*Michael Nash. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
MICHAEL NASH has departed the Clare senior football squad.
A dual player with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield, Nash is heading to the United States of America for the summer and has bowed out from the Clare senior football squad in advance of his trip.
Nash was one of the late recruits to Paul Madden’s Clare senior football panel, he was drafted in for an internal training game in December but impressed enough to be kept on the squad and even feature during the Allianz National Football League.
Michael is expected to travel to the States within the next fortnight which prompted his departure from the county football panel.
He was introduced off the bench in three of Clare’s seven outings in the National League. Nash had a ten minute spell on the field during Clare’s round one loss to Down, when he was called in as a blood sub for clubmate Fionn Kelleher. He replaced Cillian Brennan with sixty seven minutes gone during Clare’s 1-21 1-12 win over Limerick and he was in from the nineteenth minute for the injured Connor Meaney in the final round when Clare lost 2-23 0-28 to Sligo.
Following the conclusion of the league, the biomedical engineering student at the University of Galway was said to be among Clare’s most impressive players in training and had put himself firmly in the frame for a championship debut against Kerry.
That he was one of the selected players alongside Manus Doherty to promote a sponsorship of ATAK sports gloves for the panel by Tom O’Donnell Sports on Abbey Street in Ennis just last month also illustrated how highly he was rated by management.
However his exit from the squad was reached by mutual agreement when he informed management that he was to spend the summer in the US and would be unavailable for either the All-Ireland SFC or the Tailteann Cup. The Clare Echo understands that management were keen to go with a panel in the Munster semi-final that they would also have available for the remainder of the year which led to Nash not featuring and instead exiting the panel in the lead-up to the Kerry game.
Missing out on hurling commitments with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield in the Clare Cup had been a source of frustration for Michael who lines out in attack for Damien Kennedy’s side.
Manager Paul Madden confirmed to The Clare Echo that Nash had left the squad. “He is going to America for the summer and he is going in two weeks. He is going to the US so he couldn’t be part of our squad”. He praised the impact and contribution of Michael to the squad during his five months involved.
For Clare’s first outing of the year, Michael was at midfield alongside Brian McNamara when they defeated Waterford 3-10 0-11 in the first round of the McGrath Cup. He replaced clubmate Kelleher at half-time in Clare’s defeat to Kerry (0-16 0-14) which knocked them out of the competition.
He had put himself in the frame following impressive showings in challenge matches against the Galway senior footballers and Clare U20s in December.
Part of the Clare minor football panel that reached the 2020 Munster final, Michael was introduced in all three of their provincial championship outings. The side included current panelists Brendy Rouine, Brian McNamara, Fionn Kelleher and Fergal Guinnane with Clare senior hurling squad member Daithí Lohan among the substitutes.
A past pupil of CBS Ennis and Rice College, Michael has won U14A, U16A and U21A football championships with his club and U15A, Junior A and Clare IHC honours on the hurling field with The Parish. His younger brother Colm was part of the All-Ireland and Munster winning Clare minor hurling squad of 2023.
