*Paul Madden. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
PAUL MADDEN HAS been appointed as the new manager of the Clare senior footballers.
He has been appointed on a three-year term at the August meeting of the County Board. His backroom team is to be finalised in the coming weeks. Chairman of Clare GAA, Kieran Keating proposed the appointment which was seconded by Central Council delegate, Robert Frost.
A three-time Clare SFC winning manager with Éire Óg, Paul was an immediate contender to replace Mark Fitzgerald last season but was quick to rule himself out of the race.
However, Clare GAA’s top brass have moved quickly to appoint Peter Keane’s successor with the Ennis man top of their list of preferred candidates.
Last September, the Madden family sold the four-star Temple Gate Hotel. His father, John founded the enterprise in 1996 with Paul overseeing operations for more than two decades.
At the beginning of January, he stepped down as Éire Óg manager, he had been appointed in 2017 and helped guide the Townies to become county champions for the first time in fifteen years.
With hotel and Éire Óg commitments no longer in the equation, the time was right for Madden to step up to the inter-county player.
Éire Óg won the Jack Daly back to back in 2021 and 2022 while he saw out his tenure with Clare SFC glory in 2024. They exited in the semi-final stages of the Munster club in 2021, 2022 and 2024 to St Finbarr’s by eight points in 2021, to Kerin’s O’Rahillys by a single score in 2022 and to Loughmore-Castleiney by five points in 2024.
During his eight seasons at the helm, Éire Óg tasted league success in 2018 and 2024 while they also won a Senior B title.
As a player, he won a Clare SFC in 2006 and was part of the Éire Óg sides defeated in county finals in 2004 and 2007.
Currently a member of the Clare Football Supporters Club, Paul previously served as Chairperson of Club Clare. He is held in the highest of esteem by those that have played under him for Éire Óg.
While Clare GAA were caught on the backfoot once again with no manager in place while the club championships are underway, Madden already has a strong knowledge base of the majority of footballers in the county and has been in attendance at games involving multiple clubs for the first two rounds of the Clare SFC.
There has been no detail provided on the process followed to appoint Madden to the role. Chairman of Clare GAA, Kieran Keating told this week’s County Board meeting, “We started talking over a number of days and we started a process fairly urgently in terms of appointing a successor. We have a consensus as to who we would like to manage Clare and that is Paul Madden. He has confirmed that he is interested”.
