*Mossy Gavin and Odhran Lynch in action. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
It’s widely agreed that one of the hardest competitions to win in Clare is the intermediate football championship.
The race to determine who will take home the Talty Stores cup in 2025 begins this Friday evening and the first round has thrown up some mouth-watering contests such as Kilrush Shamrocks v Banner, and Naomh Eoin v Corofin.
Can Kilrush continue their unbeaten run this year and add the championship title to the league crown (Garry cup) won in recent weeks? Can Corofin make a quick return to senior ranks by winning this title? Can Clondegad bounce back to senior or can Naomh Eoin make history and go one step further than last year and lift the title?
These are just some of the many questions being asked as clubs put the final touches to preparations for their opening games this weekend.
All clubs agree that this weekend’s first round games are particularly important, especially as many teams will be without key players who are currently in the U.S. for the summer.
Most of these players are expected back in time for round two but, in some cases, it could be later before those in the U.S. are available.
In addition, there are injury concerns for a number of club as they finalise their preparations for this weekend
Kilrush have been installed as favourites having just gone through the Garry cup without dropping a point. The return of Dermot Coughlan as manager has strengthened the view amongst patrons that the Shams can capture a title they last won in 2018 when Dermot was also their team manager.
Whatever the outcome, it’s fair to say that this championship will, as always, produce many talking points and some great football before the winners are crowned
Group 1
Naomh Eoin
Management: Martin Haugh (manager), Barry Harte (coach), Patrick Foley (coach), Liam Roche (selector), Thomas O’Connor (selector)
Captain: Owen Lynch
Key player: Owen Lynch
One to watch: Joseph Roche
Fresh blood: Joseph Roche, Liam Ferguson
Departure Gate: None
Titles won: 0
Last year’s run; Beaten finalists
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Corofin on Saturday 19th July in Lissycasey at 13:30
Round 2 v Liscannor on Sunday 3rd August in Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg at 13:00
Round 3 v Cooraclare on Sunday 17th August in Kilkee at 12:30
Championship power ranking; 7.
“At this point we are not looking past the first round against Corofin. Three teams will qualify from this group and we hope to be one of those”, Niall Bonfil (player)
Corofin
Management; Peadar O’Brien (manager), Mark Rafferty (coach), Tony Kenny (selector), Dara Kenny (selector), Luke O’Loughlin (selector)
Captain; Gearoid Cahill
Key player; Damien O’Loughlin
One to watch: Caoimhin O’Donovan
Fresh blood; Seanán Kirby, Tiernan O’Neill, Eoin O’Brien
Departures Gate; Colm Rice (emigrated), Killian O’Connor
Titles won: Four (1987, 2006, 2015, 2021)
Last year’s run; Relegated from senior.
Schedule of games;
Round 1 v Naomh Eoin on Saturday 19th July in Lissycasey at 13:30
Round 2 v Cooraclare on Saturday 2nd August in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay at 19:00
Round 3 v Liscannor on Sunday 17th August in Lisdoonvarna at 12:30.
Championship power ranking; 9
“Records show that this is one of the hardest championships to win. Our focus is on our first round meeting with Naomh Eoin this weekend. We hope to be one of the three emerging from the group. With so many dual players, avoiding injury will be key to progress”, Peadar O’Brien, manager.
Liscannor
Management: Bryan Curry (joint manager), Brian McMahon (joint manager), Stephen Roche (selector), Gavan Duffy (selector), Laura Foley (physio), Jason Clancy (stats)
Captain: Darren Nagle;
Key player: Alan Clohessy
One to watch: Tom Hanrahan
Fresh blood; Ultan McDonagh, Mikie McMahon, Daithi Fitzgerald, Cathal Finnucane
Departure Gate; Pa Nagle (overseas); Gavan Duffy, Brian Leyden, Kevin Scales
Titles won: 2 (1988, 2000)
Last year’s run: Didn’t advance from the group, survived the relegation play-off
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Cooraclare on Sunday 20th July in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty at 13:00
Round 2 v Naomh Eoin on Sunday 3rd August in Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park, Doonbeg at 13:00
Round 3 v Corofin on Sunday 17th August in Lisdoonvarna at 12:30.
Championship power ranking: 3
“We have a small panel and with injuries we can’t look beyond our first game. The other teams in our group have been playing in higher division leagues. Oisin Leyden and Joe Hanahan are ruled out for the early games due to injury while we have a couple of players carrying knocks and we will give them every opportunity to be ready to play a part this week”, Bryan Curry, joint manager.
Cooraclare
Management: Martin Daly (manager), Thomas Downes (selector), Mark Tubridy (selector), Shane McNamara (S&C), Trevor Slattery (S&C), Patrick Meaney (stats).
Captain: Gary Donnellan
Key player: Pearse Lillis
One to watch: Aaron Townsend
Fresh blood: Dara Townsend, Simon Culligan, Gabriel Fennell, Fionn Burke, Sean Morrissey, Harry O’Gorman;
Departure Gate; Thomas Downes; Micheál Garry (long term injury), Mark Lillis (overseas)
Titles won: Five (1941, 1927, 1943, 1954, 1957 as Cree)
Last year’s run: Beaten quarter finalists.
Schedule of games
Round 1 v Liscannor on Sunday 20th July in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty at 13:00
Round 2 v Corofin on Saturday 2nd August in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay at 19:00
Round 3 v Naomh Eoin on Sunday 17th August in Kilkee at 12:30
Championship power ranking; 6
“We have a very young squad, a lot of minors who were relatively successful at underage, Brian McNamara (US) and Micheal Garry with a long term injury are two big losses at the start of the championship and a number of others are carrying knocks but we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will be available. We are in an extremely hard group and at this stage we are not looking past our first round game against Liscannor,” Martin Daly, manager
Group 2:
Kilrush Shamrocks
Management: Dermot Coughlan (manager), Conor O’Brien (coach), Ronan Gilbride (selector), Dermot Mahoney (selector), John O’Mahoney (selector)
Captain; Gearoid O’Brien
Key player; Stephen Ryan
One to watch; Sean Fennell
Fresh blood; Stephen Ryan (back from injury); Sean Fennell, James Blunnie, Bobby Carey, Darragh Blunnie
Departure Gate; None
Titles won: Four (1937, 1952, 1955, 2018)
Last year’s run: Beaten semi-finalists
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Banner on Sunday July 20th in St Michael’s Park Kilmihil at 13:00
Round 2 v Ennistymon on Saturday August 2nd in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty at 16:30
Round 3 v Michael Cusacks on Saturday August 16th in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay at 16:00
Championship power ranking; 9
“We will be taking it one game at a time as was the approach throughout the league. Getting out of the group is key to progress. This is one of the hardest competitions to win in Clare GAA”, John Keane, club secretary.
Banner
Management: Tom Meehan (manager), John O’Sullivan (coach), Thomas Meeneghan (selector), Shane Mernagh (selector)
Captain: Eoin Walsh
Key player: Shane Meehan
One to watch: Eoin Fitzpatrick
Fresh blood: Eoin Fitzpatrick, Caleb Walsh, Callum Henchy, Ben O’Halloran;
Departure Gate; James Coakley (emigrated)
Titles won: 0
Last year’s run; Beaten quarter finalists;
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Kilrush Shamrocks on Sunday July 20th in St Michael’s Park Kilmihil at 13:00
Round 2 v Michael Cusacks on Saturday August 2nd in Páirc Finne, Corofin at 14:00
Round 3 v Ennistymon on Saturday August 16th in Lissycasey at 16:00
Championship power ranking; 7
“Priority one is to get out of the group and into the quarter finals. We haven’t managed to get past the quarter final in three attempts. Getting out of the group is key and that is our first priority”, Conal McNulty, club secretary.
Ennistymon
Management; Brendan Rouine (manager), Tom Ahern (selector), Shane Talty (selector), Michael Rouine (selector)
Captain: To be confirmed
Key player: Niall Canavan
One to watch: Daniel Brody
Fresh blood: Daniel Brody, Joe Concannon,
Departure Gate: Not determined
Titles won: 2 (1991, 2005)
Last year’s run; Didn’t advance from the group;
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Michael Cusacks on Sunday July 20th in Páirc Finne, Corofin at 14:00
Round 2 v Kilrush Shamrocks on Saturday August 2nd in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty at 16:30
Round 3 v Banner on Saturday August 16th in Lissycasey at 16:00
Championship power ranking: 4
“As the only senior club with a team also at intermediate level, our main target is to develop players and to be as competitive as possible. A lot of players on the senior panel are ruled out at present due to injury so we cannot finalise our intermediate squad until we know who will be required at senior level”, Brendan Rouine, selector
Michael Cusacks:
Management: Colm Clancy (manager), Eoin Farrell (selector)
Joint Captains: Jack McGann and Tadhg Geoghegan
Key player: Sean McNamara
One to watch: Niall Hynes
Fresh blood: Darragh Cassidy
Departure Gate: Aidan Forde, Joe Copley, Conor Fahy (emigrated), Luke Kelly.
Titles won: 1 (1983)
Last year’s run; Winners of the junior A championship
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Ennistymon on Sunday July 20th in Páirc Finne, Corofin at 14:00
Round 2 v Banner on Saturday August 2nd in Páirc Finne, Corofin at 14:00
Round 3 v Kilrush Shamrocks on Saturday August 16th in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay at 16:00
Championship power ranking: 3
“We are operating from a small panel. Our goal is to avoid relegation and retain our status. Right now our focus is on this week’s opening round game. We have a number of injury concerns and ruled out for this week is Domhnall McMahon”, Colm Clancy, manager
Group 3
Clondegad
Management: James Murrihy (manager), Enda O’Hallloran (selector), Mikey Conway (selector), Robert Forde (selector), Patrick O’Connor (selector), Shane McNamara (S&C), Mike Weaving (physio), Mike McMahon (video analysis)
Captain: Tadhg Ó hUallachain
Key player; Cillian Brennan
One to watch; Cian Kirby
Fresh blood; Morgan Garry (back from the US), Fiachra Kirby (back from injury), Sam Garry,
Departure Gate; Ryan Jennings (emigrated), Cormac Reidy (emigrated)
Titles won: 2 (1944, 2011)
Last year’s run; Beaten semi-finalists
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v Coolmeen on Friday July 18th in St Michael’s Park Kilmihil at 19:00
Round 2 v Shannon Gaels on Saturday August 2nd in Kildysart at 14:00
Round 3 v O’Currys on Saturday August 16th in Cooraclare at 14:00
Championship power ranking; 8
“We used the league campaign to familiarise ourselves with the new playing rules. We are now at the serious part of the season and we will be approaching the championship on a game by game basis. We are not looking beyond Coolmeen in this Friday’s first round. The intermediate championship in Clare is one of the hardest competitions to win. It includes a strong team coming down from senior, a team coming up from junior that is keen to progress to the next level and four or five teams that have been at this level for a few years and are keen to move up. For us there is an element of transition. In the league we used eleven or twelve players that were under 22”, James Murrihy, manager
Coolmeen;
Management: David Neenan (manager), Kieran Hanrahan (selector), John Murtagh (selector)
Captain: J.J. Carigg
Key player: Cathal O’Connor
One to watch: J.J. Carigg
Fresh blood: Michael Kennedy
Departure Gate: Cian Murphy, Alan Normoyle (emigrated)
Titles won: 2 (1959, 1966)
Last year’s run: Got to preliminary quarter final
Schedule of games;
Round 1 v Clondegad on Friday July 18th in St Michael’s Park Kilmihil at 19:00
Round 2 v O’Currys on Sunday August 3rd in Captain Tubridy Memorial Park, Kilrush at 15:00
Round 3 v Shannon Gaels on Saturday August 16th in Lissycasey at 14:00
Championship power ranking: 4
“There is no easy game in this championship. We have been battling with low numbers but we have managed to stay at intermediate level and this is our tenth consecutive year at this level. We are not looking past the first round against our Shannonside neighbours Clondegad”, Brian Markham, club secretary.
Shannon Gaels
Management: Fergie O’Loughlin (manager), Derek Dormer (coach), Peter O’Connell (selector), Dermot Kelly (selector)
Captain; Thomas Kelly
Key player; Thomas Kelly
One to watch; Julian Linnane
Fresh blood; Colm Downes, Julian Linnane, Dylan O’Neill, Colm McMahon, Jack Foley, Joseph Hehir, Tiarnan McMahon;
Departures Gate; Niall Ellis
Titles won: 2 (1999, 2002)
Last year’s run; Beaten quarter finalists
Schedule of games:
Round 1 v O’Currys on Sunday July 20th in Captain Tubridy Memorial Park at 12:00
Round 2 v Clondegad on Saturday August 2nd in Kildysart at 14:00
Round 3 v Coolmeen on Saturday August 16th in Lissycasey at 14:00
Championship power ranking: 4
“Trying to get out of the group is our target. We have a lot of young players coming through. We have just won promotion in the league and we are delighted with that. We will be without Darragh Bohannon for our opening round against O’Currys, a battle hardened team. They have beaten us in the last few meetings and they have been competing in division 2 of the league”, David O’Connell, club secretary.
O’Currys
Management: Gerry Killeen (manager), Eddie Killeen (coach), Alan Troy (selector), Dinny McMahon (selector), Michael O’Shea (selector), Andrew Curtin (stats), TJ Keane (stats)
Captain: Eoin Brew
Key player: Shane Browne
One to watch: Paddy Clancy
Fresh blood: Brian Keane, Liam Griffin, Sean Marrinan, Evan Killeen;
Departures Gate: Eoin Troy, Sean Haugh, Gearoid Lynch,
Last years run: Beaten quarter finalists
Schedule of games;
Round 1 v Shannon Gaels on Sunday July 20th in Captain Tubridy Memorial Park at 12:00
Round 2 v Coolmeen on Sunday August 3rd in Captain Tubridy Memorial Park, Kilrush at 15:00
Round 3 v Clondegad on Saturday August 16th in Cooraclare at 14:00
Championship power ranking; 5
“Since we completed our league campaign our total focus has been on our first round against Shannon Gaels this weekend. We will be taking it game by game and at this stage we are not looking past our fixture with Shannon Gaels”, selector Alan Troy.
