*Ronan Lanigan charges past Stan Lineen. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
RELIABLE players rarely put a foot wrong, Ronan Lanigan’s rise through to the ranks from making his starting debut for Éire Óg’s seniors in 2020 to ensuring he is one of the first names on the Clare teamsheet has been pretty impressive.
To illustrate Lanigan’s importance to the county cause, he played every single minute in league and championship this year for Mark Fitzgerald’s sole season in charge of the Clare footballers. So too did his clubmate Manus Doherty but Lanigan has also lined out from start to finish for Éire Óg in their five championship outings of 2024 thus far.
So with 700 minutes of inter-county football under his belt followed by 300 minutes in the club championship, Lanigan remarkably feels there is less fatigue within Éire Óg this year despite clocking up more than 1000 minutes of action this season. “We were very upset with the way we went out last year, we wanted to leave no stone unturned this year and do our best to get back there. Penalties is never a nice way to go out. There was mental and physical fatigue last year especially with a long year with county and club with a lot of dual players playing hurling and football so there was a good bit of that, this year we are a lot fresher”.
Preparing for his third Clare SFC final, Ronan is very appreciative of the fact that such big days don’t come around too often. “I think I joined at the right time with a great bunch of players, it is a great panel of players and it is really good to be here at this time”.
It could be argued that the novelty aspect is gone for a club who are getting set for their third final in four seasons but Lanigan said it must be appreciated. “You could say that but they don’t come around every year, before 2021 we were fifteen years without winning one and hadn’t been in one since 2014, they don’t always come around so you have to enjoy it, take in preparations and enjoy it because they don’t come around often”.
His father Garry hails from Mountrath in Laois “it wouldn’t have been a stronghold” and his mother is Claire Dillon from Ennis so “I’m the first in the line anyway” he says of representing Éire Óg. His uncles Peter, Tom and John Dillon all represented the Faughs “back in the day” along with lining out with Avenue Utd. 2020 also marked Ronan’s last time lining out for Avenue Utd B, he was part of the starting eleven which lost out 2-0 to Newmarket Celtic A in the Clare Cup final.
Following the 2021 club campaign when Éire Óg were crowned county champions, Ronan earned a call-up to the county squad from Colm Collins. “I went in with Clare during the first week of 2022 for my first training session, I hadn’t played underage or anything with Clare before, it was very new to me,” he recalled.
Ronan told The Clare Echo that he had “an inner drive” to grab the opportunity having not been selected to play minor or U20 for the county. “You have a point to prove to a degree, you have the inner drive to prove your worth but it was really nice to be in the set-up and get a taste of it”.
His story is a clear example that players who miss out on inter-county minor and U20 panels can still find a way if they take the chance to impress with their clubs. “It is completely different from underage to senior, people make the breakthough at different ages, some people make it really early and others are late bloomers, it can happen for anyone at any time, look at Paudie Clifford he broke into the Kerry team when he was twenty four or twenty five, that is a prime example of it”.
From linking up with a county squad in the first week of January in 2021, Ronan’s rise through the ranks to become a first choice member of the Clare full-back line has been rapid, he was also deputising at full-back for the entire league this year in the absence of captain Cillian Brennan. On top of this, he has become one of the leaders of the county panel. “It was a big change alright last year especially with management and then a huge turnover of players, it felt like any lads who were left had to step up, it was sink or swim really, there’s still a great group of guys there, it was a really enjoyable year for the most part, the end wasn’t great but we’ll forget about that”.
Looking back on this year with Clare, when asked if he found himself becoming more of a leader in the dressing room, Ronan said, “I suppose I did a bit, I didn’t feel like it was a massive jump to what I would normally do, I’d be less of a speaker and more try drive standards in training and on the day if I can”.
Clare reached successive Munster finals before a disappointing All-Ireland run where they shipped losses to Cork, Tyrone and Donegal. Slotting back into a club panel of Éire Óg’s calibre is like reverting to an inter-county set-up, the twenty four year old admitted. “Paul has it set up really well, it is such an enjoyable team to be a part of, we’re really blessed to have the support he offers us”.
Madden had been a name touted as Clare manager for the past two seasons but ruled himself out on both occasions, Ronan is of the view his club boss has what it takes to manage at an inter-county level. “I would think he is (good enough to be Clare manager), whether or not he would say it or not is a different story, we’re all fully focussed on Éire Óg at the minute and we’ll put our head down on that”.
Lanigan and his county teammates are waiting patiently to see who is appointed as Fitzgerald’s successor. “It is always in your head, mainly if you’re reading the paper and looking at headlines but we will wait and see who is named, it is not the main thing we are focusing on at the minute, it would be nice to sort it sooner rather than later but we are fully focused on the club at the minute”.
“It’s no surprise” that Éire Óg are facing Kilmurry Ibrickane in the final, Ronan said. “They have got better in every game they have played so I’m expecting a real battle on Sunday”. Those preparations will be kept low-key, he outlined, “next week it is wind down and get ready for the game, not get psyched up too early for it, just focus on our own game plan for the most part, go out there and do what we have to do”.
Having finished his studies in Trinity College in June 2023, Ronan has a full year under his belt working as a physiotherapist with Excel Physiotherapy. No longer having to commute to the capital has been a relief, he said. “It actually has been really nice because when you’re driving up and down from Dublin for training and matches it really takes a toll on the body and really affects you physically and mentally so being able to base myself here, work at a place which is a ten minute drive from my home and have a really good work/life balance, Seán is really good inside in work, I do about a four day week like so I feel fresh all the time”.
His work as a physio may be the reason to credit for his availability for all competitive games this season. The occupation doesn’t make him a total hypochondriac when it comes to football. “You’re definitely hyper aware any time something happens but for the most part I try and approach it as an athlete if I can and push through a little bit if you have to”.
Among the teams he has been assisting include Banner Ladies, Éire Óg’s ladies footballers and the Inagh/Kilnamona camogie side. When it was put to him that his first year involved with Banner Ladies coincided with their semi-final exit to St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield and the end for their drive for five, Ronan replied with a laugh, “I don’t think correlation is causation, I won’t take that”.
“You’re safe there,” Lanigan quipped when asked if he could be joining the high amount of dual players in Éire Óg. “I don’t think they would want me. I thought about going into Junior a couple of times but I don’t think my body would hold up playing the two at the same time, I don’t know how the lads do it. I started U14, played for a couple of years, we lost a couple of B finals, my last game was an U21 quarter-final against Clooney/Quin, they threw me in midfield to see how I went and it wasn’t too bad, I definitely don’t have the strike of a ball”.
Last season saw Ronan line out wing back for Éire Óg but he has been put back to his familiar spot in the full-back line this year, “They didn’t trust me up there, they mustn’t have liked me up there. I think the way is gone you end up all over the place at times, I’m corner forward now sometimes! You could end up anywhere, I don’t really mind where I am”.
Such is the competition for places that his county teammates Manus Doherty, Mark McInerney and Gavin Murray have all had to settle with places on the bench in this year’s club championship. This has created a very competitive atmosphere. “That is the way it should be, nobody should be feeling secure and cosy in their position, we should consistently be driving each other in training to be better, a little bit of competition never hurt anyone so it is a really good asset more than anything. There’s so many leaders in the team with Aaron Fitz, Ciaran Russell, old man Shane Daniels, they are all over the place and everyone is tuned in and driving it from the start”.
