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*Cathal Killeen. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
DETERMINATION is never lacking when it comes to Doonbeg sides at any level, they’re considered outsiders in a competitive Group 1 but that hasn’t restricted their level of ambition.
Having failed to make the quarter-finals of the Clare SFC since 2019, eighteen-time champions Doonbeg have become somewhat frustrated at watching on from the sidelines in recent years.
Brian Shanahan, a winner of seven Clare SFC medals with Doonbeg is in his second year as manager of his native club. He is not one for apologising when it comes to believing where the Magpies should be aspiring to reach.
Their cause is strengthened this year by the addition of young guns such as the promising Darragh O’Sullivan in attack while the cause has also been bolstered by the arrival of defender Gearoid White who has transferred to the club from Cooley Kickhams, his work as a greenkeeper bringing him to Trump Doonbeg in advance of the Irish Open this September.
Offering another timely boost is the return to West Clare from Australia of Seán Conway, a former Clare minor and U20 footballer. “He only came back on Sunday so we’ll get two training sessions into him before the weekend, it’s unlikely he’ll feature against Miltown but by the second or third round he more than likely will feature. I’m not ruling him out featuring this weekend because he is in good shape, he is ready and available to play which is as good as we can hope for”.
Full-back James Killeen is ruled out, after impressing last year he warranted a call-up to the county squad where he unfortunately suffered an ACL injury. “James is a massive loss, he had a great year at full back, it is every hard for someone to play full back but he made that position his own, he is a huge loss, we’ve tried a few different lads full-back since but he is a massive loss”.
St Joseph’s Miltown dumped Doonbeg out of last year’s campaign in the preliminary quarter-finals so they are not short of motivation for this weekend, Shanahan outlined. “They were unlucky not to win the Cusack Cup when they got to the final, it will be a tough game, they have the best two forwards in the county in Cormac Murray and Eoin Cleary so we’re in for a battle, they are a big strong physical team with plenty experience at the back with Gordon Kelly, Tayto and Enda O’Gorman”.
Along with Miltown, they have the three in a row chasing Éire Óg and 2023 winners Cratloe for company in Group 1 where three teams qualify for a quarter-final. “You would be hoping to take a scalp, if you’re not going out with that mindset then you are in trouble. We are looking to win all three games, that is the attitude you have to have in every championship game regardless of the opposition, we know when we play well we’ll give a game to anyone”.
Last year’s one point defeat to Ennistymon in the opening round remained a source of regret for Brian when reflecting on where they fell short in 2025. “Regardless of who you play you want to get off to a winning start, we left goal chances behind us against Ennistymon, we lost by a point and you hope to get off to a winning start because it takes the pressure off for second game, we’d be hoping to really get something out of the Miltown game”.
Doonbeg came as close as was possible to securing promotion to the Cusack Cup but they lost out following extra time and penalties to Kildysart in the Garry Cup semi-final. “We were happy enough with the Garry Cup as a whole, we were disappointed we didn’t get promoted, we lost to Kildysart on penalties but there was a couple of games where we played poorly like against Clondegad and we had a big lead versus Wolfe Tones but lost that game. We didn’t lose out on promotion in penalties, it was in the games that we didn’t finish off, we went a goal up against Kildysart, we could have finished it off but our young learns will learn from the experience”.
Up front, the addition of Darragh O’Sullivan has lessened the burden on the shoulders of David Tubridy to create scores. “Darragh has given us extra scoring power, he has a great left leg on him, he freshens up the attack. Gearoid White is a new face, he is a good strong fella and has settled in well for us. We’ve been very dependent on David Tubridy for scores, he has missed a lot of games in the Garry Cup and if you look at all the scores in our game we’d have had seven or eight different scorers so the burden is off David a bit with the few new lads coming into the forwards. Darragh Burns is a lot fitter and healthier than last year so it’s like getting a new player back for the championship, he is fitter and sharper for us so that all helps”.
Doonbeg Factfile
Management: Brian Shanahan (manager), Brian Dillon (coach), David Russell (coach), John Killeen (selector), Liam Roche (stats), Shane McNamaras (S&C)
Captain: Mikey Tubridy
Key Player: Tadhg Lillis
One to watch: Darragh O’Sullivan
Fresh blood: David Conway, Cian Conway, Ian Ryan, Darragh O’Sullivan, Liam Hehir, Gearoid White (transferred), Seán Conway (home from Australia)
Departures Gate: Paul Dillon (retired), Kevin Pender (retired)
Treatment table: James Killeen (ACL),
Titles won: 18 (1955, 1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2010)
Last season’s run: Beaten by St Joseph’s Miltown in preliminary quarter-final 1-12 0-11.
Schedule of games:
Round 1 vs St Joseph’s Miltown on Saturday August 1st at 15:00 in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty
Round 2 vs Éire Óg on Saturday August 15th at 15:00 in Páirc na Muintire, Lissycasey
Round 3 vs Cratloe on Saturday August 29th at 15:00 in Clarecastle
Championship power ranking (1=weak/unlikely winners, 10=strong contenders): 6
