*Outgoing Clare GAA Head of Operations, Deirdre Murphy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
OUTGOING Head of Operations with Clare GAA, Deirdre Murphy has flagged that a further €1.5m may need to be sourced to complete planned works at Caherlohan and felt efforts by the county senior hurlers on fundraising and touring Clare with the Liam MacCarthy could have taken energy from their All-Ireland title defence while Peter Keane’s appointment was a lesson on the risks of outside managers.
In a ten-page report for County Convention, Deirdre detailed her final year in the role. She announced her decision to step down at the beginning of October, three years on from becoming the first person to hold the role. Corofin woman, Ann Marie Moran will succeed her on January 5th.
Inter-county activity, club games programme and coaching, finances and capital projects plus sub-committees and strategic planning were the focus areas of her report.
She said, “It has been my absolute privilege to work for Clare GAA as Head of Operations for the past three years. There are so many people to whom I owe thanks and acknowledgement”. On her successor, Deirdre remarked, “I know that the role is in the most capable of hands as Ann Marie takes up the position and I will always be in the background to help and support in any way I can”.
Reflecting on Clare’s defence of the Liam MacCarthy, Deirdre reflected on what might have been in “an injury-ravaged season”. She stated, “2025 differed from the euphoria of 2024 and demonstrated the wafer-thin margins of elite sport. As Tipperary winter with Liam McCarthy, it is true to say that it was the finest of margins that had the Premier County claim the third spot in Munster ahead of our senior hurlers. Despite an injury- ravaged season, our players and management gave every ounce once again. One still wonders how different the year may have been had the final whistle blown in Ennis as David McInerney claimed that puck out. The esteem in which the players and management are held and the enduring connection between them and the Clare GAA supporters was never more in evidence than at the Gaelic Grounds vs Limerick, as we recorded a merited victory in front of more than 35,000 supporters”.
Brian Lohan’s ratification for a further three years at the helm was welcomed by the former Club Clare committee member.
Turning to the campaign of the senior footballers, Murphy said there was a risk in appointing outside managers. “Our senior footballers begin preparations for 2026 with a third manager in as many years, and we are delighted to welcome Paul Madden to the role. While this level of turnover is far from ideal for our team, it is how things have worked out and as we have learned, a risk that seems to come with appointing managers from outside the county”.
That said, she voiced ‘huge appreciation’ to Peter Keane for his efforts as senior football manager, citing league promotion getting “thwarted by score difference” and away losses to Antrim and Sligo. “A third consecutive Munster Final for this group was a chastening experience, but one subsequently endured by several other counties as the Kingdom juggernaut drove to claim Sam Maguire once more”.
Murphy noted Clare have yet to win a game in the All-Ireland series round-robin format which has been in existence since 2023. “We are yet to claim a Sam Maguire round robin victory in the last 9 attempts; this was highlighted as one of the reasons to return to a seeded Munster Senior Football Championship. While we cannot deny these results, the decision by Munster to introduce seedings that favour Cork and Kerry has left a sour taste to say the least, despite the 12-month deferral. However, we must concede that the vote was passed by Munster Council, with representation from all counties in the province. Paul and his team will plough on and do everything to drive Clare football forward, and we will be behind them all the way”.
On the U20 hurling campaign, she pointed to “a penalty and black card unjustly issued to Jamie Moylan was a significant turning point in the Munster U20 final, as Tipperary overturned a four-point deficit and claimed the title”.
Ger O’Connell’s “minor hurlers delivered the team performance of the year to defeat Cork in the semi-final, reversing a comprehensive defeat in Tulla during the round robin. While Waterford were the better team throughout in the final, the growth and development of both our minor and U20 teams throughout the year was hugely significant and encouraging for all Clare GAA followers”.
Touching briefly on the U20 and minor football runs, she said “there were plenty of positives to take from the experiences of both teams” managed by Maurice Walsh and Joe Hayes respectively. Dermot Coughlan succeeds Walsh who served for one-season.
Buy-in is needed from football clubs in Clare to narrow some of the gaps with Kerry, Deirdre believed. “It was a significant point to see the disparity in S&C levels at U20 and minor football in comparison to our Kerry counterparts. This not a reflection on our minor or U20s specifically, but a medium-term project, that will require buy in from all involved in Clare football, if Clare is to be competitive”.
Plans to develop a full-size astro pitch at Caherlohan has closed on e-tenders with the tender to be awarded by the end of January. She confirmed the astro pitch will be “operational for winter 2026. We have €487,000 of Sports Capital Funding allocated to this project”.
Last November, Clare GAA secured €3.2m in Large-Scale Sports Infrastructure Funding for the development of Caherlohan. An economic appraisal has been submitted to the Department of Sport at the beginning of December. The project is earmarked to begin in the third quarter of 2026.
Caherlohan’s irrigation project “is still in progress”, she outlined. Three storage tanks have been purchased, a new well has been sunk and piping is in situ for Pitch 3. €140,000 has been obtained from the Croke Park infrastructure fund. The pumps and reels still need to be applied and the project is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
On top of the grant funding, “Clare GAA can draw on €1.2million of a Munster Council Grant and currently have €1milion of our own funds ringfenced for these projects (proceeds of Win a House Fundraisers). It would be prudent to estimate that a further €1.5 million may need to be raised over the next 2 years to complete the LSSIF project”. Solar panels were added to the roof of Caherlohan with 10Kw battery storage, the grant was aided by the Climate Action Fund.
All Clare GAA owned pitches were subject to “comprehensive sanding and pitch maintenance” this year, she said. A new training pitch was developed at Ballyline with 300 small trees planted and large trees cut back to improve car parking.
At Cusack Park, the capacity was increased to 20,849 thanks to the addition of “extra crush barriers” in the North Stand and two additional sets of steps for access and egress. New floors have been put down in the dressing rooms, toilets and tunnels with the addition of a connecting door between dressing rooms one and two. There is also a new electronic scoreboard, new astro turf surrounds in front of the seated stand along with a refurbished canteen and catering hatch.
Development squads in Clare played 134 matches this season, 91 in hurling and 43 in football from U14 up to the Celtic Challenge (U17) catering for 270 hurlers, 163 footballers, 44 are dual players. There were 74 volunteer coaches involved with development squads in both codes. “From a player development point of view, it is notable that 6 players on the Clare U20 hurling panel that played Tipperary in the Munster final were not County Minors two to three years ago which is important message for players in all our clubs”.
Close to 3000 club fixtures took place across across the county in 2025. Clare GAA officials travelled to Cork to study the administrative approach of the Leesiders to improve their handling of fixtures, she revealed. “The positive feedback from all quarters as we delivered championship fixtures much earlier was vindication of the decision and we hope to push the envelope even further in 2026.
Finding a solution on when and how to best run the club U21 competitions is an area that fixtures can be bettered next year, the Clooney/Quin club woman felt. “Looking at things that could be better, U21 competitions are the obvious sticking point and trying to find an appropriate place for it in the calendar has not seemed to work across counties. Where we have it in the calendar seems to be the only timeframe to deliver a meaningful competition, but regarding format, clubs will have to deal with the realities of the number of days in the week, closing stages of adult competition, schools & colleges competitions and those clubs that progress to provincial competitions. The appetite for more than one game among clubs is clear, but for the first round of U21 fixtures this year, there were only 3 games of 34 that clubs did not have requests for changes to the fixture date. Really focussed dialogue and planning is required to improve matters for 2026”.
More than €1m has been raised this year through gates and admission for Clare GAA, for the first time. The figure of €1,213,660 is up on the €807,340 from the previous year. “This will always be our biggest annual fundraiser,” she flagged. Michelle Moroney, Jean Meier, Aine Lohan, Fergus Courtney, Tony Brohan, Sean Chambers, Aoife Leyden, Finia O’Brien and Paddy Smyth were praised for their efforts. “The later start to the Club Championship in 2024, meant a larger volume of games went into the 2025 financial year and we did have the real bounce with crowds attending games in the aftermath of winning the All-Ireland. Our county finals were very well attended, Feakle as a breakthrough club and Éire Óg as a town team and hosting the Senior Football and Ladies Football finals as a double header all contributing to this. Having a separate charge for patrons aged 16-18 and finals not on TG4 also had a positive impact on gate revenue”.
Pat O’Donnell’s continued support as Clare GAA’s main sponsor was acknowledged with their backing also extending to providing a new VOLVO digger to the machinery stock.
Cusack Park was renamed this year. “Announcing Zimmer Biomet as the naming partner for Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg was a huge step forward in 2025. The positive evidence of the sponsorship can be seen all over the grounds and Zimmer have really embraced the partnership, hosting blitz days, staff events, and winning the Clare manufacturing company of the year to boot,” Murphy outlined.
Also on the commercial front, Clare GAA put ink to an agreement with StreamSport to broadcast Clare GAA games on Clare GAA TV in what she labelled “a positive in 2025”. The profile of the club championships has been boosted “immeasurably” with the continued sponsorship by TUS who also in an arrangement provided the services of Katie Arthur a business studies with sports management as a placement student, “to say she was fantastic is an understatement.
Little changes are visible to the Cloister Car Park, Deirdre acknowledged. “The Cloister Carpark may not have changed significantly yet but with the tender process underway and a lease agreement signed with Clare County Council, the Cloister Car Park is now a regular and recurring source for income for Clare GAA, in partnership with Clare County Council. Works should be fully completed during 2026, which will make a huge improvement to the aesthetic appearance of that side of the grounds as well as providing much needed parking for the town and a long- term revenue generating asset for Clare GAA”.
Fundraising to the tune of €172,238 “is related” to the selling of framed team photos, signed jerseys and the Club All Stars game, all for the Clare senior hurlers holiday last year. “Reflecting on the aftermath of winter 2024 and the 2025 campaign, I often wonder did the energy expended by our players to help everyone in the county meet the cup, help with fundraising etc., do everything ‘right’ etc. leave them with little downtime and low in energy when 2025 rolled around. I don’t suppose there are any concrete answers to that, but it is worth ruminating on if and when we are in this happy position again”.
Merging both Club Clare and the Clare Football Supporters Club may not be realistic, she said. “While unifying these two groups has long been mooted, it can only be done when it is clear that more revenue would be generated as a unified fundraising entity. Currently it is hard to say that is the case and the four main fundraising events run by both groups do not particularly affect each other. It is vital for the future of Clare GAA that both groups continue their excellent work for now and retain the excellent people who drive this dedicated fundraising work. The mechanics of how these entities have evolved matter less than the vital funds that are raised and go directly to support our players. I’ve no doubt that the time will come where a single fundraising group under the Clare GAA banner will seem like a logical next step, but we are not there yet”.
Team expenditure was down by €64,254, largely due to the senior hurlers exiting the championship two months earlier. The figure for 2025 is €1,502,208 compared with €1,566,462 in 2024. Club Clare provided €264,675 and the Clare Football Supporters Club €53,983 which Murphy noted brings the cost of preparing teams to €1,820,866.
As per the accounts, the figure for the team expenditure is down which bucks the rising trend of recent seasons, €1,373,208 (2023), €1,097,282 (2022), €642,474 (2021).
Strong standing of Clare’s senior hurling side makes it easier to generate funds, the Head of Operations noted. “When you review how costs have increased in the last five years, it is in a way reflective of the general increase in the cost of living across the country and our drive to help prepare our players to the highest possible standard and on a par with all other top teams. The increase in spend on our teams has really been enabled by our healthy financial position, which in turn has been enabled via good governance and hard work but mainly by our senior hurling team in particular and minor and U20 teams to a lesser extent ‘dining at the top table’ in terms of competitiveness, reaching and winning finals and igniting a huge interest in Clare GAA that makes it easier to fundraise and generate commercial sponsorship.
“However, it is when a team is trying to make the breakthrough or in transition that accessing that support is most critical and perhaps more difficult to attain. This is why such credit is due to Club Clare and those who supported its’ work at home and abroad at the start of Brian’s journey with the team. It is also why we must use our current healthy position wisely, to ensure that we are always able to support teams properly, not just when we are somewhat on the crest of a wave”.
An ongoing Revenue review within the GAA “has been well documented,” she said. “The revenue self-review process undertaken by all county boards during 2025 is not finalised and remains ongoing. We have made a payment to Revenue for the years 2021 to 2024 and we have reflected this in our 2025 Financial Statements. Until the Revenue Commissioners communicate their acceptance of the review findings and our voluntary disclosure, no detailed comments can be made as disclosing specific details of the review at this stage could negatively impact the outcome. Feedback from Revenue may not be received for several months”.
Facilities have benefitted from “a huge volume” of work delivered by David Hoey along with Safety and Facilities Officer Ambrose Heagney, Mick Dunne, Michael Maher, Stephen Tobin and David Callinan plus others who work on pitch maintenance both via community employment scheme and as volunteers.
80 percent of the strategic actions have been completed from the Saffron and Blue Strategic Plan which is in its fourth of five years. Five key pillars have been identified for the next iteration, Clubs, Community and Integration, Coaching, Player & Skill Development, Maximising our Facilities, Resources and Financial Position, Marketing and Communications plus Governance and Structures. “Finalising the steering group to drive this and the workgroup members to focus on each pillar is currently a work in progress. It is vital that we can continue to rely on the excellent people that drove the original plan and bring others on board who will add expertise and perspective. While Clare GAA is in a good place, to continue to get top people to give of their time is imperative for the future of Clare GAA,” she said.
All sub-committees of Clare GAA will be filled by the end of January, she said. The newest of which is the Clare GAA Youth Committee led by Newmarket-on-Fergus native Eoghan Hanley.
Paying tribute to Clare GAA Chairman, Kieran Keating, Deirdre described him as “a force of nature, a man of utmost integrity and a voracious work ethic who we are exceptionally lucky to have in the position. To each of our county board officers for everything you do. The effort and integrity you each bring to your roles and your contributions to Management Committee meetings is exemplary and I can’t thank you all enough”.
