*Jarlath Donnellan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
THREE CLARE referees will be in inter-county action over the coming week.
Shannon’s Jarlath Donnellan will officiate the meeting of Cork and Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh for their encounter in the Munster minor hurling championship. The Rebels defeated Kerry 3-25 0-11 last week while it will be Limerick’s first championship game at the grade.
A dual-referee, Donnellan has taken charge of county finals at underage level while also refereeing semi-finals at the senior grade in the county. The Wolfe Tones clubman is on the provincial panel for hurling referees and has been a referee locally for over seven years.
Semple Stadium in Thurles is the destination for Niall Malone on Wednesday with the Ennis native appointed to take charge of the Munster U20 hurling tie between Tipperary and Waterford.
The Éire Óg whistler was the man in the middle for the 2019 Clare SHC final when Sixmilebridge defeated Cratloe while he was referee for the Clare IHC final for two seasons in a row when Smith O’Briens overcame the challenge of St Josephs Doora/Barefield (2021) and as Scariff sealed their return to senior by beating Tubber (2020).
Both Donnellan and Malone were part of the Munster Development Panel for referees in 2020 before making the step-up to the provincial panel last year.
Cusack Park is a familiar venue for Newmarket-on-Fergus’ Rory McGann but he’ll have to acclimatise to the Mullingar equivalent this weekend. He has been handed the Leinster SHC tie between Westmeath managed by Joe Fortune and Brian Cody’s Kilkenny which throws-in at 6pm on Saturday evening.
McGann is the only Clare referee on the national panel and his appointment to a senior championship tie comes off the back of a positive start to the season. He was referee for the League meeting between Tipperary and Antrim while he was in control of the All-Ireland senior hurling club semi-final between Ballyhale Shamrocks and St Thomas’ played in January. An injury in 2019 had disrupted McGann’s rise through the inter-county ranks but he will be hopeful this will be the first of many senior championship encounters this summer.
