*Ciaran Russell. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
HISTORY MAY beckon for Éire Óg but for now everyone involved with their senior footballs is paying little credence to the annals of time.
As Ennis Dalcassians, as Ennis Faughs and as Éire Óg they have won senior football championships but they have never won three in a row, something which may change if the Townies can regain their title for the third season on the bounce, a feat that is viewed as the most likely before a ball has been kicked in this year’s race for honours.
Paul Madden continues as manager of the Éire Óg senior footballers with an unchanged management team alongside him, exception for the addition of Michael Carmody, a running coach who has been an ever-present part of Brian Lohan’s set-up for the past four seasons.
Talk of history is quickly brushed aside by Madden. “The target is nearly always on our back as an Éire Óg team. We won in 2021 and with the players that we have it was always seen as fulfilling their potential that they should win one. Then we won again last year which is suddenly more of an issue for others to look at. We’re not focused on three in a row, I know every manager will say that, the fact that we have won the last two means we’re now going for three in a row but for us it’s not a discussion point but it is just about competing in round one”.
Éire Óg itself have four senior football titles to its name but the motivation remains strong for the players that have delivered half of these championships for the Ennis club. “It’s up to management to instil core values into any group and hope the players buy into it. Our mantra has always been on bringing the right attitude, be it on the pitch, in the gym or on the running track, we have set standards in terms of what we do in a match and as a group, as long as we’re meeting those standards then we’re happy, it is up to us to ensuere the lads are in a good place. The hunger will always be there, as a club we’re aware that we’re not too high up the on roll of honour list. We have always developed players with potential and it was a word we grew to hate because potential is no good if you’re not in the business end of the championship”.
Dominant performances with powerful displays all over the field have seen Éire Óg’s footballers rightfully earn plenty of plaudits in the past two campaigns. They have only lost to one team in the championship in 2021 and 2022, that being their opponents this weekend, Clondegad.
Madden recounted, “In 2021 we lost in round two and we had to get a victory in the third round to get out of what was an extremely tough group. Clondegad had a very good league campaign which they normally do, they are a very difficult team to beat, it will be a tough challenge again on Saturday. We are integrating lads coming back from holidays, we’ll be competitive on Saturday and look to put in a big performance”.
While Clondegad are able to put strong plans in place during the Cusack Cup, Éire Óg are operating at a lower level in the league and are greatly diminished in terms of personnel due to the high volume of players on Clare panels in both codes.
Although Saturday will be one of the rare occasions this year that Éire Óg’s footballers are near full strength, what has gone before in the league won’t impact on the result, according to the manager. “In 2021 when we won the championship, 20 players played in the county final, five of them were unavailable in 2022 so we had to bring in new lads last year and there will be new lads in again this year. We are delighted to have so many players lining out for Clare, it does make the league that bit more challenging but we will always develop players in the league in the hope that when it comes to championship we’ll have enough work done with those guys and they will be able to make an impact, some of those guys have made their greatest impact on the training ground and we know the qualities they will bring because of the high standard of training”.
Keeping quality in training has been central to their progression in recent seasons, the minor championship winner of 1992 maintained. “The idea of how we want to play and our style of play remains the side regardless of who plays. The lads operating at the highest level if you imagine it from a football perspective they are coming back to us at the highest level so the aim for lads not on the county set-up is to get exposed to the highest levels they can so the gap isn’t as vast when the two sides meet”.
He continued, “in round one any side with a high county contingent will find it hard to take off but we can take comfort in the fact that the lads training with us all year have been training at a high level”.
Before a ball has been kicked, Éire Óg were dealt a serious setback when David McNamara went off injured in the opening round of the hurling championship with a season-ending injury, sustaining an internal dislocation of his shoulder and damage to his knee all in the one swoop. Clare corner back Ronan Lanigan remains Stateside for the first round while former county defender Conall Ó hÁiniféin continues his recovery from an ACL injury.
Few teams could afford to ship such knocks but the strength in depth of Éire Óg has been a vital pillar of their success in the past two seasons. They welcome back Dean Ryan to the club colours and he’ll serve as an invaluable addition. Ex Westmeath footballer Gavin Murray who trained with the club last season has officially transferred and will add to their prowess in the middle third.
With the favourites tag resting on their shoulders, Éire Óg are without question the team to beat, whether someone has the ability to stop them in their tilt for three in a row will only be uncovered over the coming months.
Éire Óg
Management: Paul Madden (manager), Seanie Buckley (coach), Peter Cosgrave (selector), Shane Daniels (selector), Tom Russell (selector), Rory O’Brien (selector), Michael Carmody (athletic coach), Victor O’Riordan (S&C).
Captain: Gavin Cooney
Key Player: Ciaran Russell
One to Watch: Colm Walsh O’Loghlen
Fresh Blood: Dean Ryan (transferred back), Gavin Murray (transferred), Colm Walsh O’Loghlen.
Departures Gate: Aidan McGrath (emigrated), Conor O’Halloran (emigrated).
Titles won: 20 (including those won as Ennis Dalcassians and Ennis Faughs)
Last season’s run: County champions.
Schedule:
Round 1 vs Clondegad on August 5th in Cusack Park at 6:30pm
Round 2 vs St Joseph’s Miltown on August 18th/19th/20th
Round 3 vs Doonbeg on September 1st/2nd/3rd
