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*Jack Sheedy. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
SOUL SEARCHING from a gutting quarter-final exit has strengthened St Breckans and with it their resolve to make a breakthrough.
County finalists in 2023, St Breckans have failed to get beyond the last eight in 2024 and 2025. Getting to march behind the Tulla Pipe Band on the biggest day of the club football calendar in Clare left an itch that they haven’t come close to scratching over the past two years.
Semi-final appearances in 2020 and 2021 had them knocking on the door following their intermediate success of 2019 but the the North Clare side are resolute in their belief that they can indeed knock the door down. “We have very high ambitions in St Breckans and rightly so with the panel of players we have. Can we win a senior football championship? Absolutely, we believe we can compete with anyone but we have to earn that every weekend we go out. First and foremost it starts this weekend,” manager Patrick O’Neill told The Clare Echo.
Patrick enters his second championship campaign as manager having succeeded two-time All-Ireland winning Kerry goalkeeper, Declan O’Keeffe. On the lessons from year one, he remarked, “it is how fast championship comes around, it comes thick and fast so you have to adapt. To be honest, I didn’t learn too much because I’ve been around Dublin panels and I know what championship means, it is a case of using what you have, we were very restricted with players and we were missing six or seven lads with injuries last year so we have been able to manage that a lot better, we’ve got in the best we could in terms of S&C this year, we’re in a better place managing their load from game to game, that will be a big learning from last year”.
Trying to get on top of the injuries led to them recruiting one of the top S&C coaches in the country, Lukasz Kirszenstein who has been involved in All-Ireland SHC success for Clare (2024), Galway (2017) and Tipperary (2016). The Polish native is joined by Clarecastle’s Eoghan Wallace who deputised under him with the Clare seniors this year and is also S&C coach for Wolfe Tones’ senior hurlers.
Bolstered by additional expertise off the field, Cian Burke’s return from a lengthy injury along with welcome sight of Liam Tierney back in a Breckans jersey is a huge plus. They’ll also be able to call on Clare U20 Donnacha O’Dwyer for the first time in the Clare SFC. “Having Cian Burke back is a huge asset at the back, he is a phenomenal player, anyone would like a Cian in their side, he has missed a lot of football in twelve months, he’s had a good Cusack Cup and is going strong in training. It is great to have Liam back as well, we have a strong panel, it is good to be able to look to the bench”.
Before there was the talk of Mayo’s Kobe McDonald going down under, there lived the annual rumour that Joe McGann would be heading in the opposite direction and coming home to North Clare.
It seems that this time, it might be more than just whispers and McGann, a former Clare forward could yet make his first Clare SFC appearance since 2024. “I’ll doubt we’ll see him early on, we have our fingers crossed that he might be back at some stage,” O’Neill told The Clare Echo. “Joe Mc is a quality player, anyone would miss someone of his calibre, we’re never about one individual, we’ve a good group and the lads available are the ones we are focused on”.
Promoted back to the Cusack Cup last season, retaining their status was the primary focus during the league, it went much better than this and they reached the semi-finals of the competition but were blown away by Miltown’s ability to kick two pointers. “The Cusack Cup was huge, it gave us plenty of learnings, we took a lot of positives, there was areas to be addressed and we have addressed a lot of them, we went to a point in the Cusack Cup that we were relatively happy with, we’re ready now for a new competition and championship football is a lot different to the Cusack Cup in terms of what we’re up against. It’s about giving lads minutes on the field, seeing their best positions and where they are at”.
Though their championship season of 2025 may be defined by their quarter-final no-show against Lissycasey, their run also included coming within three points of Kilmurry Ibrickane in the second round and that is who they face off with this Friday night. “We were very unlucky against them, we left a lot behind us. Kilmurry Ibrickane are favourites and there’s no denying that, they are favourites for a reason, they are one of the top teams in Clare, they have earned that. Championship is about performing on the day, we have great belief and a great challenge for the opening day to start”.
If reaching a county final created an itch then losing to Lissycasey by nine points last year, left scars. “There was a lot of hurt from that game, there was a lot of soul searching between management and players. We understand that we went into the quarter-final with a lot of injuries and it gave some lads championship experience a year ahead on what they were expecting and that will stand to them lads”.
St Breckans Factfile
Management: Patrick O’Neill (manager), John McDonagh (selector), Aidan Fitzgerald (selector), Killian Malone (coach), Mikey Keating (coach), Jersey O’Loughlin (selector), Lukasz Kirszenstein (S&C), Eoghan Wallace (S&C)
Captain: Rowan Danagher
Key Player: Colm O’Brien
One to watch: Donnacha O’Dwyer
Fresh blood: Donncha O’Dwyer, Jack O’Loughlin, Rian O’Neill, Ronan Garrihy, Liam Tierney,
Departures Gate: None.
Treatment table: Conor Burke (knee),
Titles won: 0
Last season’s run: Exited in the quarter-finals losing 2-17 0-14 to Lissycasey
Schedule of games:
Round 1 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane on Friday July 31st at 19:30 in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay
Round 2 vs Corofin on Sunday August 16th at 15:00 in Gurteen
Round 3 vs Lissycasey on Sunday August 30th at 13:00 in Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay
Championship power ranking (1=weak/unlikely winners, 10=strong contenders): 6
