*Kieran O’Halloran raised the matter during AOB of the October meeting of Clare GAA.
TENSIONS between Parteen/Meelick and Cratloe are reaching boiling point with claims of player recruitment, poaching and breach of the ‘parish rule’.
An ongoing issue regarding a claim that some players from the Parteen/Meelick club are playing illegally with Cratloe got an airing at Tuesday’s monthly meeting of Clare GAA.
The issue was raised under any other business at the end of the meeting and at a time when some delegates had left the room believing that the meeting had ended.
Raising the issue Parteen/Meelick delegate Kieran O’Halloran said “in 2025 there was a judgement that Cratloe had fielded and registered illegal players in competitions.. In January of this year I wrote to Ann Marie (Moran, Head of Operations) to know if Cratloe had informed those players that they could no longer play with Cratloe. That e-mail got no response. Anther e-mail was sent asking the same question and again no response. Both fell on deaf ears
“In May of this year we had an under 11 football match where a neighbour played against neighbour, one in a Cratloe jersey and one in a Parteen/Meelick jersey. I contacted Ann Marie at that point and there was another non response to an e-mail. We asked again if Cratloe had informed the players that they would not be able to play at championship level with Cratloe. The answer was that it was an under 11 blitz and that she had an undertaking from Cratloe that they had contacted the parents of the players and they would not play championship with Cratloe. We took that assurance on board and moved on”.
Continuing the Parteen/Meelick delegate said “we then saw that four players from the Parteen/Meelick parish played under 13 academy hurling with Cratloe. Again we brought this to the attention of the county board. Cratloe said we have done this, we have registered players from the parish of Parteen/Meelick. The parents came to us and said they wanted to play with us and we have registered them. Cratloe said we have done this”.
O’Halloran went on to say “Cratloe came back to us and said there were more than the ones we had brought to the attention of the board, there were now seven players they had registered. Nothing has moved on. We had to write on July 28 to say that the names of four players that appeared on team sheets were registered in contravention of parish rule and what is going to be done. We are being told this will be dealt with in due course. We have been asking for answers since January. We are now in the middle of October and we have no idea. People living in the middle of the parish of Parteen/Meelick are being allowed to continually register and play for Cratloe”.
Chairman of Clare GAA, Kieran Keating stated, “Ultimately the difficulty is that we are dealing with an eleven, twelve or thirteen year old, it’s a child we are dealing with and it’s not black and white in terms of there are kids from every parish in the county who are playing with an adjoining parish. These are children and it’s not as simple to say ban them all”.
Responding, O’Halloran remarked, “We solved the position in 2025 and Cratloe agreed with that decision and they have continued to recruit and play players”.
At this point both Clare GAA PRO Aaron Carroll and assistant secretary Deirdre Chaplin, both Cratloe club members, intervened saying “that’s not true”.
O’Halloran repeated, “we brought this up in January and it was kicked down the line, we brought it up a second time and it was kicked down the line again. We got an undertaking that Cratloe weren’t going to play the players in championship and they did. Ye are not dealing with it”.
Head of Operations, Ann Marie Moran disputed O’Halloran’s comments, “the fact that you are saying we kicked this down the line. I have spoken to Colm Davoren (Parteen/Meelick chairman) on various occasions in the last four or five months. I have had regular calls with him on a weekly or bi-weekly basis where we have been discussing this. It has not been kicked down the line.
“He sent in a second list of players on the 23rd of September. The previous one was the month before with four on it, ye sent another list since then, that was three weeks ago. We have to follow process in relation to investigating this, who they are registered with and their ages and whether or not they have Parteen/Meelick addresses and whether they have played any competition with any club,” she added.
O’Halloran claimed, “the chairperson of Cratloe admitted in a meeting with yourselves that they registered players”.
“Was that a private meeting,” asked assistant secretary Deirdre Chaplin.
Chairman Keating replied, “I do recall the meeting and I wouldn’t quote specifically from the meeting between the two clubs that we facilitated.
According to PRO Carroll the matter is a legacy issue. He stated, “I have nothing to do with any of the debates or deliberations in my position. I haven’t been on any of the committees sorting this out. There is a legacy issue at play here. A lot of the boys came to school in Cratloe. There was no team in Parteen/Meelick when they started playing with Cratloe. I know for a fact that Kevin Browne (Cratloe chairman) did go to players and did say when you are under 13 you will not be allowed to play with Cratloe because some of the parents did tell me that. His undertaking that he gave you at the meeting has been followed through. It’s up to the parents if they do bring a younger brother to Cratloe. I take exception to your use of the word recruit. No one ever went into Parteen/Meelick and said come over and play with us. They have come to our gate and I don’t know if it’s in our remit to say you can’t bring your child in that gate. It’s a very complex situation. They are part of the fabric of our club as their parents told you at a meeting. They will go into Na Piarsaigh or Limerick and I hope you are as actively pursuing that as well. I have nothing to do with it and the decision won’t be mine but I take great exception to your use of the word recruiting”,
O’Halloran again asked “what is due course”.
Moran advised, “Colm (Davoren) asked us to look at the full list and that’s what we are doing”. O’Halloran asked when an answer can be expected to which she replied, “Once I get an answer from the other side to the questions we have asked”.
Parteen/Meelick delegate O’Halloran stated, “We don’t know what questions you have asked”. Moran told him, “You will know when we ask them and when we get a response”.
O’Halloran told the meeting, “I am very disappointed with the response rate, the ignoring the earlier e-mails. The perception in our club is that heels are being dragged here and the whole issue is not being dealt with and we want it dealt with as soon as possible”.
Concluding the discussion board chairman Kieran Keating said “a few months ago you told us here that things were being dealt with amicably so coming back now complaining that we did not deal with e-mails in January, February or March is a bit irrelevant after that comment. Look Ann Marie will be back to you. End of meeting”.
