Gabriel Clarke (born 1981 in Ballygalget,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sportsperson. He plays

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with his local club Ballygalget and has been a member of the Down senior inter-county team since 2000.

Playing career

Club

Clarke plays his hurling with his local club in Ballygalget and has enjoyed much success. He first came to prominence in the late 1990s when the club captured three county senior championship titles in-a-row between 1997 and 1999. After a period out of the limelight Ballygalget returned in 2003 with Clarke collecting another county winners' medal. It was the first of another three-in-a-row for Ballygalget and for Clarke. The third of these victories was subsequently converted into an

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

club title following a defeat of

Cushendall Cushendall (), formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland (of 153 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coas ...

. In 2008 Clarke won his latest county senior championship winners’ medal following an eleven-point trouncing of

Portaferry Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Flo ...

Inter-county

Clarke first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Down minor hurling team in the late 1990s. He enjoyed little success in this grade and made his senior championship debut as a nineteen-year-old in 2000. After some success in the 1990s the new century proved to be an unhappy time for Down's hurling team as Antrim and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

reclaimed their status as the standard-bearers in the provincial championship. Clarke lined out in further Ulster finals in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, however, he ended up on the losing side on all six occasions. In 2005 a restructuring of the championship saw Down being entered in the

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Originally introduced as a second-tier competition, it is currently the third tier overall in the inter-county hurling championship system. Eac ...

, effectively a competition for the ‘second-tier’ hurling teams. Clarke's side did well in their debut year and even reached the final of the competition.

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

provided the opposition on that occasion, however, at the full-time whistle Down were defeated by 1–23 to 2-18. The team, however, have failed to build on this in recent years.

Inter-provincial

Clarke has also lined out with

in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He has enjoyed little success with his province as Ulster have failed to even qualify for the

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

final in recent years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Gabriel 1981 births Living people Ballygalget hurlers Down inter-county hurlers Ulster inter-provincial hurlers