*Clare gather in a huddle before their meeting with Wexford in the Allianz National Hurling League. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
BRIAN LOHAN and his management team have let four players go from the Clare squad in the middle of the Allianz National Hurling League.
Two of the panellists were part of the extended All-Ireland and National League winning squad of 2024.
Clare, lining out far from full-strength, have yet to pick up a win in this year’s league with successive defeats to Kilkenny, Galway and Wexford, two of these ties taking place on the county’s home ground in Cusack Park.
Prior to Sunday’s six point loss to Wexford, the Clare panel was cut by four with Clonlara duo Dylan McMahon and Páraic O’Loughlin plus Keelan Hartigan and Rian Considine dropped from the panel. For Hartigan and Considine, it is the second time in just over twelve months that they have been cut from the Clare squad by Lohan.
Neither of the quartet were given the opportunity to impress in the National League this season before their exits. O’Loughlin, Hartigan and Considine were all listed as substitutes in the two point defeat to Kilkenny in the first round and the 2-21 0-20 loss at the hands of Galway in Pearse Stadium for the third round while McMahon has been sidelined with injury.
Both McMahon and O’Loughlin were part of the Clare squad last season as they won both the National League and All-Ireland championship. The duo did not receive game-time in either the 2024 league or championship. Considine was one of four hurlers added to the squad for this season along with Shane Woods, Ian Macnamara and Daithí Lohan. Hartigan was added at a later date in December when injuries began to mount within the panel.
McMahon made his first appearance for the Clare seniors last year when coming on in additional time for Darragh Lohan during the 2-21 1-19 defeat to Limerick in the Munster Senior Hurling League played in Clarecastle. He was given a starting spot at wing-back for the third round with Cork and was replaced on fifty eight minutes in the 1-24 0-24 loss.
Dylan was centre-back on the Clonlara team crowned Clare SHC champions in 2023, excelling as Donal Madden’s side lifted the Canon Hamilton. The twenty three year old was centre-back on the Clare minor side in 2018, he was wing-back on the Clare U20 sides in 2019 and 2021 while filling the centre-back berth in 2020 and had been viewed as a potential long-term option in Clare’s half-back line. A Minor championship winner in 2018, he is still recovering from a serious leg injury sustained in Clonlara’s 2-18 0-21 quarter-final exit at the hands of Sixmilebridge.
Full-back for Clonlara for that last eight encounter in September was O’Loughlin. He had been wing-back on the side a year previous as they won the Clare SHC for the first time in fifteen years. He first played senior championship for his club in 2015 and has lined out in numerous positions for the South-East Clare side including between the posts and in the half-forward line.
At inter-county level, Páraic played for Clare at minor and U21. He came on as a substitute for Clare’s U21s in the 2017 semi-final, scoring a point after his introduction on forty two minutes for the injured Rory Hayes who was at wing-back. A year later, he came on at corner forward for Joe Carmody with twenty one minutes played in what was a heavy 3-18 0-13 quarter-final defeat to Limerick, a result which marked the end of John Carmody’s two year tenure in charge.
Cratloe’s Considine was part of the Clare squad for the entire 2019 season under Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor. He was let go by Lohan in January 2024 after failing to get game time in the Munster Senior Hurling League. Rian was the third highest top scorer in last year’s club championship, he clocked up 2-33 as Cratloe reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by eventual champions Feakle.
In 2018, he won a Dr Harty Cup medal with Ard Scoil Rís and has represented UCD in the Fitzgibbon Cup. At inter-county level, he was part of the Clare minor side in 2017 which reached the All-Ireland quarter-final and lost to Munster final while he represented the U20s in 2019 as they exited to Cork 0-24 0-15 in the provincial semi-final, Sean Doyle serving as manager during Considine’s time at minor and U20.
Part of the UL squad crowned Fitzgibbon Cup champions less than a fortnight ago, Hartigan also makes way from the panel. The Scariff midfielder had been part of a very competitive UL panel for the past two seasons. He was midfield for Terence Fahy’s Clare U20s in 2023 as they reached the Munster final. In last year’s Munster Senior Hurling League, he was introduced as a substitute in both of Clare’s games, getting twenty two minutes against Limerick and twelve minutes versus Cork, scoring 0-1 in the Limerick game.
At club level, he has been a central player for Scariff since their return to the top tier which has included runs to the semi-final in 2023 and quarter-final in 2024. He is the holder of two U21A championship medals with Scariff/Ogonnelloe.
Clare’s next clash in the Allianz National Hurling League is this Sunday where they face the familiar foe of Limerick at 15:45 in TUS Gaelic Grounds.
