Tag Archives: Brian Lohan

Brian Lohan has introduced ten new players to the Clare hurling squad for 2023 and points to the ambition among the new recruits and the established stars as they bid to take county seniors to the next level and win trophies, writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh It’s hard to believe that it’s now a quarter of a century since one of the greatest examples of the real difference between league and championship was provided by a Clare team that had current manager Brian Lohan as a totem. It was 1998, when the great team that Ger Loughnane built rocked down to Semple Stadium for a joust with Cork in the National League semi-final on the first Sunday in May. Summertime had just kicked in and Clare had their chance to book a final place against Waterford. It was 20 years since the team that Ger himself was part of won the league for the second successive year — why not mark …

AN Bord Pleanála has overruled one of its own inspector and opened the door to a major commercial development in Ennis. The board’s inspector had recommended overturning a Clare County Council decision allowing a new Aldi store at Westpoint on the Kilrush Road; he was overruled, however, and the development has been given the go-ahead. In a report prepared following the appeal of Clare County Council’s decision to give Maom Property Ltd & Lohan Property Ltd planning permission, An Bord Pleanála Planning Inspector Adrian Ormsby warned that the development would be detrimental to Ennis town centre. “It is considered that, notwithstanding the ‘Commercial’ zoning and the ‘COM6’ zoning objective of the site for use as a ‘neighbourhood centre’, the proposed development would contribute to an excessive scale which is beyond what would be reasonably envisaged for a neighbourhood centre in this area and would be of a nature and scale that would create a counter-attraction to existing town centre services …

There’s a notable surge of excitement as well as apprehension ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate stage clash with Kilkenny at GAA headquarters (5.30pm). Much of that is based on the old adage that ‘what’s rare is wonderful’, a novelty factor that not only extends to being only Clare’s third All-ireland Semi-Final appearance in the past 16 years but also a dearth of championship clashes with Kilkenny in the same period. The thing is though that being only the eighth ever championship encounter between Clare and Kilkenny, seven of those have involved Brian Lohan as the Cats always provided a major stumbling block to the Banner’s ambitions during they golden era. “They were always tough, tight games and difficult opponents to play against,” recalled Lohan this week. “They were the type of opponent that didn’t need a huge amount of possession in that they could get a very good return on the amount of possession they had. Invariably they had quality scorers …

CLARE can look forward to tomorrow’s All-Ireland championship quarter-final with Wexford secure in the knowledge they have a full deck from which to deal. Wedensday evening saw proposed one-match suspensions of Rory Hayes and Peter Duggan overturned on a technicality and the Banner can face the Model county at full strength in Thurles. Meanwhile, the resurgence of Shane O’Donnell has been one of the stories of this year’s Championship to date. The Éire Óg man has suffered with concussion and missed the 2021 inter- county campaign as a result. His return to action has been slow but well managed as he has slotted in seamlessly, scoring nine points in the Championship to date while lining out at wing forward. O’Donnell scooped the GAA/GPA Player of the Month award for May with manager Brian Lohan hailing the work that the star forward has put in. “There was never a doubt over Shane’s quality. He’s a really exceptional individual with exceptional skill. …

There was pride and loads of it, but after the fall and after coming out on the wrong side of a hurling epic it was hard to find some words to explain the depths of Clare’s disappointment.  The hurt; the regrets, because there’s always more than a few in any losing dressing room. But Brian Lohan stepped out to talk the talk — as a player he had no truck for losing and as a manager, he’s the very same. It cuts to his core, as a man, as a hurler and as a manager.  Munster finals are for winning — he won three of them as a player and wanted this one for his players. He wanted it as badly as he wanted it when he had number three on his back, when Munster finals had all their distinct motivations — to beat Limerick in ’95 for that first one; Tipperary two years later because they were whipping boys …

On sporting occasions such as Munster final day, one can find themselves looking back and reminiscing on past glories. With Clare going for a first Munster title since 1998, the county’s fans will be dreaming of celebrating an historic provincial success as fans flock to Semple Stadium for a blockbuster sell out that has all the ingredients to be a modern day classic. The pairing of Clare and Limerick naturally draws back memories of 1995 and the former’s ending of a 63-year wait for provincial honours. With Ger Loughnane in charge, he, alongside a now iconic group of players showed the established order of the game little respect as the Banner County came from nowhere to usurp the traditional kingpins of the game in spectacular fashion.   Heading in to the final in ’95, Clare were without a provincial crown since 1932 and were hurting, especially considering the anguish suffered in the two previous Munster final defeats to Tipperary and …

It didn’t end in victory but Sunday’s box-office encounter was every bit as satisfying as the previous triumphs over Tipperary and Cork as Clare met fire with fire against runaway All-Ireland favourites Limerick. Having come into the championship firmly under most people’s radar, the Banner’s spectacular rising star over the past month also inevitably heightened the expectation levels that Brian Lohan’s men certainly matched if not surpassed in a sensational Shannonside derby in Cusack Park. “We are happy enough,” began Lohan afterwards. “With a big crowd in Ennis, there was a little bit of expectation from our own supporters who came in their droves to support the team and we were probably under a little bit of pressure to make sure that we didn’t disappoint them. I am happy enough that we performed to a reasonable level. “This place hasn’t been packed for a while and there hasn’t been as big a demand for tickets in a while. And when …

There were a lot of fanciful dates been thrown around in Semple Stadium in the aftermath of Sunday’s second successive victory about the last time Clare beat both Tipperary and Cork in the championship. 1955? ’56?, the truth is much closer as Brian Lohan and Co. managed to not only overcome Cork and Tipperary to win their second Munster title in three years in 1997 but doubled the dose in the All-Ireland decider against the Premier. Exactly 25 years later, doubling the dose was a significant objective for Lohan the manager and his side as having ambushed Tipperary, it was all about matching that hungry display to exact full revenge on the Rebels who had knocked them out of the All-Ireland series last July. “The lads were just right today, the first half in particular they really worked hard, put in a great shift, played some brilliant hurling and got some great scores so I’m delighted with how the lads …