Tag Archives: hurling

This week’s Clare Champion includes a very special, 16-page souvenir supplement to mark Clare’s success in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. In this supplement we talk to Tony Kelly, Brian Lohan, Shane O’Donnell, John Conlon, Conor Cleary, Cathal Malone, Eibhear Quilligan, Brendan Bugler, Pat O’Donnell, Tommy Corbett, Deirdre Murphy, Davy Fitzgerald and many more. We also have all the colour from before, during and after the game, the excitement from the homecoming events on Monday night and a souvenir team poster. This collector’s item is in the shops now. Below, Derek Dormer chats to Clare goalkeeper, Eibhear Quilligan. The man who dons the number one jersey for the Banner Eibhear Quilligan is soaking in the atmosphere in the Fairgreen and feels all the hard work and sacrifice it has taken to get here was definitely worth it. The moment referee Johnny Murphy blew his full time whistle is one that will stay with the Feakle native for the rest of his …

This week’s Clare Champion includes a very special, 16-page souvenir supplement to mark Clare’s success in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. In this supplement we talk to Tony Kelly, Brian Lohan, Shane O’Donnell, John Conlon, Conor Cleary, Cathal Malone, Eibhear Quilligan, Brendan Bugler, Pat O’Donnell, Tommy Corbett, Deirdre Murphy, Davy Fitzgerald and many more. We also have all the colour from before, during and after the game, the excitement from the homecoming events on Monday night and a souvenir team poster. This collector’s item is in the shops now. Below, Eoin Brennan chats to Clare captain, Tony Kelly. He was the man of the moment, the man of the hour and undoubtedly the man that left his indelible mark on the marquee hurling decider with an unparalleled All-Ireland Final display before climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand for what was the pinnacle of his illustrious career to date. After all, no other Clare player past or present has played more …

At the tender age of 24, Oisin Hickey knew something had to change. Already the once promising hurler had walked away from the chance to win a third All Ireland medal, finished wearing the saffron and blue, been in and out of jobs, had written off his car. One bleak day spent trying to work while vomiting and shaking after days of drinking was the last straw, and seven years on he is far more reliable, works as a supervisor in one of the region’s top companies and is hoping to start life coaching. He was part of the 2011 Clare minor team that reached the All Ireland, hurling alongside current senior stars such as Eibhear Quilligan, Tony Kelly, Peter Duggan and Shane O’Donnell, but when that crop were getting ready for the first round of the Munster U21 championship three years later, Oisin’s intercounty career ended abruptly. “I was on the minors in 2011, with the U21s in 2012 …

One of the county’s most iconic buildings has shown its true colours when it comes to supporting the Banner hurlers ahead of this weekend’s All Ireland final clash with Cork. St Flannan’s College in Ennis, where many of the Clare team and management went to school, has been lit up in a dazzling display of saffron and blue lights in the days running up to Sunday’s match. The lights have been causing quite a stir in the locality, with many stopping to take a look at the impressive facade. Fr Iggy McCormack, Principal of St Flannan’s College said, “We are showing our support for Brian, the management team and the players this Sunday by lighting up the school in saffron and blue each night this week. Many from the current Clare Senior Hurling management team and squad have been part of our Harty Cup successes down through the years and it is now our turn to back them for All-Ireland …

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final Clare 0-24 Kilkenny 2-16 A late charge of the Banner brigade ensured a dramatic late turnaround in fortunes as Clare finally broke their Kilkenny hoodoo at the third attempt to advance to a first All-Ireland decider in eleven years in Croke Park, writes Eoin Brennan. Having suffered back-to-back semi-final reverses to the Cats, a third hammerblow appeared on the cards when goals either side of the break through Eoin Cody and Billy Ryan powered Derek Lyng’s side six clear by the 46th minute at 2-12 to 0-12. However, instead of bowing to their perceived fate, a defiant determination not to be beaten coursed through Clare’s veins for the final 25 minutes as they not only doubled their overall scoring tally but eventually wore down their opponents by surging to the last six points of an absorbing final quarter. Within five minutes of Billy Ryan’s fortuitious break for the goal, Clare had cancelled it out with …

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final Clare 2-28 Wexford 1-19 Croke Park awaits Clare for the third successive season after Brian Lohan’s side bounced back to winning ways to see off 14 man Wexford in FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles, writes Eoin Brennan. Having suffered a deflating third Munster Final reverse in a row against Limerick, the Banner needed to respond and did so thanks to a powerful second half display in which they outgunned their Leinster opponents by 2-10 to 0-04 in a devastasting 20 minute period. Emphatic solo goals for the outstanding Shane O’Donnell and impact sub Ian Galvin were decisive hammerblows to Wexford’s already fading chances after Rory O’Connor needlessly earned himself two yellow cards in the first 32 minute to receive an early shower. Clare led from the outset with the first four points within five minutes of the throw-in through Mark Rodgers, David Reidy, Conor Leen and Aron Shanagher on their way to building up a seven …

The distinctive stench of turpentine has permeated around the county in the last two weeks as slates have been cleaned and canvases blanked ahead of Clare’s senior hurling championship resumption in Thurles this Saturday. Following the heartbreak of a third consecutive Munster Final reverse to trophy hoovers Limerick at the same venue last time out, picking up the pieces has never been more important as they look to regather self-belief, confidence and momentum once more in the All-Ireland series. While earning the unwanted record of being only the second team ever to lose three Munster deciders to the same opposition was harrowing enough, the despondency surrounding the below-par performance made it arguably the most disappointing of all three provincial final clashes. After all, Brian Lohan’s side had exceeded all expectations to push Limerick all the way to extra-time in a Munster Final for the ages in 2022 while the Banner subsequently almost took down the champions in their own home …

A quarter of a century ago the hurlers of St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield reached the mountaintop when winning the All-Ireland senior club title in Croke Park, recalls Joe Ó Muircheartaigh who looks back on the finest hours of the ‘Parish’. “I think it was great the way we flew up this morning. There was no hullabaloo of coming up last night and meeting people beforehand. We just came into Croke Park, met nobody and then went out and did the job. We can meet everyone now with the cup.” Lorcan Hassett, 17 March 1999 THE CARPARK in front of the old Grove bar in Roslevan that’s long since been developed is where they met everyone with the Tommy Moore Cup – the back of an articulated truck was their bandstand, as one by one they were introduced. The Grove, which in those days of a more relaxed interpretation of the licensing laws had a ‘Live at Three’ moniker lived up to …