*Tony Kelly and Brian Lohan lift the Liam MacCarthy. Photograph: Joe Buckley
CLARE manager Brian Lohan was lifted shoulder high as he made his return to his native Shannon fresh from guiding the county to win the All-Ireland senior hurling championship.
‘Home of the Lohan’ was etched on the sign visible behind the players and management as they made their first official stop to kick off the homecoming on Monday at the grounds of Wolfe Tones na Sionna.
Chairperson of Wolfe Tones, Tommy O’Rourke commented, “the sign behind me says a lot” when speaking of the contribution made by Lohan as a hurler at club and county before making the move into management. The dual intermediate club was particularly proud to have three representatives on the panel, Aron Shanagher, Darragh Lohan and Rory Hayes with Shanagher and Lohan introduced from the bench in the secnd half.
Up and coming Shannon DJ, Adam Sexton gave a rendition of The Script’s Hall of Fame prior to their arrival and it was apt as the panel and management of 2024 have marked their names in the Clare GAA Hall of Fame forevermore.
Shanagher expressed his pride at being from the town of Shannon and thanked all of his underage coaches when addressing the crowd. “Hon the Tones. I’ll keep it short and sweet, I just want to say thank you for everyone for coming out today, it is a privilege to be from Wolfe Tones na Sionna. Thank you to everyone who brought us on the way from when we were six years old, the likes of Pat McAnallen and Pat Williams, I won’t name anymore because there’s too many, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, I’m so proud to be from Shannon”.
Captain Tony Kelly used the opportunity to encourage the young members of the crowd eligible for Wolfe Tones to play hurling and camogie and the importance of Shannon Town remaining a strong GAA force. “A lot of ye here are from Wolfe Tones, some of ye are from faraway and nearby, seeing as we’re in the Wolfe Tones club for every boy and girl in the club ye have something to aspire to now in terms of the three boys, Shan (Aron Shanagher), Rory (Hayes) and Darragh (Lohan). The boys are always saying it they won’t be around forever, they need boys and girls hurling, Wolfe Tones needs boys and girls hurling”.
There was particular satisfaction for Brian Lohan to stop in his home club with the Liam MacCarthy. “We’re just so delighted to stop off here for our first stop since we went up to Dublin yesterday morning to collect that Cup. This is our first stop and we’re so delighted to bring it back here to Wolfe Tones, we really appreciate everyone who showed up, the crowds here are tremendous. We’ve been saying it all year that we have a brilliant county, brilliant supporters but I would say we have a brilliant town here in Shannon, we have a brilliant club. I’d like to thank everyone for showing up, we won’t be able to do autographs for everyone but we will stay around for a while before we head up the road, I really appreciate everyone’s efforts to come down and support us”.
After making his way from the stage to The Goalpost Bar, Lohan was carried shoulder high as the celebrations went up a notch in Shannon.
All photographs by Joe Buckley
