'If I was passing some field...I’d run in and hit 20 frees. Even in my 40s, I’d do that'

Niall Gilligan was front and centre for Clare hurling's good - and not so good - days. Thanks to the guidance of his old team mate, Brian Lohan, he detects a changing mindset in the county

BUSY MAN: Niall Gilligan may have retired from playing but he is still actively involved with Sixmilebridge, serving as a selector with the seniors. He runs his own auctioneering business and owns a bar, Gilly’s. With his father having passed away at the start of Covid, he’s helping out on the family farm more than ever.

He’s finally stopped even though he’s still constantly on the go.

When I manage to pin down Niall Gilligan for a spare half-hour he has between jobs, I get a bit of an exclusive beyond just what he as the last goalscorer on a Clare team that won a Munster final thinks about the latest edition of that celebrated fixture.