Dónal Clifford

Donal Clifford (born 1948) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-back for the Cork senior team.

Clifford joined the team during the 1968-69 National League and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the 1973 championship. During that time he won one All-Ireland medal, two Munster medals and two National Hurling League medals. Clifford was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

At club level Clifford was a one-time All-Ireland medalist with Glen Rovers. In addition to this he has also won one Munster medal and one county club championship medal.

Playing career

Club

Clifford was originally part of the Cloyne GAA Club. He won various underage medals and captained cloyne to win an intermediate county in 1966. Clifford played his club hurling with the famous Glen Rovers club on the north side of Cork city. He enjoyed much success with the club, and was a member of the panel when ‘the Glen’ captured senior county championship titles in 1969, 1972 and 1976. This last win was later converted into both a Munster club title, as well as an All-Ireland club title.

Inter-county

Clifford first came to prominence as a hurler on the Cork minor team. He won a Munster minor title in 1964, which was quickly followed by an All-Ireland medal. Two years later in 1966 he won a second Munster medal with the Cork minor team. That year Clifford also made his debut for the Cork under-21 team, playing in the drawn All-Ireland final. Two years later in 1968 he won an All-Ireland medal with the under-21 side. In 1969 Clifford captured his only Munster under-21 medal on the field of play, before going on to win a second All-Ireland medal.

By 1969 Clifford was also a member of the Cork senior hurling team. He began his senior career by winning a National Hurling League title. This was quickly followed by his first senior Munster title, however, Kilkenny later defeated Cork in the All-Ireland final. 1970 saw Clifford win his second National League title in-a-row. He also collected a second consecutive Munster title before playing in his second consecutive All-Ireland final. This time the opposition were Wexford and Cork made no mistake in capturing the title. Clifford played little part in inter-county action after this victory.

References