Seánie McMahon

Seánie McMahon

Personal information
Irish name	Seán Mac Mathúna
Sport	Hurling
Position	Centre-back
Born	1973 Ennis, County Clare
Nickname	Seánie
Club(s)
Years	Club
	St. Joseph's Doora-Barefield
Club titles
Clare titles	3
Munster titles	2
All-Ireland Titles	1
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1994-2006	Clare	51 (0-97)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	3
All-Irelands	2
All Stars	3

Seánie McMahon (born 1973 in Ennis, County Clare) is a former Irish sportsman. He played hurling with his local club St.Josephs Doora-Barefield and with the Clare senior inter-county team from 1994 until 2006. McMahon is regarded as one of Clare's greatest-ever hurlers. He is the highest scoring back in All-Ireland Championship history with 0-97 from 51 games. In his book "Raising the Banner",^[1] legendary Clare hurling manager Ger Loughnane said of McMahon: "There are men, then there are men, then there's Sean McMahon".

Playing career

Club

McMahon retired from playing with his club Doora-Barefield in 2009. He has had some success at underage levels before finally winning a senior county championship title in 1998. This was later converted into a Munster club title and on St. Patrick's Day, 1999 McMahon claimed an All-Ireland club title following a huge win over Rathnure. Later that year he won a second county title as well as a second Munster club title. McMahon won a third Clare SHC medal in 2001.

Inter-county

McMahon is regarded by many as one of the finest hurlers to have ever played for Clare. He made his championship debut in 1994 against Tipperary and was a prominent member of the Clare side that won the Munster Championship and All-Ireland titles in 1995. Two years later in 1997 the team repeated the same feat, with McMahon claiming his second Munster and All-Ireland medals, this was followed by a third Munster medal in 1998. He played at centre half back, and along with Anthony Daly and Liam Doyle, formed one of the most formidable half backlines of the 1990s. McMahon was a stylish, skillful and powerful hurler but was also invaluable for his prowess with long distance frees, rarely finishing a game without his name on the scoresheet. He scored the first points for Clare in both the 1995 and 1997 All-Ireland finals. McMahon captained Clare to two successive All-Ireland semi finals in 2005 and 2006, losing to eventual winners Cork^[2] and Kilkenny^[3] respectively. On 6 October 2006, at 34 years of age, McMahon announced his retirement from inter-county hurling.^[4]

Seanie McMahon was selected at Centre Half Back on the Clare Intermediate team to play Cork in Semple Stadium on 21 June 2009.

References

1. Loughnane, Ger (2001). Raising the Banner. Blackwater Press. ISBN 978-1-84131-541-6.
2. "Gutsy Cork scrape past heartbroken Banner". RTÉ Sport. 2005-08-14. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
3. "Shefflin guides Cats into All-Ireland final". RTÉ Sport. 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
4. "McMahon calls time on Banner career". RTÉ Sport. 2006-10-06. Retrieved 2010-04-06.