Brian Lohan

Brian Lohan (born 14 November 1971) is an Irish hurling manager and former player who is the manager of the Clare senior hurling team. As a player, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest full-backs of all time.

Brian Lohan
Personal information
Irish name Brían Ó Leocháin
Sport Hurling
Position Full-back
Born (1971-11-14) 14 November 1971
Shannon, County Clare, Ireland
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Occupation Director of Hurling at UL
Club(s)
Years Club
 Wolfe Tones na Sionna
Club titles
Clare titles 2
Munster titles 1
All-Ireland Titles 0
Colleges(s)
Years College
 University of Limerick
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles 1
Inter-county(ies)
Years County Apps (scores)
1993–2006
 Clare 54 (0–00)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 3
All-Irelands 2
NHL 0
All Stars 4

Born and raised in Shannon, County Clare,[1] Lohan began his hurling career at club level with Wolfe Tones. After much success at underage levels, he eventually broke on the club's senior team and enjoyed his greatest success in 1996 when he captained the team to the Munster Club Championship. Lohan also won two Clare Club Championships during his career.

Lohan lined out for Clare in two different grades of hurling over a 14-year period. After making his first appearance for the under-21 team in May 1992, he made his competitive debut for the senior team aged 21 in 1993. During a golden age for the team, Lohan won All-Ireland Championship medals in 1995 and 1997 as well as three Munster Championship medals in a four-year period.

At inter-provincial level, Lohan was selected to play in four championship campaigns with Munster. He never lost a game for his province and ended his career with four Railway Cup medals, including as captain in 1996.

Lohan is one of only five Clare players to have made more than 50 championship appearances. During his career, he collected four All-Stars, was named Hurler of the Year and was selected in the full-back position on the Munster Hurling Team of the Millennium.

After retiring, Lohan began his coaching career at club level with Wolfe Tones and Patrickwell, before guiding the University of Limerick to the Fitzgibbon Cup title in 2015. He was appointed Clare manager in October 2019.

Playing career

University of Limerick

During his studies at the University of Limerick (UL), Lohan lined out with the senior hurling team. In 1994 he captained the UL team to the Fitzgibbon Cup as UL defeated Waterford Regional Technical College by 2–12 to 1–11 in the final. In doing so he was also named player of the tournament.[2] In 2012 Lohan was shortlisted for the Fitzgibbon Cup Team of the Century.[3]

Wolfe Tones

Lohan joined the Wolfe Tones club at a young age and enjoyed some championship success at juvenile and underage levels before eventually joining the club's top adult team at senior level.

On 6 October 1996, Lohan captained Wolfe Tones to their first ever appearance in a Clare Senior Championship final. Lining out at full-back against Clarecastle, he ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1-11 to 1-08 victory. Lohan again captained the team from full-back when Wolfe Tones faced Ballygunner in the Munster final. Described as "the dominant figure in the first half", he ended the game with a winners' medal after the 4-09 to 4-08 victory.[4] On 17 March 1997, Wolfe Tones faced Athenry in the All-Ireland final, however, Lohan ended the game on the losing side following a 0-14 to 1-08 defeat.[5]

On 23 October 2005, Lohan lined out at full-back when Wolfe Tones faced Clarecastle in the Clare Senior Championship final. He was switched to the forwards for the final stage of the game which Wolfe Tones lost by 0-09 to 0-07.[6]

Lohan lined out in his third Clare Senior Championship final on 22 October 2006. Playing at full-back he collected a second winners' medal following the 2-11 to 0-13 defeat of Newmarket-on-Fergus.[7]

Under-21

Lohan first played for Clare as a member of the under-21 team during the 1992 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 8 May 1992 when he lined out at full-back in a 0-20 to 1-03 defeat of Limerick. On 15 July 1992, Lohan was again at full-back when Clare suffered a 0-17 to 1-12 defeat by Waterford in the Munster final.[8] It was Fitzgerald's last game n the grade.

Senior

Lohan was added to the Clare senior team during the 1992-93 National League. He made his first appearance for the team on 7 March 1993 when he lined out at right corner-back in Clare's 1-09 to 1-06 defeat by Galway. Lohan made his Munster Championship debut on 23 May 1993 when he again lined out at right corner-back for Clare in a 3-16 to 3-12 defeat of Limerick.[9] On 4 July 1993, he lined out in his first Munster final, however, Clare suffered a 3-27 to 2-12 defeat by Tipperary.[10]

Lohan enjoyed his first success with Clare when the team secured the National League Division 2 title on 20 March 1994. He later lined out in a second successive Munster final on 10 July 1994, however, Clare again ended on the losing side following a 0-25 to 2-10 defeat by Limerick.[11]

On 7 May 1995, Lohan lined out in his first National League final. He ended on the losing side after a 2-12 to 0-09 defeat by Kilkenny.[12] Lohan lined out in a third successive Munster final on 9 July 1995 with Limerick providing the opposition for the second year in-a-row. He ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1-17 to 0-11 victory.[13] On 3 September 1995, Lohane lined out at full-back when Clare qualified for the All-Ireland final for the first time since 1932. He claimed an All-Ireland medal following a 1-13 to 2-08 victory.[14] Fitzgerald ended the season by being named in the full-back position on the All-Star team, while he was also named Hurler of the Year.

Lohan won a second successive All-Star in the full-back position at the end of the 1996 season.

Lohan lined out in the fourth Munster final of his career on 6 July 1997. He ended the game with a second winners' medal after the 1-18 to 0-18 defeat of Tipperary.[15] On 14 September 1997, Lohan was once again at full-back when Clare renewed their rivalry with Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. He collected a second All-Ireland medal following the 0-20 to 2-13 victory.[16] Lohan ended the season with a third successive All-Star award at full-back.

On 12 July 1998, Lohan lined out at full-back when Clare drew 1-16 to 3-10 with Waterford in the Munster final.[17] He retained his position for the replay a week later but was sent off after just a few minutes. In spite of this, Lohan ended the game with a third winners' medal in four years after the 2-16 to 0-10 victory.[18] He subsequently received a one-month suspension.[19]

On 4 July 1999, Lohan was at full-back when Clare qualified for their sixth Munster final in seven seasons. He ended the game on the losing side following a 1-15 to 0-14 defeat by Cork.

Lohan was appointed captain of the team at the start of the 2000 season, a role he held for three seasons. On 8 September 2002, he captained the team from full-back when Clare qualified to play Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. He ended the game on the losing side following a 2-20 to 0-19 defeat. Lohan ended the season by winning a fourth All-Star award at full-back.[20]

On 12 September 2006, Lohan announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.[21]

Munster

Lohan also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial series of games and enjoyed much success.

After being an unused substitute in Munster's successful 1995 campaign, Lohan made it on to the starting fifteen in 1996. A 2–20 to 0–10 trouncing of Leinster gave him his first Railway Cup medal on the field of play.

Munster made it three-in-a-row in 1997, with Lohan winning a second Railway Cup medal following another defeat of Leinster.

After leaving the team for two seasons, Lohan returned to the fill-back position in 2000. A narrow 3–15 to 2–15 defeat of Leinster gave him his third Railway Cup medal.

Managerial career

Patrickswell

In retirement from playing Lohan has become involved in team management and coaching. After working with various juvenile teams in his own Wolfe Tones club, he joined Gary Kirby's Patrickswell management team in 2010.[22] Just over a year later he took over as manager of the club's senior team.[23]

University of Limerick

In 2012 Lohan took charge of the University of Limerick hurling team and won the Fitzgibbon Cup competition in 2015.[24]

Clare

On 31 October 2019, Lohan was ratified as manager of the Clare senior hurling team.[25] His first game as manager was on 15 December 2019, where Clare defeated Tipperary by one point in the opening group game of the 2020 Munster Senior Hurling League.[26]

Honours

Team
Wolfe Tones
Clare
Munster
University of Limerick

Individual

Manager
University of Limerick

References
  1. "Family Lohan". The Irish Times. 13 September 1997.
  2. "Lohan a 'total hurler'". Irish Independent. 1 September 2002. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  3. "Shortlist for Fitzgibbon Team of the Century". Hogan Stand website. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  4. "This was certainly Mun to remember". Irish Mirror. 25 November 1996. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  5. Moran, Seán (18 March 1997). "Dominant Athenry are worthy winners". Irish Times. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  6. O'Riordan, Ian (25 October 2005). "Clarecastle keep their composure to triumph". Irish Times. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  7. "Underdog McPhillips springs Tones off the leash". Irish Independent. 23 October 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  8. "Class of '92 has made its mark". Irish Times. 11 July 1998. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  9. Crowe, Dermot (2 June 2013). "Questions still to be answered". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  10. "Hurling through hatred". Irish Independent. 18 May 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  11. "Munster Final - 20th anniversary of Limerick's Munster SHC win of 1994". Limerick Leader. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  12. Moran, Seán (2 September 2002). "Kilkenny don't fire Clare like Munster foes". Irish Times. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  13. O'Toole, Fintan (9 July 2015). "20 years ago today the Clare hurlers won a famous Munster title...but where are they now?". The 42. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  14. Clerkin, Malachy (13 May 2015). "Championship 2015: In the hot summer of 1995 Clare left a crater in the hurling landscape". Irish Times. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  15. McCarthy, Ger (13 May 2015). "Five of the best: Munster hurling finals". The 42. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  16. O'Connell, Cian (20 July 2017). "Clare's epic 1997 All Ireland adventure". GAA website. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  17. "Banner left reeling by a bolt from the Blues". Irish Independent. 13 July 1998. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  18. Hogan, Vincent (20 July 1998). "Banner fly high again in Munster". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  19. Roche, Frank (6 August 1998). "Brian Lohan's jersey 'retired' for semi clash". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  20. "Kilkenny take seven All-Stars". RTÉ Sport. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  21. "Lohan bows out". Hogan Stand website. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  22. "Lohan takes up Patrickswell role". Hogan Stand website. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  23. "Limerick clubs opt for high profile managers". Hogan Stand website. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  24. "Tony Kelly man-of-the-match as UL celebrate Fitzgibbon Cup final replay win over WIT". The 42. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  25. Duffy, Emma (31 October 2019). "Clare hurling management saga draws to a close as Lohan appointed on two-year term". The 42. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  26. "0-14 for Tipperary's Forde but McCarthy grabs the Clare winner in Munster tie". The 42. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  27. "The final XV". RTÉ Sport. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  28. Breheny, Martin (30 May 2020). "Revealed: The Top 20 hurlers in Ireland over the past 50 years". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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