Ger Loughnane

Gerard "Ger" Loughnane (born 27 January 1953) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-back for the Clare senior team.

Born in Feakle, County Clare, Loughnane first played competitive hurling whilst at school in St. Flannan's College.

He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Clare minor team, before later joining the under-21 side.

Loughnane arrived on the inter-county scene as a member of the Clare minor hurling team in 1970.

The following year he lined out in his sole Munster decider in that grade, however, Clare endured a 6–13 to 3-5 walloping from Cork.

He made his senior debut during the 1972-73 National Hurling League.

Loughnane immediately became a regular member of the starting fifteen, and won two National Hurling League medals.

He was a Munster runner-up on five occasions.

As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team at various times throughout his career, Loughnane won three Railway Cup medals.

At club level he is a one-time championship medallist with Feakle.

Throughout his career Loughnane made 26 championship appearances.

After progressing onto the under-21 team he faced narrow Munster defeats at the hands of Tipperary in 1972 and Waterford in 1974.

Loughnane made his senior championship debut on 24 June 1973 in a 3–11 to 3-9 Munster semi-final defeat by Limerick.

In 1974 Loughnane lined out in his first Munster decider in the senior grade.

A 6–14 to 3-9 trouncing by Limerick was the result on that occasion.

In spite of that defeat Loughnane later had the honour of being Clare's very first All-Star recipient.

After facing a fifteen-point defeat by Kilkenny in the league final in 1976, both sides faced each other again at the same stage the following year.

A 2–8 to 0–9 victory gave Clare the title and gave Loughnane a National Hurling League medal.

Clare later faced Cork in the provincial decider, on a day when armed robbers made away with the takings from the gate of £24,579 during the second half of the game.

Clare conceded an early penalty but they fought back to take the lead until a contentious red card for full back Jim Power turned the tide for Cork and they fought on win by 4–15 to 4–10.

Clare retained their league title in 1978, with Loughnane collecting a second winners' medal following a 3–10 to 1–10 defeat of Kilkenny once again.

In a repeat of the previous year Clare faced Cork in the subsequent Munster decider.

In one of the worst ever provincial deciders and only the second one ever not to produce a goal, Clare were narrowly defeated by 0–13 to 0–11.

As the final whistle sounded Loughnane, who had scored the last point of the game, slumped to the ground in frustration and thumped his hurley off the pitch.

Following his graduation Loughnane returned to County Clare and he was the principal at St. Aidan's primary school in Shannon from its foundation in 1986 until 2011.

As a boarder at St. Flannan's College in Ennis for five years, an experience he detested and described as being "like a jail", Loughnane excelled as a hurler.

His sole success was the winning of a Munster under-15 championship medal.

He was a Dean Ryan Cup and Harty Cup runner-up.

Loughnane was in the twilight of his career when he enjoyed his greatest success as captain of the Feakle senior team.

His retirement came following the conclusion of the 1987 championship.

In retirement from playing, Loughnane became involved in team management and coaching.

During a six-year term as manager of the Clare senior hurlers, he guided the team to two All-Ireland and three Munster titles.

His two-year term in charge of Galway ended without success.

Ger Loughnane was born in Feakle, County Clare.

He was educated at his local national school where he was first introduced to the game of hurling, before later attending St. Flannan's College in Ennis, a virtual academy for young and gifted hurlers.

During his tenure at St. Flannan's, Loughnane won a Munster Colleges Under-15 medal, as well as playing on the college teams that lost Dean Ryan and Harty Cup finals.

He also played hurling with St. Patrick's College in Dublin, where he trained as a primary school teacher.

One of his contemporaries at St. Patrick's was Brian Cody, a future hurling star with Kilkenny and the current manager of the team.

Having lost their first championship decider in almost thirty years in 1987, Feakle reached a second successive final the following year.

Ruan provided the opposition, however, a 1–17 to 1–10 victory gave Loughnane a championship medal.