Shane O'Donnell And Anthony Daly Recall Ger Loughnane's Mic-Drop Moment At Clare All-Ireland Medal Ceremony

Clare are making no secret of their desperation to win a Munster championship having not tasted provincial glory since 1998.

They have won two All-Irelands in the mean-time in 2013 and 2024 but those triumphs have both came on the back of defeats in their own province.

The long wait has heightened their desire to win in Munster with their neighbours and rivals Limerick having won the last six in a row.

Brian Lohan’s side appeared to be set for a disappointing start to this year’s campaign when trailing Cork by 2-15 to 0-9 at half-time of Sunday’s Munster opener in Ennis.

Brian Hayes rattled the net twice for the rampant Rebels with Alan Connolly and Darragh Fitzgibbon also running Clare ragged.

But Clare showed the grit of champions in the second half to storm back into the game, led by the the ‘one-handed wonder’ Peter Duggan who scored 1-1 with just one hand on the hurl.

Clare's Hurler of the Year Shane O'Donnell says he could "potentially be in contention for a latter part of the championship" as he recovers from shoulder surgery but will have a clearer timetable for a return in the next couple of weeks. #GAA #Hurling pic.twitter.com/bjtSskCLvU

— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) April 15, 2025

Tony Kelly and subs Ian Galvin and Aron Shanagher were also prominent in their revival with the latter winning a late free which looked to have won them the game.

David Reidy slotted it but there was time for one last twist as John Conlon fouled Ciaran Joyce and Declan Dalton split the posts to ensure the spoils would be shared.

The draw felt like a win for Clare, particularly in the absence of Hurler of the Year Shane O’Donnell who missed out through injury.

There was good news for Clare supporters on that front last week as O’Donnell revealed he could return from his shoulder problem before the end of their Munster campaign.

He spoke to RTE before Sunday’s game where he revealed how a speech from Ger Loughnane at their All-Ireland medal presentation last year underlined the significance of their Munster drought.

"In our medal presentation last year - I won't go into too much of the details - but Ger Loughnane essentially said an All-Ireland's great but it's not a Munster.

"So there definitely is that narrative that this is the missing piece of what we've been able to achieve," O'Donnell said.

Anthony Daly was also there that night and he too recalled Loughnane's speech.

"I was at the night of the medals, really looking forward to the night of celebrations and Loughnane came in and he nearly stuck a...he pretty much challenged them to win the munster saying "you havent done it till you've won a munster," Daly recalled.

O'Donnell revealed in the same interview how he has lost five Munster finals and that the 2018 defeat to Cork was the toughest moment of his Clare career.

"I've lost five Munster finals now. It would be extremely disappointing to close the book on a career that I can proudly look back on, but to have five occasions, one of which I feel like I genuinely threw (away) the entire game myself.

"I was subbed with fifteen minutes to go and I was sitting on the sideline, I had this fear that like I'd thrown it away. I managed to turn it around but in that moment, that was the hardest moment I've had with a Clare jersey on my back."