Clare 1-20 Waterford 1-9 Clare booked a place in the Munster senior hurling league final when they recorded a merited eleven point win over Waterford at the very impressive Waterford I.T. Sports complex at Carrickanore in Waterford city. [doptg id=”93″] Clare play their final game in the league section next Saturday evening when they travel to the Gaelic grounds to play their Shannonside neighbours Limerick who had a good win over Cork this week. Cork, Limerick and Waterford remain in contention for the second final spot and the outcome of the postponed tie between Limerick and Waterford which goes ahead on Tuesday evening at the Gaelic Grounds, will go a long way to determining who will go through to the final. In Sunday’s game, played in driving rain and cold conditions, the visitors were nine points clear at half time after playing with the aid of the wind. An experimental Waterford side started well and made life difficult for Clare …

Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald has named his starting 15 to face Kerry in round 3 of the Munster senior hurling league at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge, this Wednesday evening (7.30pm) It shows six changes in personnel from the team which started against Cork in round one Into the starting team comes Andrew Fahy, Pat Donnellan, Cian Dillon (team captain), Colin Ryan, Conor O’Donnell and Gearoid O’Connell and they replace Donal Tuohy, Jack Browne, Colm Galvin, Shane Golden, David Fitzgerald and Tony Kelly. John Conlon is named at centre forward this week, while  Cian Dillon will be at centre back, flanked by Donnellan and Jack Browne. There is a new midfield pairing of Gearoid O’Connell and David Reidy. In their two games to date, Kerry have gone under to Limerick and Cork. They scored 0-18 in each tie. The Clare team is Andrew Fahy (Whitegate); Eoin O’Brien (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Pat O’Connor (Tubber), Paul Flanagan (Ballyea); Paddy Donnellan (O’Callaghan’s Mills), Cian Dillon (Crusheen) Captain, …

Clare 0-12 Kerry 0-9 CLARE qualified for the McGrath Cup final, which will be played on Friday January 22, following a three point win over Kerry in Killarney on Sunday afternoon. They last played in the final of this tournament in 2011 when they were beaten 0-13 to 1-7 by Kerry. Playing in front of a crowd of 805 people, Clare faced a weak Kerry team. The All-Ireland finalists returned from holiday on Saturday and none featured on Sunday while Kerry clubs were involved in All-Ireland club competition on Sunday. League and regional championship club games were also played in Kerry over the weekend, which further restricted their options. Clare had more first choice players on the field but again featured a number of younger players including Pearse Lillis, Kieran Malone, Cian O’Dea, Keelan Sexton and Damien Burke. The final will be played ten days before Clare’s opening division 3 fixture at home to Sligo and will provide them with …

Newmarket Celtic 1 St. Michaels, Tipperary 1 (after extra time) Newmarket won 4-3 on penalties Newmarket Celtic are through to round 7 of the FAI junior cup thanks to victory over a fancied St. Michaels from Tipperary before a big attendance at McDonough park in Newmarket this afternoon. The win sees the Clare champions extend their winning run and keeps their hopes of success in a number of competitions alive. Next week the attention switches to the Munster junior cup as they travel to Cork for a round 3 tie. [doptg id=”91″] This afternoon’s victory was, without doubt, their biggest to date. The sides met in the same competition last season at the Tipperary club’s venue when the home side got through on a 2-1 scoreline. The visitors made the better start this time out and took the lead after just eleven minutes when capitalising on a defensive error and Padraig Fogarty’s low effort roled into the corner of the …

It was a good start to 2016 for Clare GAA senior teams as both the hurlers and footballers were victorious in their opening games on Sunday, the hurlers beating Cork by a goal while the footballers overcame Tipperary by the minimum margin in the McGrath cup. The goals proved vital in each game. Shane O’Donnell, introduced midway through the second half, struck for the hurler’s goal seven minutes from time and this was the difference at the final whistle as Clare scored their first win over Cork since they defeated the Leesiders in the All-Ireland final replay in 2013. On that occasion O’Donnell caused huge problems for the Leesiders, scoring a hat trick of goals The footballer’s goal came two minutes from the final whistle and was scored by debutant, Kieran Malone on his home pitch in Miltown. He was put through by substitute David Tubridy whose introduction, together with that of Gary Brennan, helped Clare recover from a half …

Ballyea’s Tony Kelly will captain the Clare senior hurlers in their first competitve outing of 2016 when they face Cork in the opening game in the Munster senior league on Sunday. The game will take place at Sixmilebridge where the throw in will be at 2p.m. Inagh-Kilnamona’s David Fitzgerald will make his competitive senior debut having been named at corner forward completing a line which includes Clonlara duo John Conlon and Darach Honan. Another newcomer is Newmarket’s Eoin O’Brien who has been named at corner back. Tubber’s Pat O’Connor has been named at full back. The backline includes three Ballyea players with Paul Flanagan at corner back while Jack Browne and Gearoid O’Connell will fill the wing back positions, flanking Cratloe’s Conor Ryan. The team is Donal Tuohy (Crusheen); Eoin O’Brien (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Pat O’Connor (Tubber), Paul Flanagan (Ballyea); Jack Browne (Ballyea), Conor Ryan (Cratloe), Gearóid O’Connell (Ballyea); Colm Galvin (Clonlara), Shane Golden (Sixmilebridge); David Reidy (Éire Óg), Tony Kelly (Ballyea), …

THE addition of former Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack to the senior hurling management team for 2016 is one of the reasons for the increased interest in this season’s Munster Hurling League, which gets underway this weekend. The fact that Clare’s opening game will be against Cusack’s native county is further adding to the interest to the game, which is scheduled for O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge at 2pm on Sunday. Cork are under new management, with Kieran Kingston at the helm backed up by Diarmuid O’Sullivan, a Cloyne clubmate of Cusack, Pat Hartnett and Pat Ryan, All-Ireland medal winners with Leeside teams. Sunday’s game is the first of four games Clare will play in the coming weeks. A disappointing 2015 when relegation to Division 1B of the league was followed by an early exit from both the Munster and All-Ireland championships, led to criticism of the Clare management team, led by Davy Fitzgerald. The Sixmilebridge man’s decision to add Cusack to …

CLARE historian Daniel McCarthy is playing a key role in seeking approval for hurling to be included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The Cabinet has approved the application and it is due to be ratified by the Dáil in early 2016. A formal application for inclusion on the list must then be submitted to UNESCO by March 31 next. In outlining their interpretation of Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO maintains cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from ancestors and passed on, including oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events. Lissycasey man Daniel McCarthy is manager of the GAA’s Heritage Framework Policy, which identified the merits of seeking UNESCO designation for hurling. He believes that if UNESCO recognition is granted for the game, it will expose hurling’s merits to a world-wide audience. “The GAA is unique amongst world sporting bodies in that it upholds, …

HE spent just 17 minutes on the field in Croke Park on September 3, 1995 and only once hit the ball. Yet that seismic Eamon Taaffe goal, four minutes from time, still resonates in Clare. It was the moment that propelled the county to a first All-Ireland win since 1914, bridging an 81-year gap. The Tubber man was one of that 1995 panel present for Clare County Council’s 20th anniversary civic reception in council headquarters on Monday night. He looks fit and fresh, which indicates why he’s the only one of that panel still playing competitive hurling. “Go handy,” he urged when asked if he had yet reached 41 or thereabouts. “I’m only 40, although I’m not far from 41. I’ll be 41 in February,” Taaffe confirmed. Twenty years after that extraordinary afternoon, which altered the history of Clare hurling forever, Taaffe remembers everything. “I can remember it as if it was yesterday. I can still remember Ger coming to …

A strong warning on the responsible use of social media was delivered by outgoing Clare GAA County Board chairman, Michael McDonagh, at Wednesday night’s convention. He welcomed the use of social media “if it is done in an honest and straightforward way, with no personal attacks”. “I fear, at some stage, it will go too far and people will not be able to take the pressure. I hope my words never come true, as everyone should know what could happen when somebody is under pressure,” he told delegates at the Auburn Lodge in Ennis. “All county team managers should deliver a year-end report to the officers of the county board who, in turn, will deliver that report to the county committee for discussion,” McDonagh continued. Welcoming all as chairman for the last time, he noted, “I have spoken to many people and asked them about the way forward for Clare GAA and Clare County Board. Everyone’s opinion differed but the …

The County Grounds in Doora is expected to attract one of its biggest attendances to date on Sunday when Clare champions, Newmarket Celtic, entertain Janesboro from Limerick in the final of the Munster Champions Cup. The game will kick off at 2pm, with Michael Rock in charge, assisted by Trevor White and Terry Kennedy. Janesboro are one of the strongest junior clubs in the region and are the favourites to win the title. It’s been a great season to date for Newmarket Celtic, who are also still in the running for the Munster Junior Cup and FAI Junior Cup titles. Janesboro, one of the oldest clubs in the Limerick league, will travel to Ennis with an experienced squad that includes the Clarke brothers, team captain Shane and Thomas, Shane Waters, John Boyle, Craig McMarlow and Stephen Walsh. For Newmarket, central defenders Mark Donlon and Paddy Purcell are very experienced and they have been in outstanding form all season. Stephen Kelly …

Newmarket Celtic 2 Avondale, Cork 1 Newmarket Celtic’s tremendous season was taken a step further this Sunday afternoon when they booked a place in the sixth round of the FAI junior cup with a fully merited win over a highly fancied Avondale United from Cork. With a Munster champions cup final next Sunday against crack Limerick side, Janesboro, the FAI victory is a tremendous boost as they chase Munster honours. The Clare champions took the lead after just ten minutes when Dave McCarthy fired home the lead score following a Darren Cullinan cross. On an excellent pitch despite the atrocious weather conditions in the lead up to the game, they dominated the opening half hour and would not have been flattered if they had added to the opening goal. As the half wore on the visitors came much more into the game and they levelled the tie five minutes from the half time whistle when full back Ronan Devine beat Niall …

LOCAL historian and Coolmeen GAA club activist Paul Markham estimates that the current parish population is 650, in what is a 225-house community. He says that in the region of 30 people from the community, in the 20 to 30-year-old age bracket, have had to emigrate in search of work. While there are plenty of young players on the panel, the two schools in the parish have a combined pupil population of just 32. There are two teachers in Cranny National School, which has 21 pupils, while one-teacher Coolmeen National School has 11 pupils. This reflects the challenge that many rural schools in West Clare face, as populations continue to decline in the region. There is no post office and no shop in the 24-townland parish, which has two pubs. “Since the 1960s all three post offices in Shanahea, Cranny and Coolmeen have closed. The creamery at Cranny has been demolished. Public houses like Moloney’s in Coolmeen and McMahon’s in …

THE entire parish of Coolmeen will decamp to Mallow on Sunday. This mass migration of householders from the 24 Cranny/Coolmeen townlands will be an albeit temporary arrangement but one that has become part of the fabric of the club’s glory-laden season. After their post-match warm-down in Cooraclare two weeks ago, having beaten Modeligo in the Munster semi-final, the Coolmeen players were met with a standing ovation from their community, who had stayed on to let them know how highly they rated their men. Coolmeen will need that support on Sunday because in Templenoe they will play the best team they have ever met. That’s not to suggest that the Kerry champions are unbeatable but they will be very warm favourites.In their Munster semi-final, they beat Bandon 0-16 to 1-10 in Clonakilty and a feature of that game was that five of the Cork club’s forwards did not score from play. Team captain Tadhg Morley excelled that day, while Kieran O’Neill …

Wolfe Tones 1-18 Newcestown, Cork 2-13 Wolfe Tones were crowned Munster intermediate hurling champions at Mallow this Saturday afternoon where they were deserving winners over their Cork counterparts, Newcestown. A brace of injury time goals from the Cork champions made for a nervous finish for the Clare outfit but there is no denying the merit of their victory. They started a little nervously and found themselves 0-3 to 0-1 behind after six minutes but from here to the half time whistle they dictated matters. Seven unanswered points saw them take a four point advantage as the game went into the second quarter before Newcestown ended a twelve minute spell without a score with a point from defender Michael McSweeney. Nine minutes from the half time whistle the Shannon club struck a vital blow. A superb break by the outstanding Aron Shanagher saw the eighteen year old pick out Gary O’Connell with his cross and the centre forward found the net. …