Tag Archives: davy fitzgerald

Clare hurling boss, Davy Fitzgerald took a break from mentoring his players recently to help young Noah Sheedy from Ogonnelloe achieved his goal by overcoming literacy issues. Davy challenged 12-year-old Noah, from Bealkelly to commentate on the recent Clare and Dublin hurling game in Cusack Park for broadcast on the RTÉ One series, The Family Project, to help him develop his confidence and focus to defeat educational issues that affect his life. Noah is about to start secondary school and has difficulty maintaining attention and seeing projects through to the end. To combat this, Davy worked with parents, Paschal and Vanessa to devise a commentary challenge for Noah to complete, which encouraged him to stay focused and realise the importance of taking a project through the various stages to completion. With a little guidance along the way from legendary broadcasters Michéal O’Muircheartaigh and Marty Morrissey, Noah studied the players and statistics and attempted to commentate on the live inter-county hurling …

By Seamus Hayes THE cost of attending inter-county hurling or football fixtures has been blamed for falling attendances in recent years, especially with the increase in TV coverage. Viewing has been free to air but the ground rules have been suddenly changed with a contract giving Sky Sports exclusive rights to 14 championship games. Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald is of the view that while nobody within Ireland should have to pay to watch any GAA game, the organisation has a duty to explore world markets. He says a way has to be found to satisfy both of these demands. “Any sports-minded person outside of Ireland will catch on to Gaelic games. We have a massive product, which is untapped and we should be going outside of Ireland with it. “It is our national game and some way  must be found so that people here in Ireland aren’t caught to pay to view such games,” Fitzgerald said, adding, “It is, …

Dublin 2-17 Clare 0-17 AHEAD of round 2 of the Allianz Hurling League, Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald warned of a backlash from Dublin following their thirteen point defeat at the hands of Galway in round 1. His fears were realised at Parnell Park this Sunday when the Leinster champions of 2013, managed by former Clare captain, Anthony Daly, proved too strong for the All-Ireland champions and deservingly came out on top. After two rounds of the league, all six participating teams have recorded one win each and its interesting to note that the home team has won on each occasion. These results suggests that the outcome of the league will be in doubt right to the final day An outstanding performance from the half back trio of Shane Durkin, Liam Rushe and Michael Carton proved too much for the Bannermen who were chasing the game from the outset. While the foundations for this win were laid in the half back …

THE All-Ireland champions against the National Hurling League champions. It couldn’t be a better pairing for the opening round of the 2014 league. Throughout the past forty years, Clare and Kilkenny have provided some memorable contests in the league. Three successive final meetings in the ’70s led to capacity attendances at Semple Stadium, where Kilkenny were winners in 1976, after a replay, but Clare were crowned champions in 1977 and 1978. In Ger Loughnane’s first year as senior manager in 1995, Clare suffered a heavy loss to the Noresiders in the league decider at Thurles, after which the Clare boss boldly predicted that his charges would win the Munster championship. Not too many outside of the camp believed him at the time, but he and Clare delivered as Munster and All-Ireland success started Clare on the road to the most successful period ever for Clare hurling during which they won three Munster and two All Ireland senior titles. Meetings of …

FURTHER honours are on the way for Clare hurling manager, Davy Fitzgerald, who has been selected as the Clare Person of the Year for 2014 by the Clare Association in Dublin . He will be presented with his award at the association’s annual dinner next month in The Clyde Court Hotel, the venue also used by the Clare team for their post-match celebrations after winning the All-Ireland senior hurling replay. Well-known sociologist and Sixmilebridge parish priest, Fr Harry Bohan, who is prominently linked with Clare hurling, will receive the association’s Hall of Fame Award for 2014 at the same function. The latest personalities to be honoured by the Clare Association were named by Liam O’ Looney, chairman, at a function to launch the association’s annual yearbook in the Addison Hotel, Dublin on Tuesday night. He said that they were delighted to honour Davy Fitzgerald, who with his players and management, made it another special year for Clare. As well as …

  IN a detailed report to next week’s Clare GAA convention, Clare secretary Pat Fitzgerald had nailed on the head the notion that nepotism came into play when his son Davy was appointed as Clare manager in 2011, writes Seamus Hayes. “I have to admit I was taken aback by the degree of cynicism to the appointment of Davy to the Clare job initially. Opinion was clearly divided and he had to work hard to win the cynics over”, Fitzgerald says in his report which is being circulated to clubs this weekend. “I came in for a share of criticism myself, being accused of nepotism, matching the cronyism that has dogged the Irish political system over the years. But such an assertion couldn’t have been further from the truth. Davy’s appointment was based on his coaching pedigree not on family loyalties. I was subjected to a lot of stick, but I stuck to my guns and I think as events …

Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald has named the same team as started in the semi-final against Limerick for Sunday’s All-Ireland final with Cork. Paul Flanagan comes into the substitutes list in place of the injured Aaron Cunningham. The team is; Patrick Kelly; Domhnaill O’donovan, David McInerney, Cian Dillon; Brendan Bugler, Pat Donnellan (Capt) Patrick O’Connor; Conor Ryan, Colm Galvin; John Conlon, Tony Kelly Colin Ryan; Paudge Collins, Darach Honan, Conor McGrath Subs–Donal Tuohy; Conor Cooney, Seadna Morey, Liam Markham, Nicky O’Connell, Fergal Lynch, Shane O’Donnell, Cathal McInerney, Peter Duggan, Jonathon Clancy, Paul Flanagan

MC Banner, the singer with MC Banner and the Killaloolas, whose popular song The Banner’s Back Again, is fast becoming a big hit with Clare fans, has taken his devotion to the Clare team and their manager to new levels. For the past two weeks, he has been working on a statue of Clare manager, Davy Fitzgerald. He will erect the statue on his front lawn in time for Sunday week’s All-Ireland Final. MC is a potter by trade and is fusing clay and concrete to create his lifesize Fitzgerald. “I think it’s going to look a lot like Davy but my wife doesn’t think so. She’s not mad about the idea at all at all but she understands my devotion to the Clare team. I checked with all the neighbours and they have no problem with it. One of them is knitting a jumper for it for the winter,” MC Banner revealed. MC will rig an MP3 player to …