello, Fergal O’Shea, Eddie Mulvihill, Martin Hartigan, Noel McEvoy, Patrick Tierney, Thomas Naughton, Lee Pilkington, Barry O’Donnell, Greg Keane, Ian Watson, Donal Kirby, Paudie O’Donnell, Damian Garrihy, Frank Lohan, Kieran Moloney, Peter Meaney, Brian O’Neill, Patrick McCarthy and Gerard Lyne.
A year later, with Cunningham still in charge, Wolfe Tones qualified to represent Clare in Féile that was staged in Offaly. In the group stages they had wins over Kircormac and St Rynagh’s from Offaly and Na Piarsaigh from Limerick before defeating James Stephens from Kilkenny in the semi-final. Bishopstown from Cork were the Clare club’s final opponents and the Tones won on a 4-3 to 3-4 scoreline.
Thomas Naughton captained this team that also included Michael O’Neill, Frank Lohan, Fergal O’Shea, Gary Hughes, Pat Hughes, Steve Moran, John Cullen, Ian Watson, Damian Garrihy, Kieran Moloney, Damian McGrath, Pat Power, Donal Kirby, Brian O’Neill, Aidan McKenna, Dermot Ryall, Denis White, Martin Mulvihill, Kevin O’Shea and Barry Linnane.
Wolfe Tones became the first club to win the Christy Ring title three years in succession, a feat that has never been equalled
The 1988 season proved to be a very special one for the Shannon club as they captured every A grade title at Bord na nÓg level in Clare in both hurling and football, something that is unlikely ever to be repeated.