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.
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]
Clare
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] His final championship game had been the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final loss to Kilkenny on 13 August.[22]
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.[23] Just over a year later he took over as manager of the club's senior team.[24]
On 21 July 2024, Clare won the All-Ireland for the first time in 11 years after an extra-time win against Cork by 3-29 to 1-34, claiming their fifth All-Ireland title.[30][31][32][33]
