Clare's rise has 'Made in Feakle' stamped all over it

Clare stayed alive in the first half on Saturday against Kilkenny because of Eibhear Quilligan. The manner in which Adam Hogan closed down Eoin Cody in the second was equally significant.

By: irishmirror.ie

Jul 08 2024
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Clare's rise has 'Made in Feak

In 1914 Clare were All-Ireland champions. In 1932, Clare were Munster champions. In between and on and on, a whole heap of nothing.

Summers passed, years passed, decades passed. And they could never get it right. Clare would be all verse and no chorus, or all chorus and no verse. Or, too often, not make any kind of tune at all.

Then came Ger Loughnane. Then came 1995. And nothing would ever be the same again. is 29 years since they started that epic campaign with a one point win over Cork in the Gaelic Grounds in front of just 14,101.

But binning the curse of Biddy Early that never really existed - she died 10 years before the GAA was founded - changed Clare in ways that went beyond hurling.

They felt better about themselves, they felt they were well capable of taking a seat at the top table.

After Loughnane's departure, it took until 2013 to deliver another All-Ireland, and a truly golden generation never went on to reach the expected heights.

A few of them are still knocking around - David McInerney, Tony Kelly, John Conlon, Shane O'Donnell - but they have learned to follow as well as lead.

They have learned to trust those who came after them.

Adam Hogan was 10 years old at the time of O'Donnell's All-Ireland final hat-trick.

He was one of the starry-eyed kids in Feakle, roaring his head off when the MacCarthy Cup was brought to his primary school.

Eibhear Quilligan is another Feakle man. It's a place that has a special place in Clare hurling history.

One of their best teams never won Championship silverware - that of the 1970s that won back-to-back League titles.

But it was their misfortune to come up against one of the all time great Cork teams in successive Munster finals.

Two Feakle men were to the fore on that Clare side. Seamus Durack in goals, Loughnane a dynamo in front of him in defence.

It says a lot for their quality that, despite not even winning a provincial medal, Durack won three All Stars, Loughnane got two.

Fast forward to 2024. Quilligan is Brian Lohan's Durack, Hogan is his Loughnane.

Clare stayed alive in the first half on Saturday against Kilkenny because of Quilligan. The manner in which Hogan closed down Eoin Cody in the second was equally signfiicant.

When we think back to Billy Ryan's goal 11 minutes after the break, we'll wonder how Kilkenny ended up losing.

That goal put them six points clear. We figured we'd seen this film before, that we knew the script by heart. Kilkenny shifting through the gears and winning by a double digit margin.

Instead, the Cats only managed another four points, Clare came up with 0-12.

They won because they tapped into the madness that has always been at the heart of their greatest performances.

Lohan was one of the greatest full-backs hurling had ever seen, playing with a ferocity that was akin to a bush fire. When the pressure came on, his team played in his image.

On the day of fights, Sugar Ray Robinson would chew ice. For hours on end, cube after cube.

No food, no talk, no distractions. Just the ice. That was his way.

There's an echo in the Lohan way. Ice in the veins, fire in the blood. The Feakle pair are Lohan men to the core.

Who knows how the final with Cork will go? Just savour it.

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