Return to the top flight, 1970 to 1974

On 7 June 1970 (in their first Senior hurling game since July 1961), the Clareen team very nearly toppled reigning champions St Rynagh’s. Damien Martin’s goalkeeping enabled St Rynagh’s to battle back for a draw (Seir Kieran 4-6, St Rynagh’s 2-12). Fore-warned was fore-armed in the replay on 12 July, when the Banagher men won by 4-13 to 2-3. The Clareen side were still alive in the 1970 championship, but were eliminated by Coolderry in the next round. There was only one bite of the cherry in 1971, when Seir Kieran were dismissed by Ballyskenagh. While they won their opening round match against Rahan in 1972, Kinnitty proved too strong for the black and amber when the next round was finally played off in October.

In both 1973 and 1974, something of a back door system operated in the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship. Therefore, Seir Kieran’s 2-12 to 1-8 loss to Birr in June 1973 set them on the road to the Loser’s Group Final against Na Piarsaigh (Killoughey and Kilcormac combined). It took a trilogy of matches to decide this Final. The first two installments, played at Birr on successive Sundays in September, ended in deadlock. It was a different story in the second replay, for which the venue was switched to Tullamore. Seir Kieran did not play well, and Na Piarsaigh ran out winners by 1-13 to 1-4.

The Offaly GAA Convention for 1974 passed a motion that the Fixtures Committee be mindful of the ongoing Oil Crisis when selecting venues. Measurements on the playing field were also changing – 70 yard frees were replaced by 65 metre frees. New rules decreed the painting of large and small rectangles. A player could not be in the square before the ball, only three defenders could line the goals in the event of a penalty, and charging a player not in possession was banned. Like many other hurling panels, Seir Kieran would have considerable trouble adapting to the new rules. They opened their 1974 Senior campaign with a narrow loss to Kinnitty. A bigger defeat followed at the hands of Drumcullen in the next round, but Seir Kieran had another chance in the Senior Hurling ‘B’ Championship.

Seir Kieran defeated St Carthage’s (Rahan) to advance to the ‘B’ Final, played in Birr on 24 November 1974. In a mean-spirited game, Lusmagh took an early lead which they still held when the game was abandoned in the second half. At a County Board Disciplinary Committee hearing on the Wednesday before Christmas, both clubs were fined £20; while two Seir Kieran players and one Lusmagh player were suspended for six months. In spite of the eventual outcome, Seir Kieran took heart from the clear progress that was being made, including in terms of representation on the Offaly hurling panels. Kieran Mooney had been Offaly’s top scorer (0-8) in their narrow loss to Dublin in the Leinster U-21 Hurling Final of 1972. Kieran Mooney along with Sean Bergin also represented the club in 1974, when an Offaly side managed by Brother Denis Minehan and captained by a young Pádraig Horan recorded a first-ever win over Dublin in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship. The Semi-final against Kilkenny took place at Croke Park, where Mooney put Offaly’s opening goal past Noel Skehan. (Despite Damien Martin’s heroics in the Offaly goals, however, Kilkenny advanced without undue trouble.)

Schools hurling and underage hurling

Inscription on wall of Seir Kieran National School, Clareen, Co. Offaly, Ireland

Even more encouraging for the Club’s future was the organized effort being made at primary school level, led in Clareen’s case by successive Principals of Seir Kieran National School: Mr. Frank McNamara; Mr. Tony Hogan; Mr. Damien White; Mrs. Majella Gibbons; and Mr. Jonathan Dunne in the present day. In 1974, a team captained by Joe Dooley won Seir Kieran’s first Bord na Scol hurling championship. This feat was emulated in 1976, when Mick Mulrooney captained the Bord na Scol team. Seir Kieran went on to claim the Offaly U-14 ‘B’ hurling title for 1976 – an achievement indeed for a club that had waited 40 years to win an under-age championship. The school teams were mentored by Damien White N.T., Canon Seán Collier, and Tony Murphy; while the U-14s were looked after by Club chairman Paddy Guinan, Canon Collier, Seamus Mulrooney and John Joe Coffey. There was also a big input from the parents and many others in the parish community.

Although ultimately unsuccessful, Seir Kieran had also won through to both the Minor ‘B’ and the U-21 Hurling Finals of 1974. Of the Minor ‘B’ Final against much-fancied Killeigh, the Midland Tribune reported that “At no stage was full back Eugene Coughlan allowed to relax his most extraordinary talents”. Future stalwarts such as Paddy Mulrooney, Noel Bergin, Jimmy Connor, Mick Coughlan, Johnny Abbott and Joe Mooney also featured. Johnny Abbott played in goals that year for the U-21 team, coached by Tony Murphy. He was kept busy in the U-21 Final against Kinnitty, where much of the Minor panel, augmented by players like Liam Corcoran, Brendan Coughlan, Val Kennedy, Sean Coughlan, Barney Breslin and Joe Bergin, proved no match for a Kinnitty side powered by Pat Delaney, Des Egan and Frank Bergin. Despite this setback, it was clear that Seir Kieran’s unfolding horizons were very bright. At the club’s AGM for 1975, an intense discussion took place on how to bring on all of the young players. This resulted in something of a “new departure” for Seir Kieran – the establishment of a Minor Club with Seamus Mulrooney as its first chairman.

From the 1960s onward, the Vocational Schools and the other post-primary schools in Offaly had put emphasis on the proper preparation of their GAA teams. This process would receive an important boost with the opening of St. Brendan’s Community School in Birr in 1980.The catchment area of the Community School comprises much of Offaly’s hurling heartland, as well as contiguous parts of north Tipperary. The experience of winning together for the School tended to dilute the old parochial bitternesses, and to ensure that these students would give of their best for their County later on.

Consolidation of senior status

The great strides being made at other grades gradually percolated into Seir Kieran’s Senior displays also. Although they beat Lusmagh in the 1975 championship, Drumcullen exploited a lack of pace to put an end to the Clareen interest that year. Seir Kieran came within an ace of turning the tables in 1976. A highlight of their first round victory over St Carthage’s was Sean Coughlan’s tussle with the Rahan centre forward, Pat Corcoran. The second round clash at first seemed like deja vu as Drumcullen amassed a 12-point lead, despite scores from Billy Kennedy and Patsy Coffey and Mick Murphy’s chipping in a goal from the corner of the square. A comeback after the interval was stopped just short. In the end, Seir Kieran paid the price for some erratic shooting – but they had again put the County on notice that they were a team to watch.

This point was driven home in 1977 when, following a narrow first round defeat to Tullamore, Seir Kieran went into the Losers’ Group and faced St Rynagh’s on a chilly June day at Kilcormac. Throwing down the gauntlet with sturdy ground hurling, the Clareen 15 launched into the attack, and eliminated the five-in-a-row County Champions by 4-9 to 1-11. Seir Kieran next beat Na Piarsaigh to reach the 1977 Losers’ Group Final; only to slump to defeat (3-8 to 0-11) to Killeigh at Tullamore.

Seir Kieran opened their 1978 campaign with a win against Shinrone. In the second round they met St Rynagh’s. Although they beat Killeigh in the third round (4-11 to 1-3), this only led to a tame exit to Coolderry (1-10 to 0-8, of which 0-7 was scored by Kieran Mooney).

Late 1970s

In 1979, St Rynagh’s bested Seir Kieran by 1-17 to 1-3 in the opening round, at Kilcormac on 5 August 1979. A St Rynagh’s official expressed relief at the result saying: “When we get over that hurdle, other teams don’t present quite the same problem.”

Seir Kieran beat Killeigh by 2-6 to 1-4 in the next round, despite each side going down to 14 men after hurleys and fists flew. It was a much more disciplined and cohesive Clareen team that fielded in St Brendan’s Park for their last competitive game of the 1970s, on 26 August 1979. Seir Kieran beat Drumcullen by 3-11 to 0-9.