Clare Museum | Músaem an Chláir

Brendan Considine was one of three brothers from the Turnpike in Ennis who hurled for Clare.

This medal is part of a collection that includes two All-Ireland Hurling Medals, a Leinster Senior Hurling Medal, a Munster Senior Hurling Medal, a Dublin County Football Championship Medal, a National Aid Medal from 1918 and a de Valera Tournament Medal from 1919.

The National Aid Hurling Competition was held to raise funds to provide financial relief for families of those who had died or were imprisioned in the cause of Irish freedom.

Brendan was an enthusiastic supporter of the national movement. He was on the run at one point, probably after the 1916 Rising, and he was working for the Munster and Leinster Bank in Dame Street, Dublin at the time. Brendan once went on hunger strike for 42 days.

His hurling career spanned three decades and he played for Clare, Dublin, Cork and Waterford in both hurling and football, during his career with the bank. Brendan’s career started on the Turnpike of Ennis, playing in local Town Leagues in hurling and football that put him on the All-Ireland road.

He was still a student in St Flannan’s when he won an All-Ireland with Clare in 1914, while three years later he won an All-Ireland with Dublin. That same year, 1917, he also played for the Dublin Footballers in the Leinster final, but they were beaten by the great Wexford team that day.

That Wexford team went on to beat Clare in the All-Ireland Final, a Clare team that included Brendan’s younger brother Tull.