*Peter Keane.
PETER KEANE will be proposed as the next Clare senior football manager at the November meeting of the County Board.
Following the conclusion of a month-long process to find Mark Fitzgerald’s successor as Clare manager, the interview committee of four has recommended the appointment of the Caherciveen man.
The Clare Echo has learned that Keane’s management team will include Miltown Malbay’s Eoin Curtin and former Roscommon coach Peter Tormey both in coaching roles while Shane O’Rourke will be the strength and conditioning coach.
He follows in the footsteps of fellow Kerry men, John O’Keeffe, Páidí Ó Sé, Mick O’Dwyer, John Kennedy, Donie Buckle and Fitzgerald in managing Clare’s senior footballers. He has strong family connections to Ballynacally.
Keane was in attendance in Cusack Park on Sunday for the TUS Clare SFC final as Éire Óg ran out winners over Kilmurry Ibrickane. He was the preferred choice of the interview committee which consisted of Clare GAA Head of Operations, Deirdre Murphy, Clare GAA Chairman Kieran Keating, ex Clare minor manager Dermot Coughlan and former Clare forward David Tubridy.
After guiding Kerry to win three All-Ireland and Munster minor titles in a row from 2016 to 2018, Keane became senior manager of the Kingdom. In his first year at the helm, Kerry were defeated by Dublin in the All-Ireland final following a replay. The following season, Kerry failed to get out of Munster during the COVID championship when they lost in the provincial semi-final to Cork.
In the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final, Kerry were eliminated following extra time against Tyrone and following this Keane was made re-apply for the role of manager with Jack O’Connor later returning for a third stint as Kerry manager. Since then, Keane was linked with the Tipperary job twelve months ago and more recently the Derry role
A Clare SFC winner with St Joseph’s Miltown in 2015, Curtin was coach of the Miltown senior footballers this season, they exited at the quarter-final stage with an eleven point loss to beaten finalists Kilmurry Ibrickane. Prior to this, the secondary school teacher was manager of Liscannor and guided them to Junior A championship glory in 2022 before consolidating their intermediate status in 2023.
Westmeath based Tormey was a selector with the Roscommon senior footballers in 2022 which was Anthony Cunningham’s final year in charge of the Rossies, a year in which they lost the Connacht Final and were eliminated in the All-Ireland series by Clare on a score of 2-15 1-7.
Tormey has represented Westmeath at all levels and had been involved with the Westmeath U20s. A secondary school teacher at Moate Community School, he guided them to reach the Leinster Schools Senior A football final in 2017.
A former S&C coach with the Kerry senior hurlers and minor footballers, Shane O’Rourke for the last nine years has been a lecturer in health, sport and exercise sciences, coaching and sports performance at Munster Technological University. He previously spent close to four years as a club community rugby officer with Munster Rugby.
Keane was the last of the candidates to apply for the Clare job and did so after learning the Munster championship draw which is a home semi-final against either Tipperary or Waterford. A win here would see Clare qualify for a third successive Munster final and set up a potential clash with Keane’s native Kerry.
Both Michael Neylon and Declan O’Keeffe had made the final stage of interviews for the job. Clare U20 boss Neylon’s proposed management included Jerome Stack as coach with ex Clare footballers David Russell and Kevin Harnett as selectors. O’Keeffe’s ticket is reported to have included individuals from his native Kerry and Corofin in Galway.
