Tag Archives: Fitzgibbon Cup

Four Clare hurlers have been named on the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup Team of the Year. Feakle’s Adam Hogan, Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe), The Banner’s Shane Meehan and Mark Rodgers (Scariff) have all been selected. Hogan, Ryan and Meehan were all part of the Mary I side that lifted the Fitzgibbon Cup for the third time in the college’s history after defeating UL by two points in last month’s final in Abbeydorney. Meanwhile, Rodgers captained the UL side that progressed through to the national decider. Coached by cousins Jamie Wall and Podge Collins, Mary I lifted the title for the first time since 2017. They led the way with seven representatives on the team with UL seeing four players selected. There are also three University of Galway hurlers named alongside one from SETU Waterford. Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: “Congratulations to the players and institutions whose immense efforts have been recognised in this year’s Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Rising Stars Hurling Team of …

Contrasting All-Ireland Senior Third Level Championship Final outcomes for UL in the past week for their footballers and hurlers was solaced by the retention of their Fitzgibbon Cup crown in Waterford on Saturday afternoon. Seven Clare players are part of UL’s second successive All-Ireland Senior A Championship triumph over University of Galway, this time in commanding circumstances by 4-19 to 1-13. Seven Clare players, Patrick Crotty (Scariff), Cian Galvin (Clarecastle), Mike Gough (Smith O’Brien’s), Darragh Lohan (Wolfe Tones), Killian McDermott (Clarecastle), Colm O’Meara (Clonlara) and vice-captain Mark Rodgers (Scariff) were all part of UL’s panel, four of whom saw action in the decider. University of Galway were captained by Éire Óg’s Darren O’Brien while Tadhg Dean (Crusheen), Joey Droney (Tubber) and Eanna McMahon (Crusheen) were also on the squad. However, following an extra-time victory over UCC in Gurteen on Thursday, Galway never reached those lofty heights again for Saturday’s decider. Perhaps they weren’t let through as UL, backed by a …

ALMOST 20 Clare hurlers will be involved in quarter-final action in the Fitzgibbon Cup next week, following results in Round 3 on Tuesday. Limerick’s three third-level institutions have all qualified for the knock-out stage of the competition. Title holders Mary Immaculate College drew with IT Carlow (0-18 each), with Eoin Quirke (Whitegate), Colm Galvin (Clonlara) and Michael O’Neill (Kilmaley) in their first 15. Hosts of this year’s finals weekend, NUI Galway also drew on Tuesday when they played Cork IT. The game ended at 0-19 each and Clare players in the Galway line-up were Conor Cleary (Miltown, St Joseph’s), who is the captain, and Oisín Donnellan (Feakle). Sixmilebridge’s Barry Fitzpatrick missed the game due to a hand injury. The Davy Fitzgerald-managed Limerick IT recorded another victory when they were 5-14 to 3-13 winners over Waterford IT. Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle), Cian Nolan (Smith O’Brien’s), Ciarán Cooney (O’Callaghan’s Mills), Oisín O’Brien (Clonlara), David Reidy (Éire Óg), Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge) and Peter Duggan …

An iconic figure in Clare hurling,  Brian Lohan has emphasised that playing at third level should not be at the expense of aplayer’s education. When UL won the Fitzgibbon Cup this year, under Lohan’s managment, they featured Limerick goalkeeper David McCarthy and John O’Brien, while current Clare goalkeeper, Keith Hogan, who is now at UCC, has also played hurling for UL. Interestingly, a number of Clare and Limerick U-21s have yet to play Fitzgibbon Cup hurling for UL because freshers are not allowed to play at that level. When Tony Kelly was named hurler of the year in 2013, he had not yet played Fitzgibbon hurling for UL. “You’re marking top fellas from the various counties. Freshers is a very good standard. Moving on to Fitzgibbon, you’re not just marking some of the best young players but the best inter-county seniors. It’s a really good standard and a really good way to test yourself against what are the best players …

TWENTY-one winters after winning a Fitzgibbon Cup medal on the field with UL, Brian Lohan was delighted and relieved to lead his Alma Mater to the 2015 title after a replay win over Waterford IT last week in Cork. Amongst the Clare contingent who played key roles were Tony Kelly, David McInerney, Jack Browne, Cathal McInerney and Gearóid Ryan. The double All-Ireland winning full-back and four-time All-Star felt the Fitzgibbon Cup helped him to develop as a player more than two decades ago and is now aiding his management career. “I played in three Fitzgibbons before eventually winning a fourth one. It was a huge learning curve for me as a player. Even though I wasn’t saying it, I felt that having been involved in the management set-up for three years already, you’d want to be learning in the fourth year. Without saying too much about it, I felt that this year we had to do it,” the 2015 Fitzgibbon …

After much back-and-forth over the past week, the concluding stages of the Fitzgibbon Cup (Third Level A Hurling Championship) start this Friday at Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT). The decision of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick to appeal, after IT Carlow had won its appeal and were re-instated last week, led to the postponement of two quarter-finals to Tuesday of this week. IT Carlow had beaten Mary Immaculate College to win a quarter-final place but they were subsequently removed from the competition when the ruling authority decided they had included an illegal player. The Leinster college successfully appealed that decision to get back into the competition but the remaining two quarter-finals remained in doubt right up to Tuesday morning, after Mary Immaculate decided to take their case to the DRA, whose decision to uphold Carlow’s position was confirmed a few hours before the quarter-final took place at the Limerick college venue. Following their win on Tuesday, LIT manager Davy Fitzgerald called …