For the mere mortal, juggling the mundane 9-5 and club training is a struggle in itself. Two hours on a train each side of sitting on your hole for eight hours straight will not do much for your motivation to bust yourself when you get home, believe me.
So hats off to Shane O'Donnell. It wasn't enough for the Éire Óg stick man to stick with the trivial pursuit of only, oh yeah, completing a doctorate in microbiology at the most famous institute of learning on God's green Earth. Not at all.
Delighted to hear @townhurler is back training with @GaaClare. Welcome home man. Not looking forward to the possibility of chasing around after him again later in the year tho 😓😓 pic.twitter.com/2k2khy3sxE
— Brendan Bugler (@brendanbugler) April 2, 2019
The All-Ireland final replay hero from 2013 has decided to return from Harvard, Massachusetts to put his shoulder to the wheel with Clare's bid for Liam McCarthy this summer, returning to training with the Donal Maloney and Gerry O'Connor led setup on Friday night.
Having been nominated for an All-Star in wake of The Bannermen's run to the All-Ireland semi-final last year, O'Donnell was expected to remain Stateside this year after earning a coveted Fulbright Scholarship to attend the Ivy League school, having completed a Bachelor of Science degree at UCC.
Congratulations to @townhurler Shane O'Donnell @Quercus_UCC Sports Scholar Alumni & @UCC PhD student, on being awarded a @Fulbright_Eire Scholarship to Harvard in September 2018. Fantastic News Shane!! We are so proud of you. @UCC @SEFSUCC @UCCSport @johbees @UCCAlumNetwork pic.twitter.com/u6IBwEf9wT
— QuercusUCC (@Quercus_UCC) March 22, 2018
However, O'Donnell looks set to be around for the Championship campaign and on Sunday, turned out for his club side in their 1-23 to 2-14 victory over St Joseph's Doora Barefield in the Clare Cup.
His availability will prove a timely boost for management ahead of their Munster Championship opener against beaten league finalist Waterford at Walsh Park on May 12th.
The Deise did a number on Maloney and O'Connor's men at the quarter-final stage of the Allianz League, blazing over 31 points in a dominant fourteen-point victory, over St. Patrick's weekend.
A teenage O'Donnell famously grabbed a quickfire thirteen-minute hat-trick as Clare stormed to Liam McCarthy glory in the 2013 All-Ireland Final replay over Cork.
