Feakle players celebrate after their Clare SHC semi-final win over Cratloe.
By John Harrington
It’s been a year of heady highs for Feakle GAA club.
Back in July, Adam Hogan and Eibhear Quilligan became the first two men from the small East Clare club to win All-Ireland medals with the Banner County and another clubman, Con Smyth, was a member of the extended panel.
The good vibes from that achievement resonated through their club campaign and on Sunday they’ll contest their first Clare SHC Final since they last won it in 1988.
The home of Clare hurling luminaries like Ger Loughnane and Fr. Harry Bohan, Feakle have always had a greater presence in the county than the parish’s size might suggest they should, and the current generation are now also punching above their weight.
“It's unbelievable to be honest with you,” says club chairperson, Mark Clune. “There's only a population of around 600 people here in Feakle. It's tiny, really. It's about 25 years ago now we had to join with Killanena at underage because we just didn't have the numbers.
“As I remember someone said years ago, Feakle is a great place for kids to grow up as long as they play hurling. There isn't a whole lot else here to do apart from hurling.
“When you're dealing with small numbers and you want to keep the club going you have to encourage every kid to play the game. It’s a constant battle, you can’t let any kid slip through the net.”
The current Feakle team testifies to the club’s ability to extract the maximum from a talented generation of hurlers when they do come along.
It’s largely made up of two distinct groups. The graduates of the Feakle-Killanena team that won the U-21A Championship in 2017, and the younger cohort who won the same title last year.
Clare players, from left, Eibhear Quilligan, Adam Hogan and Con Smith celebrate with the Liam MacCarthy cup after the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Clare and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
Adam Hogan is the dominant personality in that latter group. He’s followed up sensational season with Clare by producing a series of defiant displays at full-back for Feakle that have played a big part in their run to Sunday’s Final.
“He was always something special,” says Clune of Hogan. “I was involved at coaching underage teams he played on from U8s up and from day one he stood out.
“We won an U14A in 2017 against Sixmilebridge and Adam was full-back that day and I think he was tired by playing ball he hit so much. He was just unbelievable.”
The spirit and ambition that the Feakle hurlers show on the pitch is replicated off it by the club’s volunteers off it.
They’re about to commence work on an impressive new clubhouse facility that should be a great asset for every playing member and the wider community as a whole.
“Our current clubhouse was built in 1983 and it was perfect for its time but it has now run its course,” says Clune.
“The new clubhouse will have a gym, we currently don't have one in the community at the moment, and we'd be aiming to get it all done in 12 months.
“We're really conscious that in a small parish you're asking the same people all the time to pay up and it's hard. We got a good bit of money in grants which has been a big help. We don't want the club under savage debt either so we have to be careful.
“We're just so grateful with all the support we've gotten from the community. We've had a draw running for the last two years and we're heading into our third year now at the moment and it’s been a great success.”
An artist's impression of Feakle GAA club's planned new clubhouse.
They’d love nothing more than to turn the first sod of that development as county champions, but they’ll go in to Sunday’s Final against as underdogs against a Sixmilebridge team much more accustomed to this occasion.
“We know we're facing a big test,” says Clune. “The 'Bridge have won the last five finals that they've been in. They have five adult teams and it's David against Goliath really.
“There's a population of over 7,000 in Sixmilebridge, but they can only put out 15 so we live in hope!
“We were in the semi-final last year and Clonlara beat us and went on to win it and they weren't that far away from winning the Munster club afterwards.
“I think our lads learned from that and hopefully it will stand to them on Sunday. They realise it's one thing getting there but you have to put your best foot forward and make the most of it because it won't come around again too often.”
10 of the current Feakle panel are sons of men who played on the last county championship winning team in 1988.
What would it mean to the small East Clare parish if they could end their 36-year wait for the Canon Hamilton Cup.
“It was just go off the charts,” says Clune. “It would be just magic, really. I still remember the lads bringing home the cup in '88 and it would just be phenomenal for the whole parish. It would just show what a small club can achieve.
“It would be just unreal if we could do it. The lads of '88 I think would be happy too because they're tired of everybody talking about them and would like to hand over the baton to this generation.
“There wouldn't be much work done in Feakle if we could win it, that's for sure!”
