Tag Archives: clare

Chinese Ambassador to Ireland,  H.E. Dr. Yue Xiaoyong declared his intention to return to Clare for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann again this August, accompanied by many of his fellow countrymen and women. During this week’s visit to Clare for a meeting with representatives of Clare County Council, facilitated by the Minister for Employment, Trade, Business, EU Digital Single Market & Data Protection Pat Breen, the ambassador outlined the potential of furthering relationships between Clare and China. County Clare is already twinned with the south western Chinese province of Yunnan, while a formal link between the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark and the Stone Forest Geopark (Shilin Geopark) in Yunnan also exists. Accompanied by Consul General Xu Erwen of the Chinese New Zealand Consulate and Minister Breen, the ambassador also took time to visit the Cliffs of Moher following his trip to Ennis. “Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong is particularly aware of what Clare can offer Chinese tourists and is to the …

Clare 2-18 Laois 0-14 Considered a trifle fortunate to score a one point win over Laois in the opening round of the 2016 qualifier, Clare were by far the better team when the counties clashed at the same stage a year later, this time at O’Moore Park park in Portlaoise this afternoon. The visitors were full value for their ten point victory which means that their name will be in the draw on Monday morning when the round 3A pairings are decided. On a day when they were never behind, Clare had a three point advantage at half time when the score was 0-11 to 0-8. Both sides had goal chances in the opening half when Clare did find the net through Jamie Malone only for referee Jerome Henry to disallow the score and award a free to Laois, penalising the Clare man of over carrying. A major turning point came seven minutes into the second half when when Laois …

Kerry 1-18 Clare 1-12 CLARE let slip a glorious opportunity to beat Kerry for the first time since 1992 at Cusack Park on Sunday. The home county made a great start and playing into a strong breeze, they were tied with the Munster champions at half-time. On top of that, Donnchadh Walsh was sent off, on a double yellow card, for Kerry two minutes before the interval. The Kerry wing forward was dismissed for a foul on Martin McMahon. The teams were level, 1-5 to 0-8 at half-time, in a game which was watched by an attendance of 5,786. The first half was very competitive and featured seven yellow and one red card. Gary Brennan set the tone right from the throw in when the Clare captain cut through the Kerry defence from the throw in. He laid off to David Tubridy who fired over a sublime, left footed point. When Tubridy goaled a 13th minute penalty, which was won …

RTE’s Gaelic games correspondent Marty Morrissey, a proud Clareman, will always be associated with the comment “there won’t be a cow milked in Clare for a week”. The occasion is being recalled this week and is sure to be mentioned many times in the coming weeks, as the 25th anniversary of Clare’s Munster Senior Football Championship win over Kerry of 1992 will be celebrated. As Doonbeg’s Gerry Killeen sent over the insurance point in Clare’s 2-10 to 0-12 victory over the men from the Kingdom on that memorable July day in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, match commentator Morrissey uttered those words. This Sunday afternoon the same counties do battle, this time in the championship semi-final and, as was the case 25 years ago, Kerry carry the favourites’ tag. The winners of Sunday’s game will contest the provincial final on July 2, when the provincial council will honour the members of the 1992 Clare panel. It is already confirmed that …

ALL involved with the Clare footballers know that if they have any chance of competing with Kerry on Sunday in Ennis, they will need to be much more clinical and energetic than they were against Limerick on May 28. Their second-half display was particularly limp and given that Clare conceded two early goals against Kerry last year in Killarney, at the same stage, they simply must be switched on for as close to 70 minutes as possible. “A lot of them would have been happy with how they played in parts of the match against Limerick. In Division 2 this year, we played poorly for 20 minutes against Cork but still ended up winning the game. But when you play against a top team, the pace of your game cannot drop at any stage. If the pace of your game slows down, it has to be because you wanted it to slow down. “That first 20 minutes of the second …

ORLAITH Duggan cut a lonesome figure at Clare training session in Shannon. The captain, who is from Spancilhill, was fully togged and keen to train but a niggling Achilles tendon injury has kept her on the sideline. However Duggan, who plays her club camogie for Clooney-Quin, is confident that she will be fit to tog against Dublin on Saturday in Parnell Park. “When you’re out for a few weeks, you could come to training and you mightn’t speak to anyone,” the speech and language therapist, who works in Ennis, reflected, before realising that maybe things weren’t that bad. “This is making things sound really depressing,” the NUIG graduate laughed. The late evening sun was beating down as Trisha O’Grady incessantly roared instructions in the background. “That’s what you want to be doing, especially on evenings like this. If it was lashing rain, I wouldn’t mind missing training too much. I hope to be togging anyway and to be able to …

Sunday is judgement day noted joint Clare senior hurling manager Gerry O’Connor. “We will be judged as a management and the players will be judged. Being absolutely honest, we have targeted this day and that brings its own pressures but so be it. “I remember 1995 in Thurles and ’96 in the Gaelic Grounds and form went out the window on both days. Donal [Moloney] and myself have been involved in a huge amount of U-21 games and form goes out the window. It comes down to the team that is most focussed on the day and best prepared. “Then there is the Paul Kinnerk and Joe O’Connor factor also. It’s very unusual. We have soldiered long and hard and Donal, Paul and myself have had our greatest memories from Thurles. These guys [Clare players] have grown up performing in Thurles. We expect a top-class display.” When it was put to him that the public perception is that Clare will …

A NUMBER of cross-overs between Clare and Limerick makes this Sunday’s Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final in Thurles even more exciting than usual. Paul Kinnerk, such a central figure in much of the success Clare enjoyed at provincial and national U-21 and senior levels in the past half-dozen years, is now the Limerick coach. Their physical trainer is Joe O’Connor, who trained Clare’s All-Ireland winning team in 2013 under manager Davy Fitzgerald. If that wasn’t enough, there is the involvement of Wolfe Tones clubman from Shannon, Alan Cunningham as part of the Limerick backroom team. He played a key role in the success achieved by Limerick city club Na Piarsaigh in winning the Munster and All-Ireland club titles and is still part of the Limerick city club’s backroom team. On Sunday, the former Clare player and coach finds himself in the opposite camp to his son Aaron, who is a key member of the Clare panel and likely to feature …