Sports

 Hurling in Clareen
Hurling has played a central role in the life of Seir Kieran parish for as long as anyone can remember.The club is almost as old as the G.A.A. itself and was first officially registered in 1889. It is not certain who the founder members were and generally speaking,information on the clubs first two decades is very hard to come by.The club's first game was against Eglish and the score was Eglish 1-0,Clareen 0-1.
         Regular sucess has ensured that interest in the game has always remained extremely high. Since the first grade A victory in 1912, Seir Kieran have won a major hurling championship in every decade so far this century except for the 70's,which was a decade of great sucess in Bord na Scol and underage competitions.This record is remarkable,not because of the number of titles won,but because these titles were won by a club which has one of the smallest selection of players in the country.
         To many people outside Offaly, Seir Kieran might seem a relatively new force in Offaly hurling, but the record shows that past teams have often been very close to major sucess. In the years 1937 to 1939,Seir Kieran consecutively won the Junior and Intermediate championships and made it to the Senior final. Win or lose,newspaper reports down through the years bear witness to the quality of hurling which has been produced by this small club. In 1988,at a time when Offaly were dominating the Leinster scene, Seir Kieran won their first Senior Hurling title. It was a victory that belonged, not only to that winning team, but also to the men who built the game in the parish throughout this century.
         Down the years the club has seen many changes in the way the game is played. Veteran hurlers  agree that the game is fairer now, with the referee involving himself much more than in earlier years. In the old days the whistle rarely blew and fouls would have to be serious to be penalised. When a seventy was been taken, just about anything could happen in and around the goal.Points were far less frequent than today and much greater effort was put in to scoring goals.
        Rules werte less rigidin the old days. It was not uncommon for games to continue long overtime. The shape and quality of hurls was also different. In Seir-Kieran and other rural parishes, many players made their own hurls which meant that they could be made to suit the player. They tended to be heavier than in recent times.
       Before the took possession of the present hurling pitch, training and matches took place in Corcoran's field in Oakley Park. On Sunday afternoons players would come together and hurl for five or six hours. Some lads would go home for their  tea and later return to the field. It was often difficult to get the day's work completed before nightfall, so team training during the week usually consisted  of just one evenings hurling.
    The following incident which Sean Corrigan relates gives a good illustration of how much thingshave changed, not only in hurling but in life in general.
    Fortal were playing a match in Oakley Park and during the game Mick Maher broke his shoulder. Mick's father drove an ass and cart into the middle of the field, loaded the injured player onto the board and brought him home. A different world! Today Fortal no longer have a hurling team, Oakley Park is no longer a venue for hurling matches and not many us seen an injured player carried off the field in an ass and cart! Anther memorable event that Sean recalls was the presentation by Johnny Murray of a set of jersies and caps to the younger hurlers of the parish. Johnny was a herdsman in Kilmaine and was then living in a two storey house close to where Kennedys live now.
    In 1959 Corcorans estate in Oakley was divided by the Land Commission and the Club managed to obtain the present field in place of the old one.The field was levelled a short time later by bulldozer and the trees at the road were cut down. In 1981 major improvements were made to the field which included the levelling and reseeding of the pitch and the building of dressing rooms. These developments were recognised in May 1982, when Clareen were awarded the A.I.B. G.A.A.Division C Club of the Year Award in the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny

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