Last Banner outpost

With a stand-out name like Brendan Bugler representing the small parish, Whitegate stands proud this week.

Grocer Mike Treacy is all smiles: “We’re the last outpost of County Clare”, he proudly boasts. But there was a time stretching back to the late 1800s when Whitegate wasn’t even part of the Banner make-up, a redrawing of the local boundaries forcing the club hurlers across the border and into Galway’s championship, if only for a brief spell.

Indeed, heading north out of the village along the R352, Whitegate’s proximity to the Tribes county is self-evident. At one end of the long stretch of road flutter a multitude of saffron and blue flags, replaced down the line by the maroon and white, the ‘Good Luck Brendan’ signs traded for ‘Best wishes Cathal’ – Tommie Larkins’ ’keeper Cathal Tuohy set to stand between the sticks for Sunday’s minor decider.