Tag Archives: clare

RETIREMENTS and travel are the main reasons why Clare will begin their All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship this Saturday without half of the team that played in last year’s campaign. Colm Honan’s charges could hardly have asked for a stiffer test in Round 1, which sees them travelling to the St Lachtan’s grounds in Freshford, Kilkenny to face last year’s All-Ireland runners-up in a game that throws in at 2.30pm. Experienced forwards Deirdre Murphy, Laura Linnane and Claire McMahon have called time on their inter-county careers, while Fiona Lafferty is pursuing her ladies football interests with Monaghan. Niamh O’Dea, Laura McMahon, Ailish Considine and Ellen Horgan have travelled outside the country for the summer, while Niki Kaiser is not playing at present. Adding to the problems for the management team is an injury to Máire McGrath, which makes her a doubtful starter, while Naomi Carroll is unavailable for this weekend’s game. Having to face Kilkenny is a difficult task at any …

Plans to promote Clare as a County of Culture during 2016 have taken a significant step forward with the issuing of a call for expressions of interest for key cultural events and festivals during the year. The County of Culture initiative was first announced in March after Ennis was designated as the host town for next year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. The Clare County Council-led initiative will incorporate the development of a programme of cultural events, to be promoted nationally and internationally, around the prestigious annual event which is expected to attract up to 400,000 people to Ennis in August 2016. The council is now calling on community groups and individuals throughout Clare to submit expressions of interest for cultural festivals and events that will form part of the County of Culture programme. The local authority anticipates that the scheme will support a minimum of four projects each to a maximum value of €10,000. Expressions of interest are invited from …

Cork 1-20 Clare 1-8 THERE is no masking the reality that Clare were easily put away by Cork in Sunday’s Munster semi-final in Pairc Uí Rínn. However what will frustrate Clare is the fact that they spurned at least three reasonably clear cut goal chances. [doptg id=”74″] Gary Brennan, Keelan Sexton and Dean Ryan all had opportunities to net badly needed goals which, at worst, would have helped Clare to keep it competitive. At this level they found that creating those chances is hard enough and they must be taken to have any chance of making a game of it. Instead Cork romped to a 13 point win and a place in the Munster final while Clare won’t have another game for a month, when they enter the All-Ireland qualifiers. Cork led by six points, 0-10 to 0-4 at half time. Ironically Clare could have goaled after just 14 seconds when Gary Brennan won the throw in and playing a …

PODGE Collins will undergo surgery on his snapped anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on Tuesday, July 7. The 2013 All-Ireland winner, All-Star and hurler of the year nominee injured his cruciate last Saturday evening, playing championship hurling for Cratloe against Ballyea. Speaking to The Clare Champion, the AIB employee said it is far too early to speculate on a possible return date. “I’ll be getting the surgery done on July 7,” Podge confirmed. “They have to take muscle from some other part of my leg and that’s how the surgery is done. The ACL is completely snapped. After the surgery I’ll be assessed after three, six and nine months,” he explained. “You’re expected to be back, after the surgery, somewhere between six to nine months but some players take longer than nine months. It’s all relevant to each person, how bad the injury is and how well the surgery goes. There are a lot of variables. I won’t be able to …

THE U-21 grade, introduced in 1964, is one of the most attractive competitions in hurling. This championship has proved to be a solid bridge from minor to senior. The first two championships, in 1964 and 1965, were contested by Wexford and Tipperary, with honours even. Clare has consistently performed well, but had to wait until 2009 before Ciarán O’Doherty became the first Clare man to raise aloft the magnificent Cross of Cashel. Since then, the county has enjoyed unprecedented success, with Conor McGrath, Paul Flanagan and Tony Kelly, all leading Clare to victory. The Cross of Cashel shines a light on all 51 All-Ireland U-21 finals, conjuring up the great names who made this grade special. From a Clare perspective, there is a lot to be taken from this book, with Clare teams and captains photographed in colour. It also includes team-sheets, scoring records and there is a synopsis of each All-Ireland final since 1964. The foreword is by John …

CLARE voted  yes in Friday’s referendum on same sex marriage. When Returning Officer Pat Wallace announced the result in Ennis Courthouse shortly after 5.30pm on Saturday evening, it emerged that 58.3% of people in Clare voted yes. A total of 28,137 voters in the county backed the right to same sex marriage. The valid poll in Clare was 48,291. Amongst the places in Clare to vote yes in large numbers were Quin, Cratloe, Ennis, Sixmilebridge, Clarecastle and Shannon. Meanwhile Clare rejected the Age of Presidential Candidates referendum by a margin of 75.99% to 24.01%. The valid poll in this referendum was 48,615.    

Key fact for Sunday’s big Munster senior hurling championship meeting o Clare and Limerick in Semple Stadium, Thurles. – Cork’s Colm Lyons will referee Sunday’s game, which throws-in at 4pm; – Clare defender David McInerney, from Tulla, captained UL to the Fitzgibbon Cup title this year, a team that Clare’s Brian Lohan managed; – Clare defender Jack Browne from Ballyea is a nephew of former Limerick great, Jimmy Carroll; – Limerick defender Wayne McNamara, from Adare, has strong Clare connections as his mother, Vera Killoughery, hails from Ballyea; – Limerick defender Seamus Hickey played hurling and football for St Flannan’s College; – Clare player Brendan Bugler is a member of the teaching staff at Doon CBS; – Banner county sharpshooter Colin Ryan helped coach Salesian College, Pallaskenry to Munster colleges success last year. Ballyea’s Brian Chambers was also a member of the Limerick school’s backroom team; – Former Clare player and county coach, Alan Cunningham, from Wolfe Tones, is currently …

THE recently concluded national hurling league didn’t go too well for Clare but, that said, they could have qualified for the knock-out stage of the competition. That’s all in the past now and all involved are just looking forward to what is ahead. A key member of team, John Conlon acknowledges there are “big expectations in Limerick” but added, “we have big expectations ourselves”. “We let ourselves down last year, which is a worry. We can’t dwell on the past. Yes we had a great win over Dublin. We lost narrowly to Kilkenny, a game we could have won and we don’t like moral victories. All we need now is to ensure we get over the line on Sunday,” the Clonlara man told The Clare Champion “We can’t afford to look past Limerick and that’s the way we have approached things this year, taking it a game at a time. Right now, we are looking at Limerick and looking at …