The Fethard-on-Sea boycott was a controversy in 1957 involving Sean and Sheila Cloney (née Kelly), a married couple from the village of

Fethard-on-Sea Fethard-on-Sea or Fethard () is a village in southwest County Wexford in Ireland. It lies on the R734 road on the eastern side of the Hook peninsula, between Waterford Harbour and Bannow Bay. The village had a population of 311 as of the 20 ...

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It led to a

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

led by the local

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest of some members of the local

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

community.

The Cloney family

Sean Cloney, a Catholic, came from Dungulf, a short distance to the north of Fethard-on-Sea, while Sheila, a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

Protestant, came from Johns Hill in the village itself.Fethard mourns passing of Sheila Cloney aged 83

New Ross Standard The ''New Ross Standard'' is a local newspaper published once per week (every Tuesday) in County Wexford, Ireland. It is published in colour. The newspaper was first published in the late-19th century (). In recent years, it has also been mad ...

, 1 July 2009 They married at an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

church in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1949.Woman at centre of infamous Fethard-on-Sea boycott dies
, Michael Parsons,

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

, 30 June 2009 They had three daughters: Mary, Eileen and Hazel, who was born after the controversy. At the time, non-Catholic spouses of Roman Catholics who wished to be married in the Catholic Church had to agree to bring their children up as Roman Catholics as a result of ''

Ne Temere ''Ne Temere'' was a decree issued in 1907 by the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Council regulating the canon law of the Church regarding marriage for practising Catholics. It is named for its opening words, which literally mean "lest rashly" i ...

''.

The boycott

Parish priest Fr. Stafford told Sheila Cloney she had to raise her children as Catholics.If Paisley finally says ‘yes’, we in the South are in no position to gloat

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...

, 24 March 2007 Sheila refused, leading to her leaving the town with her daughters. The parish priest organised a boycott of the local Protestant population which was endorsed by Bishop Michael Brown. Sheila Cloney went first to Northern Ireland, then

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. Eventually Sean traced her to Orkney, they were reconciled and returned to Fethard where their daughters were taught at home.

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

condemned the boycott on 4 July 1957 and called for Mrs Cloney to respect her promise and return with her children to her husband. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine coined the term "fethardism" to mean a boycott along religious lines in an article on the events. A 1999 film, ''A Love Divided'', was based on the boycott, with some dramatic licence taken with some events.Village torn apart by a mother's love
''The Sunday Herald'', 26 March 2000

Apology

Roman Catholic Bishop

Brendan Comiskey Brendan Comiskey (born August 13, 1935), is the Roman Catholic Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Ferns. He was born in Clontibret, County Monaghan, Ireland. He was ordained a priest of the little known Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus a ...

Ferns A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

apologised for the boycott in 1998, 41 years after the incident. He asked for forgiveness and expressed "deep sorrow", condemning the actions of the 'church leadership' at the time. The apology was accepted by his Anglican counterpart, Bishop John Neil of

, "in the spirit of Christian love in which it had been offered."

Father Sean Fortune

Sean Cloney was one of the people from the area who complained about the behaviour of Father

Seán Fortune Seán Fortune (20 December 1953 – 13 March 1999) was a Catholic priest from Ireland, and child molester, who allegedly used his position to gain access to his victims. He was accused of the rape and sexual molestation of 29 different boys. He ...

, including

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

and stealing money.Comiskey's turbulent priest
Alison O'Connor,

The Sunday Business Post The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland. Founding to Irish financial crisi ...

Cloney had compiled a dossier on the priest including a list of seventy young people who had been in contact with the priest. Fortune left Fethard in 1987, and died by suicide while on trial in 1999 for a series of sexual abuse charges.

Deaths

The Cloney's eldest daughter, Mary, died in 1998 and Sean Cloney died in October 1999.Father at the centre of Fethard furore

, 10 October 1999, retrieved 4 July 2009 Sheila Cloney died in June 2009.

References

{{Reflist Scandals in the Republic of Ireland History of Catholicism in Ireland History of the Republic of Ireland History of County Wexford Marriage in Ireland Interfaith marriage