Inagh-Kilnamona's strength through unity
The Inagh Kilnamona team celebrate with the Canon Hamilton cup after winning the Clare County Senior Club Hurling Championship final match between Inagh-Kilnamona and Kilmaley at Zimmer Biomet Cusack Park in Ennis, Clare. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
Newly crowned Clare SHC champions, Inagh-Kilnamona, are a living embodiment of the Irish prover ‘Ní neart go cur le chéile’ – there is no strength without unity.
Once two separate clubs and two distinct communities who shared the same parish, their merger in 2008 has been the making of them on and off the pitch.
Ten years previously, in 1998, such a union would have seemed very unlikely when they contested the Clare Intermediate Final and their always hot local rivalry really had the mercury bubbling in the thermometer.
Kilnamona won the bragging rights that day but in the years that followed it became painfully obvious that if the young hurlers in the parish were to be given the opportunity to be the best they could be then it must be under the one banner.
The soundness of that decision was apparent long before Inagh-Kilnamona won their first ever Clare SHC title on Sunday, but getting their hands on the Canon Hamilton Cup was the ultimate vindication.
"We didn't have the numbers in Kilnamona to have a team of our own at underage so there was an amalgamation at underage for a few years before 2008,” says club Chairperson, Oliver Mescall.
“Then they had some success. They won a minor and progressed on to 21s and then those boys wanted to stay playing together then.
“It was underage through necessity first for a good few years and then, I suppose, that was the catalyst for two clubs coming together. We're in the same parish anyway and uniting the clubs has been massive for the parish, it really has.
“I think someone asked me during the week how many from Kilnamona are playing on the team and I honestly didn't know. I'm from the Kilnamona side of the parish myself but I just wouldn't look at it like that. I'm not just saying that, it's a fact.
“And I think that goes for most people. All those lads who played on Sunday never played with either of the clubs when they were on their own, so hurling together for the one club is all they've known.
“Winning on Sunday meant everything because it's what we've been striving for since we came together in 2008. We got to a final in ‘21 and were beaten and with a young enough team you'd think you'll be back there every other year, but it's so, so competitive in Clare to even get out of the group.
“So, it's just marvellous when you do finally get over the line and get that first county title on the board. It's just amazing, it really is.”
David Fitzgerald of Inagh Kilnamona runs out to the field before the Clare County Senior Club Hurling Championship final match between Inagh-Kilnamona and Kilmaley at Zimmer Biomet Cusack Park in Ennis, Clare. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile.
Having one rather than two hurling clubs in the parish has brought everyone who lives in it closer together off the pitch as well as on it.
Inagh-Kilnamona have undertaken significant development work in recent years that wouldn’t have been possible without a huge fundraising effort that’s gotten great support from the community.
“We've spent a lot of money, well over a million,” says Mescall. “We redid the Inagh pitch, we put in a 90 by 40 astroturf, and developed a new pitch in Kilnamona. Both pitches have floodlight walking tracks and we have planning permission now for a new clubhouse in Kilnamona.
“We're always doing something. There's a long-term plan and we're just chipping away at it. With each Sports Capital funding that comes up we always have something ready to go.
“There's a lot of work that goes into this. I spend most of my time either asking someone to do something or asking someone for money, so days like Sunday are a nice part of the job.
“There's a great group around us. We have a great committee there and everyone puts their shoulder to the wheel and does their part.
“And our community has always backed us, they've always been very good.”
Haybales in the shape of a teddy bear painted in the Inagh Kilnamona colours before the Clare County Senior Club Hurling Championship final match between Inagh-Kilnamona and Kilmaley at Zimmer Biomet Cusack Park in Ennis, Clare. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile.
The facilities they’ve developed have put to great use by a prolific generation of young hurlers in the parish.
The fact that Inagh-Kilnamona won both the County U21A and U16A titles last year suggests they’ll be well-positioned to build on their maiden senior championship in the coming years.
Perhaps the most impressive barometer of the club’s health at the moment though is that virtually ever able-bodied man in the parish is playing for one of the club’s five senior teams.
“This is the first year we put out a fifth senior team, which was something we're very proud of,” says Mescall.
“I think Sixmilebridge are the only other club with five teams in Clare. It just shows the interest.
“We're in the Intermediate Final against the Banner in two weeks’ time and we're also contesting the Junior C semi-final the same weekend, that's our fourth team.
“It's great to have so many lads playing hurling in the parish and there's just a great atmosphere around the club at the moment.”
