Sean Stack
April, 15th 2002

For many’s a year, schoolteacher Sean Stack gave lessons to opposition hurlers the length and breadth of the country. The Sixmilebridge man is acknowledged as one of Clare hurling’s greatest servants. Ever.
During the course of a remarkable career with club, county, province and others besides, Sean Stack has carved out a special niche for himself in GAA annals.

He lined out for the Banner at all levels and was on the senior team for fourteen seasons, 1974-87 inclusive.

Amazingly, try as they may, the Clare team of that era never quite managed to win a Munster championship as near misses and poor fortune conspired to deny them their rightful reward.

That Sean Stack and his trusty band of cohorts never graced the All-Ireland stage is a travesty, but the brilliant Sixmilebridge stickman’s career is a rich tapestry of achievement nonetheless and a prominent place in Banner County hurling folklore is assured.

The irony of Sean Stack’s coming-into-being is that he was born into a family deeply rooted in football but with no grounding whatsoever in the ancient game. His father Stephen was a Kerryman and played football with the mighty Kingdom before deciding to buy a farm in the neighbouring County Clare hurling stronghold of Sixmilebridge.

Thus, it was football blood that coursed through the young Stack’s veins. But they wouldn’t hear tell of any such nonsense in east Clare!

It would be inaccurate to say that hurling was like a religion in east Clare . . . not everybody went to mass!

But by Lord were they into their hurling! (As, of course, they still are.)

Sean had barely mastered the art of tying his own bootlaces when he was drafted into the Sixmilebridge juvenile ranks. Boasting a natural grace and chemistry with the ash, he stood out as a prodigy even then. His innate potential was beyond question and the young Stack was earmarked for great things.
Such prophecies would come true and he would play as big a part as any other in placing Sixmilebridge hurling firmly on the map.

Success came easily and a clean sweep of juvenile honours was garnered in a minimum-of-fuss manner as Sixmilebridge dominated the underage scene. The winning streak continued through into the minor and under 21 grades and the Midas touch remained long after Sean established himself as a regular on the club’s senior XV.

In the colours of ’The Bridge’, Sean collected a total of seven county senior hurling championships - in 1977, ’79, ’83, ’84, ’89, ’92 and ’93. Sixmilebridge had some fine hurlers at the time, producing three All Stars in Noel Casey, Gerry McInerney and Sean Stack.

The latter hurled senior with the club for an unbelievable 23 years, 1972-94 inclusive, and was on the first team even before that, helping them capture the intermediate championship in 1971.

It’s hard to believe that Sixmilebridge - now regarded as something of an institution in Banner County hurling - hadn’t even won a SHC prior to Stack’s emergence onto the team. He explains: "Sixmilebridge had been senior before and had reached county finals in 1952 and ’62, but the 1977 success was our first. Having made the breakthrough, we’ve remained a major force in Clare hurling ever since."

Sixmilebridge won the Clare championship for an eighth time in 1995 - the year after Stack’s retirement - and went on to scoop the 1996 All-Ireland club championship.

While most people will undoubtedly remember Sean Stack for his powerful performances at centre half back (he won his All Star there in 1981), he was an extremely versatile hurler who excelled in a host of positions. He recalls: "I was a forward for most of my juvenile days and was midfield when I played for St Flannan’s in the Harty Cup and I started off with Clare at midfield.

"When Fr Harry Bohan became Clare manager in 1973, he changed things around and introduced a number of new players to the set-up, such as Sean Hehir, Enda O’Connor and Ger Loughnane. He played me at corner back for my first Munster final in 1974. I subsequently went from corner back to midfield to wing back before finally settling at centre back."

Sean coached and captained the Sixmilebridge team that won the Munster club hurling championship in Centenary Year (1984). The provincial final took place at Thurles nine days before Christmas and Patrickswell were emphatically defeated, 4-10 to 2-6. (Sixmilebridge lost to Castlegar in the All-Ireland semi-final.)

Much to his great dismay, Sean never matched that feat in the Clare jersey and an intercounty Munster championship medal stubbornly eluded him.

With the Banner County he played in eight provincial finals, one at minor level, two at under 21, and five with the seniors. They all ended in defeat.

The first of these was in 1971 when Stack captained his county in the Munster minor championship final against Cork in Killarney. The U21s lost to Tipp by 4-10 to 3-10 the following year and were caught on the hop by Waterford in the 1974 provincial decider, having eliminated both Tipperary and the Rebels en route.

Then came the five senior finals, over a thirteen-year period. 1974: Limerick 6-14, Clare 3-9. 1977: Cork 4-15, Clare 4-10. 1978: Cork 0-13, Clare 0-11. 1981: Limerick 3-12, Clare 2-9. 1986: Cork 2-18, Clare 3-12.

The word ’frustration’ doesn’t so much spring to mind as burn itself into the tissue therein. It wouldn’t happen for us, even though we played so well, particularly in ’77 and ’78 when we came up against a marvellous Cork team (who were in the process of winning three All-Irelands in a row) and we ran them as close as anyone."

Clare were perennially involved in the latter stages of the national hurling league. They were beaten in the finals of 1975-76 (by Kilkenny after a replay), ’84-85 (by Limerick) and ’86-87 (by Galway). However, they won the competition outright in consecutive seasons in 1976-77 and 1977-78, beating Kilkenny in both finals, on scorelines of 2-8 to 0-9 and 3-10 to 1-10 respectively. The league carried huge prestige at the time and these were victories from which Clare understandably derived tremendous satisfaction.

Sean Stack was also a regular with Munster and won three Railway Cup medals, including one in Centenary Year. He collected an All Star in ’81 and a replacement All Star three years later. He also contested numerous finals at schools and colleges level, losing three in the colours of Limerick CBS (formerly Sexton Street).

During his first two years in Maynooth (1972-73 and 1973-74), he collected two Fitzgibbon Cup medals. Maynooth had a star-studded team at the time including Galway pair Sean Silke and Iggy Clarke. Those are the only two Fitzgibbon successes the college has to its credit.

How did Sean get involved in coaching? "I started training Sixmilebridge while I was still playing, not because it was something I planned but simply because there was a vacancy there and nobody else wanted to do it." He was player-manager for the county successes of ’83 and ’84 as well as the provincial win in Centenary Year.

He remained involved in training at schools level all through and with the club’s juveniles, but didn’t get seriously involved until ’93 when he took Toomevara.

In an amazing coincidence, Toomevara qualified for the Munster club hurling final . . . where they met none other than Sixmilebridge! "Of the 64 senior clubs in Munster, those two had to meet in the final," muses the man who pinned his colours to the mast and lined out for his hometown club on the day. Unfortunately, Toomevara came out on top.

Sean was with Toomevara again last year (2001) and helped them to another county SHC. This time Ballygunner pipped the Greyhounds in the Munster club championship after a replay.

A former trainer of the Clare U21s who even joined his former team-mate Ger Loughnane for an acrimonious spell in the senior county set-up in 1999, Stack is currently also involved with his club’s U21 and U16 teams.

Hardly surprisingly, his 14-year-old son (Sean also) has taken to the game like a fish to water.
The more things change ...

Taken from Hogan Stand magazine April 2002