Plenty of change in Club Coaching ranks
By Shane Brophy
The club hurling season gets underway in earnest next weekend with the start of the FBD Insurance County Leagues.
The football equivalent started last weekend but since the advent of the split season, St Patrick’s weekend has become the starting point of the hurling league with both alternating every second week up to the finals in June.
Division 1
The format remains unchanged with eighteen teams divided into three groups of six with the winner of group 1 progressing to the final, while the winners of groups 2 & 3 will meet in a semi-final.
The eighteen clubs are made up of the sixteen senior teams for 2025, last year’s division 1 champions Upperchurch/Drombane and 2024 premier intermediate runners-up Carrick Swan.
In terms of the comings and goings on the managerial front, Kiladangan are unchanged with Sixmilebridge native John O’Meara entering his third year with George Hannigan remaining as trainer, but with Darragh Egan now abroad, they have added former Tipperary All-Ireland winning defender and coach Declan Fanning from Killenaule.
Toomevara have made big strides in the first two years of Ken Dunne’s stewardship, including reaching North & County finals last year, and he remains in situ for the coming year with the same management team. The return of Alan Ryan is a boost to their panel depth.
Nenagh Eire Og have changed things up with Noel Maloney returning as manager with John Brennan as coach.
Roscrea have also gone with change after the successful stewardship of Liam England, and they have looked to a neighbouring club in JK Brackens with Paudie Bourke coming in as manager and Shane Scully as coach.
Kilruane MacDonaghs have retained Thomas Williams as manager but have shaken up their back-room team with coach Adrian O’Sullivan moving on and has been replaced by Craughwell’s former Galway player and current under 20 boss Fergal Healy. Brian ‘Buggy’ O’Meara also remains involved while his former Tipperary underage teammate John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer is also part of the set-up.
After a disappointing 2024, Borris-Ileigh will look to bounce back with club stalwart David ‘Doc’ O’Connor coming in as manager with Paddy Stapleton and Michael Hyland also involved, along with Niall McGrath as coach, the Burgess native having coached Boherlahan-Dualla to the intermediate title in 2023 and was involved with Borrisokane last year. They have been further boosted by the return to the panel of Jerry Kelly after a year away.
Ken Hogan remains at the helm in Lorrha for a fourth year but has shaken up his coaching team with Dublin native and Roscommon resident John Benton in as coach, replacing Andrew Kavanagh, with Tim Spellman as S&C coach, while former player Barry Moran has been added as a selector.
County champions Loughmore/Castleiney have retained Kiladangan’s Eamonn Kelly as manager, but they have some change in the addition of current Cork senior hurling coach Donal O’Rourke who replaces Aidan Stakelum who has moved back to his native Holycross/Ballycahill, under the stewardship of new manager Brendan Ryan as they look to translate underage success to senior level.
JK Brackens have retained Laois native Shane Keegan as manager, while Roscrea’s Liam Dunphy and Toomevara James McGrath remain on with defending division 1 league champions Upperchurch/Drombane.
Senior newcomers Cashel King Cormacs have surprisingly moved on from their own TJ Connolly with former Clare All-Ireland winner Fergal O’Loughlin and former Cork defender Eoin Cadogan as coach.
Fellow West Tipp side Clonoulty/Rossmore are unchanged with Tom Butler as manager and Jimmy Coogan as coach.
Elsewhere, Padraic Maher is at the helm in Thurles Sarsfields for a third successive year, as is Eddie Brennan in Moycarkey/Borris, and Matthew Buckley in Drom & Inch while CJ Kickhams Mullinahone have Martin Power & Stephen Ahern (Coach), and last year’s premier intermediate runners-up Carrick Swan go with the same again, headed up by Kieran Reade.
Division 2
Relegated from senior level last year, Templederry Kenyons have turned to clubman and former Drom & Inch senior camogie boss Pat Ryan as manager.
Defending North Tipperary Premier Intermediate champions Burgess have moved on from Brian Hogan as manager and has been succeeded by another club stalwart in Darrell Tucker, with Clare native Matt Shannon as coach.
Unsurprisingly, last year’s Intermediate champions Moneygall go with the same again with Willie Greene as manager and Kiladangan’s Dan Hackett as coach.
Silvermines have gone for change, securing the services of former Tipperary and Toomevara hurler David Young as manager under manager Declan Corcoran. Young was involved with Sean Treacys last year while Borris-Ileigh’s Jody Harkin is also part of the management team.
With David Young moving on, Sean Treacys have secured Anthony Roche from Clonoulty as coach to work under Ger O'Toole who stays on as manager.
Dual club Ballina will have Adrian Hurley as manager of both their senior football and premier intermediate hurling teams.
In terms of football, his selectors will be Adrian King, Robert Ryan, John Gleeson & Dermot Cunningham, while in hurling, former manager Brendan McKeogh returns as coach, joined by selectors: Brian Stritch, Eoin Kent, Eoin Cleary & John Gleeson.
Clonakenny have secured the services of Nenagh Eire Og’s Shane Connolly as coach while Ballinahinch’s Shane McGrath is now coach with Eire Og Annacarty under the joint-management of Seamus Maher and Colin Cummins.
Boherlahan-Dualla have their own Conor Gleeson at helm for another year while Moyne-Templetouhy have Eoghan Franks. Gortnahoe/Glengoole have Keith Corbett at the helm with the Tipperary senior camogie coach Dinny Ferncombe as coach.
Division 3
After being relegated from premier intermediate level last year, Newport have a new management team of Mark Harrington, Eamon McCormack, Paddy Jones, Pat Brennan, with Sean Chaplin as coach.
John Tierney remains at the helm in Shannon Rovers and has brought on board Jimmy Dunne from Lorrha as coach, adding him to club colleague Conor O’Sullivan as trainer.
After losing the services of coach Niall McGrath to Borris-Ileigh, Borrisokane have secured former Tipperary All-Ireland winner and current Kilruane hurler Niall O'Meara as coach, under manager John Egan, while Portroe will be managed by club stalwart John Sheedy who has secured the services of former Tipperary All-Ireland winner John Carroll from Roscrea as coach.