*Ciaran Downes. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
SEVEN members of the 2025 Clare senior football panel have opted out of representing the county next season.
All panelists from Peter Keane’s one-season tenure with Clare were all invited to join Paul Madden’s provisional training panel when preparations commenced last month.
Of last season’s squad, seven players opted not to continue with Clare for 2026. A wide net has been cast by Madden and his management of Ger Quinlan, Shane Daniels and Kieran Murphy before they whittle down their panel in advance of the National Football League.
Keelan Sexton was out of the equation before Madden was in situ. The twenty eight year old caused a shock in July when he announced his inter-county retirement.
Offering some consolation to Clare supporters is the fact that Keelan didn’t shut the door completely on an inter-county return. “If I ever ended up back in a position where I felt my body was in a good place and if I was playing well, you’d never know. But at the minute that’s the way it is — it’s parked and it was a great chapter playing inter-county for Clare over a long number of years,” he said at the time.
A three-time Clare SFC with Kilmurry Ibrickane, Sexton is now based in the capital and lined out Na Fianna this season. As it stands, his last appearance for Clare was off the bench, he was dropped for their final two outing in the All-Ireland SFC against Monaghan and Louth. He scored a late goal in the fifth round of the National Football League as Clare ended Kildare’s winning streak but ultimately the Lilywhites secured promotion alongside Offaly.
Another member of the Clare attack to depart the squad is Ciaran Downes. Over the past two seasons, the Kilmihil forward has nailed down his spot at wing-forward in the Clare side. He is heading abroad in February, having completed his studies at the University of Limerick.
In the year gone by, Ciaran was a constant presence on the Clare side during the Allianz National Football League but a foot injury in the aftermath of the Munster semi-final win over Tipperary ruled him out of the remainder of the championship. He produced excellent displays for Kilmihil when they recorded a shock win over Ennistymon in the Clare SFC and kept their status winning the relegation decider for the second year running. He scored 1-6 during the course of the National League and a point versus Tipp in this year’s championship.
First-choice goalkeeper last season, Éamon Tubridy is swapping the goals for the southern hemisphere. The Doonbeg custodian is soon to set sail on his travels and as a result is not committing to the county cause for 2026.
Returning to inter-county football in October 2024 was not part of the plan for Tubridy. He played championship in Clare in 2018 with clean sheets against Limerick and Kerry, he remained part of the panel in 2019 and 2020 before concentrating on the club scene. Keane recruited Eamon back to the panel and he started in all but one of Clare’s twelve competitive outings in league and championship in 2025.
Already on his travels is Rory McMahon. The Kildysart defender joined the panel for the first time under Keane’s watch and made his first senior appearance when introduced as a substitute in the second round of the NFL when Clare defeated Leitrim 2-17 0-10.
McMahon did not feature for the remainder of the league, even though he was named to start against Sligo in round four. However, he did see game time come championship, appearing from the bench in the Munster SFC clashes with Tipperary and Kerry. He made his starting debut in the second round of the All-Ireland SFC, lining out at corner back in Clare’s nine point loss to Monaghan and retained his spot in the three point loss to Louth. An older brother of Emmet, Rory is currently travelling in Asia.
Darren Nagle of Liscannor who has been part of the Clare panel under Colm Collins, Mark Fitzgerald and Peter Keane has also bowed out of the county set-up. He was introduced as a substitute in last year’s Munster final loss to Kerry and also featured in the National League including the 2-15 0-8 win over Wicklow. He is to spend a couple of months travelling and will be unavailable for selection. Nagle had been part of the matchday panel for the Munster final defeat to Kerry.
A former Clare minor and U21 footballer, Darren joined the senior panel in 2023 and has remained an ever-present member of the squad. His performances with Liscannor have helped the North Clare club retain their intermediate status. He scored two points from wing back on the Clare minor side which won the Daryl Darcy Cup in 2013. Fellow North Clare man, Alan Sweeney is now the only surviving panelist from that Daryl Darcy set-up still playing football for Clare.
As exclusively reported by The Clare Echo, Madden and his management recorded a big when keeping Brian McNamara involved with the county footballers despite strong interest from Brian Lohan and the Clare senior hurling management. They had no such joy when it came to retaining the services of Oran Cahill.
Éire Óg’s Cahill joined the Clare senior football panel last season for the first time and had previously been part of Lohan’s hurling squad but was surprisingly let go at the beginning of the 2024 season. His displays and input in the Townies winning a first Clare SHC title in thirty five years caught the attention of the hurling management with Oran answering the call to return to Lohan’s squad.
Wolfe Tones’ return to the senior ranks of Clare football may have been short-lived but their victorious Clare IFC captain of 2024 Dean Devanney impressed so much in their promotion endeavours that it resulted in his addition to the senior squad. When it came to this, Devanney decided not to continue with the Clare footballers and his exit has been warmly welcomed by Shannon Hibs who have embraced having him as a more regular feature of their starting eleven.
