New pitch the centre point for festival

This Saturday will be a red-letter day for Clare camogie as the organisation hosts the official opening of its own playing field at Doora.
For many years, various officials have worked towards this day when President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, will perform the official opening of the venue in the presence of county, provincial and national officials of both camogie and the GAA.
Speaking this week ahead of Saturday’s opening ceremony, Orla Considine, chairperson of Clare Camogie Board said, “This is something our organisation has dreamed about for many years. A lot of hard work has gone into getting to this stage and it’s hard to believe it is coming true. We are all looking forward to seeing the first official game played there.”
The hardworking Clare official said she is “very excited about what it will bring to Clare camogie and I am looking forward to the rewards in years to come”.
The opening of the pitch is the first and very important stage in the development. Work on the next phase commenced on Wednesday of this week, when Clare camogie signed contracts with LEADER, realising funds that will go towards the provision of lighting, fencing of the grounds, upgrading of the pitches, maintenance and ancillary services.
Clare Camogie was recently sanctioned for a grant of €181,000 from LEADER for the project.
It’s 26 years since money was first raised for the purpose of purchasing a field for Clare Camogie. “Back in 1986, when Kitty McNicholas was chairperson, fundraising commenced for this purpose. Clare camogie was one of the first bodies to start a weekly lotto and £40,000 was raised, half of which went towards the development of a camogie pitch in Shannon. To continue with this development, which will require the erection of dressing rooms, we need to raise €50,000,” the Clare chairperson explained.
The official opening is part of an international hurling-shinty weekend that is being hosted in Clare. It will kick-off this Friday with an Irish-Scottish concert at Glór featuring Mánran, a traditional Scottish folk band, Trillogy with singer Kate Purcell from Feakle, well-known concertina player Chris Droney and Irish sean-nós dancer Stephanie Keane.
On Friday night, there will be an U-21 hurling-shinty game between Ireland and Scotland under lights at Gurteen and Clare players part of the Irish panel are Tony Kelly (Ballyea) and Seadna Morey (Sixmilebridge).
On Saturday at 11am, a camogie-shinty international will be played at the new grounds, dedicated to the memory of the late Fr Michael McNamara. A Clare selection comprising players from all of the county’s clubs, excluding inter-county players, will represent Ireland and this team will be managed by Catherine O’Loughlin, a leading light in Clare camogie and the county’s first camogie All-Star.
At half-time in the game (11.30am) President Higgins will perform the official opening of the new facility in the presence of Camogie Association president Aileen Lawlor, chairman of Munster camogie Eamonn Browne and Clare Camogie chairperson Orla Considine. Also in attendance will be trustees Jim McNicholas, Seamus O’Sullivan, Maura Sheedy, Michael Murphy and Michael Maher.
At 12.30pm the grand parade involving every club in Clare will depart from the Holy Family school and proceed through the streets of the town to Cusack Park, where the second leg of the senior hurling-shinty international between Ireland and Scotland will take place.
The first two teams in the parade will be the Clare senior and minor teams that won the Munster titles this year. Twenty-six club teams will follow as well as five county development squads, the Inagh-Kilnamona Division 2 Féile champions and four GAA club teams. The Scottish and Irish ladies’ shinty teams will also be part of the parade. The parade will end at Cusack Park in time for the senior shinty international, which gets underway at 2pm with Ireland holding a slender lead from last week’s first leg in Scotland. The game will be broadcast live on TG4.
The day will end with a céilí mór at Cois na hAbhna and this will feature the Tulla Céilí Band and will get underway at 9pm. Admission to the hurling-shinty games is free.

The Clare shinty camogie squad is: Sheelagh Daffy (Clooney-Quin), Sinéad Collins (Corofin), Maria Brody (Scariff-Ogonnelloe), Orla Chaplin (Sixmilebridge); Ruth Lillis (Éire Óg), Claire McDonnell (Ruan), Cushla Hehir (Kilkishen), Aida Griffey (Kilmaley, capt); Kim Moloney (St Joseph’s, Doora-Barefield), Deirdre Cassidy (Newmarket), Lauren Guilfoyle (Feakle), Alison Carrig (Ballyea), Michelle Wynne (Inagh-Kilnamona), Ann Marie Fitzgerald (Bodyke), Aoife Conlon (Killanena), Aisling McNamara (Tulla), Teresa Roseingrave (Crusheen), Aideen Burke (Whitegate), Deirdre Boland (Broadford), Maria Lyons (Clarecastle), Aoife O’Neill (Wolfe Tones) and Siobhán Fahy (Truagh-Clonlara).
The watergirls for Saturday are Emma Hall (Cratloe), Niamh O’Kelly (Parteen), Rosie Farrell (Smith O’Brien’s) and Erin Urquhart (Burren).
Catherine O’Loughlin is the team manager, assisted by Niall Malone (Éire Óg).