Clare and Mary Immaculate hurler Adam Hogan pictured at the launch of the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup.
By Cian O’Connell
On Wednesday evening, with Galway Bay a puck of a sliotar away, Mary Immaculate College Limerick’s 2025 Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup adventure commences.
An ATU Galway outfit, sprinkled with promising players, host Mary I at Liam Mellows GAA club in Ballyloughane.
Following a campaign when silverware was accumulated at college, inter-county, and club level, Adam Hogan is braced for another demanding test.
Scariff/Ogonelloe defeated Feakle in a recent Clare U21 decider which was a rare final loss for Hogan. “We lost the U21s final, sadly, in December time against our local rivals, that was tough to take,” Hogan says.
It was still a memorable campaign for Hogan. “In 2024, we can have no complaints, at the start of the year you'd take it, so it was a good year.”
Hogan acknowledges the importance of Mary I’s Fitzgibbon success which set a solid foundation. “Definitely,” Hogan responds. “It was a stepping stone into the success of the summer and August time.
“It was great to win, especially against our rivals UL, that was sweet. It was a great victory, it was definitely a stepping stone into what came later on in the year for myself.”
Mary I’s tight knit community matters with Jamie Wall able to stitch a team together. “That is down to Podge (Collins), Jamie, and Mark (Gennery), they're so accommodating, they get all of the lads so close to each other. They're so easy to deal with.
Cathal Quinn and Adam Hogan celebrate following Mary I's Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup Semi-Final win over SETU Waterford last year. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
“Then, they're very tactically aware come game time. All of them lads are probably down as the reason why we won last year. It is a smaller college, so everybody knows each other.
“It isn't like the bigger colleges. You get to see each other in college that bit easier, you get to see how you all are. It is a nice college. You get to know everyone way easier.”
With Clare Hogan enjoyed another productive stint, culminating in All-Ireland glory. “It shows the defiance in the team,” Hogan explains.
“Getting over that Munster final, producing an All-Ireland win. It was great to get over the line, eventually, in the All-Ireland. Getting over Kilkenny was probably the most important thing.
“That was such an important thing, because in the last two years they had beaten us. Getting over that line and then beating Cork in the final, it was sweet. It was such a good game, it was great to be in that spectacle and getting out the right side of the result.”
The resilience demonstrated in the semi-final against Kilkenny was critical according to Hogan. “Yeah, half-time was needed,” he says.
“We weren't playing to our full potential, but at half-time we said we'd nothing to lose. We went out there, we played with the shackles off, that got us over the line.
"It showed the defiance in the team, that when we weren't playing so good, we could recuperate, to come back again.”
