When Limerick referee Johnny Murphy blew his full time whistle at the end of what was arguably the greatest All-Ireland final of all time there was naturally a huge outpouring of emotion the length and breath of this beautiful County.
For the people, especially the hurling fraternity, in places like Ennistymon, Clonbony and Kilkee there was also an overwhelming sense of pride as Miltown’s Conor Cleary and Ennistymon’s Cathal Malone walked the steps of the Hogan Stand.
Heroes forever more to every Clare person, be they man woman or child, these two great warriors are now the proud owners of a coveted Celtic Cross medal and their achievements will no doubt inspire a whole new generation of children to pick up a hurley and dream of following in their footsteps.
Sport has always been part of the DNA of the Banner and hurling has always had a massive following all over the County. In recent weeks the John Hynes Memorial Finals were held in Cusack Park with Clonbony defeating Ennistymon in a thrilling cup final 1-19 to 2-15 while Kilkee/Bealaha overcame Inagh-Kilnamona in the shield final.
The tournament itself was established to honour Hynes who was one of the founding members of the Ennistymon hurling club back in 1977 while he also founded the West Clare hurling board in 1982.
Men like Hynes ensured that hurling thrived in North and West Clare as pointed out by Clonbony club secretary Sean Malone.
“There was hurling in Clonbony before there was hurling in Sixmilebridge” laughs the son of the late great Tom Malone,” but similarly to 1995 when there was a resurgence as a result of that All-Ireland success I have no doubt that the class of 2024 will have a similar if not greater effect.”
Currently fielding one adult team at Junior C level and two underage teams (U-7 and U-9) Malone credits three great men for the development of the game back in West Clare.
“After the success of Anthony Daly and his magnificent team of players in 1995 John Hynes, Tom Harvey and my own father Tom travelled to every single part of this area handing out hurleys and sliotars to children all the way to Loop Head.
“Their efforts resulted in more young people taking up the game and it’s up to us now to try replicate those efforts. I’d be extremely hopeful that all the clubs collectively will seize the moment and keep developing young players.”
Eighty eight years in existence Clonbony, originally set up as a football club, has provided the people of West Clare an avenue to not only partake in Gaelic games but a social avenue unlike any other with the Clonbony pipe band a roaring success. It’s the success though of Conor Cleary and Cathal Malone that Sean hopes will boost further development of this great sporting organisation and see more players don the Saffron and Blue at the elite hurling level.
“The structures in place now are far stronger than what was there in the nineties and there is massive support for the development of the game with great people like Peter Casey involved.
“The Clare Senior team are all fantastic role models and every single player I’ve come across is willing to play their part whether that’s visiting summer camps or giving talks in schools they all to a man will give their time to promote our beautiful games.”
Cleary and Malone’s Celtic crosses are of course the pinnacle of the sport but there’s always been successful players from traditionally non hurling environs. Notable examples would be Joe Considine winning an All-Ireland club title with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield while of course Ballyea’s rise to the top was backboned by players such as Stan Lineen, Pearse Lillis and Martin O’Leary.
Ennistymon hurling club PRO Kieran Harvey tells The Clare Champion that Cathal Malone’s All-Ireland hurling medal isn’t the first to come to Ennistymon but he like his Clonbony compatriot Sean Malone hopes the knock on effect will further boost hurling in the area.
“In 1997 when Clare won both the Senior and minor titles Paudie Barry was part of the minor panel and it was amazing for the club. Now I’ve no doubt that Cathal winning the Senior will give every child belief that they can follow in his footsteps and it’s just brilliant for the whole area.”
Ennistymon hurling club currently fields two Adult teams at Junior A and Junior C respectively but it’s their underage section that Harvey is most proud of.
“Since the early eighties underage hurling has been strong here. We field teams in all age groups from the U-6 blitzes right through to minor and U-20’s.
“There’s a massive untapped geographical area back West and we try to provide hurling to all children from areas such as Doolin, Liscannor, Lahinch and Moy.
“We’ve had some success too over the years with County titles in the C grade at underage level and there’s a massive love of the sport throughout this area.”
Over the next few months the Junior C championship will see plenty of hurlers from these areas in action as Ennistymon, Clonbony, Kilkee/Bealaha and Killanena all participate.
While it will be an intriguing local derby that should attract plenty of spectators in the opening round as Kilkee/Bealaha square off against Clonbony.
That game will no doubt be fiercely contested and who knows maybe Conor Cleary and Cathal Malone might present the cup on County Final day just yet.