*Eibhear Quilligan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE GOALKEEPER Eibhear Quilligan undergoes surgery this week.
Eibhear has been out of action since damaging his knee in Feakle’s first round draw with Wolfe Tones in the TUS Clare SHC.
He was forced off at half time after picking up an injury in the closing rounds of the opening half.
Scans later revealed that 2024 All-Ireland winner Quilligan had damaged his cruciate ligament and has to undergo an operation as a result.
Quilligan has missed out on Feakle’s second round win over Newmarket-on-Fergus and third round loss to Éire Óg while he is ruled out for the remainder of this year’s club championship as the East Clare side continue their bid to retain the Canon Hamilton, a title prior to last year’s success they last won in 1988.
While an exact timeframe on his recovery is unclear, the extent of the ACL injury will limit his involvement with Clare next year particularly in the Allianz National Hurling League but his availability come championship time will be strong.
Eamonn Foudy of Inagh/Kilnamona and Clarecastle’s Cian Broderick have been deputies to Quilligan on the county panel.
A graduate of LIT, Eibhear has been the first-choice goalkeeper during Brian Lohan’s tenure as county manager, while he had been part of county minor and U21 set-ups, it was the former full-back who brought the Feakle custodian onto the senior panel for the first time. His displays have resulted in him securing All Star nominations in 2023 and 2024.
His clubmate, Shane McGrath is awaiting further information on the extent of a knee injury he sustained in training before their third round tie with Éire Óg. McGrath who has been Feakle’s top scorer each year for the past decade is to receive a scan this week to determine the extent of his injury.
