*Brian McNamara. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE midfielder Brian McNamara is sticking with inter-county football for 2026 after turning down repeated offers to join the county senior hurling panel.
In what is the first big win for Paul Madden since his appointment to the role in August, he has managed to retain one of the side’s best players despite strong interest from Brian Lohan and the senior hurling management.
After returning from a J1 in the USA, McNamara linked up with the Kilmaley hurlers for what was his second senior campaign for the club. They went on to reach the Clare SHC semi-finals losing to eventual winners, Éire Óg.
Not alone was Brian one of Kilmaley’s best players in their run to the last four but he was one of the standout players of the entire championship. His versatility and athleticism in particular saw him excel whether it was a man-marking job where he kept Hurler of the Year scoreless Shane O’Donnell or his quarter-final display versus Sixmilebridge where he hit 0-3 and set up an abundance of scores.
Subsequently it came as little surprise that he was on the radar of Lohan and the county senior hurling management.
All-Ireland winning player and manager Lohan is understood to have travelled to Cree in efforts to convince the talented dual-player to swap to hurling. Initial approaches were made during the month of September following Kilmaley’s exit but at the time his focus remained on Cooraclare’s involvement in the Clare IFC where they went on to reach the county final, losing to Corofin.
Twenty two year old McNamara gave the matter serious consideration before opting to stick with the footballers for next season. He made his league and championship debut for Clare’s seniors in 2024 under Mark Fitzgerald and remained a first-choice starter at midfield when Peter Keane took the reins in 2025.
Throughout the past two seasons, Brian has been one of Clare’s best and most consistent players. Nailing down his midfield partner will be one of the immediate goals of Madden and the new management during the National Football League.
Prior to stepping up to the senior ranks, he delivered a man of the match display for Clare’s U20s managed by Michael Neylon who were defeated by Kerry after extra time in the 2023 Munster semi-final played in Austin Stack Park, Tralee, scoring 1-1 from midfield.
Kilmaley manager, Brian Culbert told The Clare Echo that McNamara is of inter-county quality when it comes to hurling. “He is an unbelievable fella, he is a serious athlete, there’s no point in holding any secrets, he is an inter-county hurler standard, he is that good and he has that attitude which is a big thing”.
While they were unsuccessful in securing the services of McNamara, Lohan and his management are in the process of finalising their panel for 2026 with some new additions made over the weekend.
