Paddy Clohessy | |
|---|---|
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office March 1957 – June 1969 | |
| Constituency | Limerick East |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1908-04-16)16 April 1908 Fedamore,County Limerick, Ireland |
| Died | 8 August 1971(1971-08-08) (aged 63) County Limerick, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Half-back | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Club | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| Fedamore | |||
| Inter-county | |||
| Years | County | ||
1928–1940 | Limerick | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 3 | ||
| All-Irelands | 4 | ||
| NHL | 4 | ||
Patrick Clohessy (16 April 1908 – 6 August 1971) was an Irish sportsperson and politician. He playedhurling for his local clubFedamore and at senior level for theLimerick county team from 1928 until 1940. He later became aFianna Fáil politician.
Clohessy played clubhurling with his local club in Fedamore. His brothers,Dave, Andy and Jack, also played for Fedamore.[1] He won his sole seniorcounty title with the club in 1927.
Clohessy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of theLimerick senior hurling team in 1928. At that stage Limerick were down the pecking order in terms of the top teams in theMunster Championship.
All this changed in 1933 when Limerick defeated the reigning provincial champions ofClare, giving Clohessy his first Munster title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Limerick againstKilkenny – the winners of the championship in 1932. The game was a low-scoring affair with Kilkenny claiming the title on a score line of 1–7 to 0–6.
In 1934 Limerick began their fight back with Clohessy added a second Munster medal to his collection as the team beatWaterford. In their second consecutive All-Ireland final appearance Limerick facedDublin. Dublin proved to be no pushover as the game ended in a draw on a score line of 2–7 to 3–4. The replay saw Limerick capture the title by five points giving Clohessy his firstAll-Ireland medal.
1935 saw Limerick capture Clohessy win his firstNational Hurling League title, however, he later missed out on a third Munster title due to injury. Clohessy was back for the All-Ireland final as Limerick took on Kilkenny once again. Limerick had a run of 31 unbeaten games; however, Kilkenny put an end to this by defeating Clohessy's team by just a single point.
In 1936 Clohessy added a second National League medal to his collection before collecting a third Munster medal. For the third time in four years Kilkenny provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final. Limerick, however, had the measure of them on the day and claimed victory on a score line of 5–6 to 1–5. It was Clohessy's second All-Ireland medal.
In 1937 Clohessy captured a fourth consecutive National League medal; however, Limerick later lost their provincial title for the first time since 1932. Three years later in 1940 Limerick regained their Munster title after an epic battle withCork giving Clohessy his fourth provincial title. In the subsequent All-Ireland final the two outstanding teams of the decade, Kilkenny and Limerick, did battle once again. Kilkenny were not the force of old as a third All-Ireland medal went to Clohessy following a 3–7 to 1–7 victory. It was Clohessy's last major title with the Limerick inter-county hurlers as he retired from inter-county hurling following the victory.
Clohessy also lined out withMunster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in 1932, however, on that occasion his side was defeated byLeinster. Clohessy remained on the team and helped Munster to capture theRailway Cup title in 1934. He won a further four title sin-a-row in 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940.
A farmer by profession, he contested the1954 general election in theLimerick East constituency but was not elected.[2] He was elected toDáil Éireann as aFianna FáilTeachta Dála (TD) at the subsequent1957 general election and held his seat until retiring at the1969 general election.[3]
His nephewPeadar Clohessy was a Fianna Fáil andProgressive Democrats TD for Limerick East in the 1980s and 1990s.