Father Harry Bohan is an Irish Catholic priest, sociologist, and former manager of the Clare county hurling team. The son of Michael Bohan, a

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

officer, and Anne Fitzgerald, who ran a pub, Bohan grew up in

Feakle, County Clare Feakle (historically ''Feakell'' and ''Fiakil'', from ) is a village in County Clare, Ireland, in the Roman Catholic parish of the same name. Location "Paroiste na fiacaile" means parish of the tooth. A legend says that the tooth of Mochonna, t ...

. He was educated at

St Flannan's College Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. Formerly an all-boys boarding school, the first girls class was entere ...

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

and studied for the priesthood at

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

. Bohan went on to study sociology in Cardiff, and obtained an MA from the University of Wales. Bohan is now the parish priest in Sixmilebridge, in County Clare. In the 1970s, Bohan was manager of the Clare senior hurling team which won two

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

titles, and more recently served as a selector for manager Anthony Daly. In 2006 he was recognised for his services to hurling by a special award. A campaigner for Rural Ireland, he set up the Rural Resource Centre, and in 1998 he set up the Ceilfin Centre. His brother Seamus is landlord of the family pub in Feakle. His nephew Mick is a football coach.

Publications

* ''Swimming Upstream: Finding Positives in a Negative Ireland'' by Harry Bohan, Columbia University Press, 2013. * ''Community and the Soul of Ireland: The Need for Values-based Change'' by Harry Bohan, 2002. * ''The Challenge: Balance between City and Rural Life'' by Harry Bohan, Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Vol. 74, No. 295 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 267–280. Published by: Irish Province of the Society of Jesus.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Hurling managers Hurling selectors Irish sociologists People educated at St Flannan's College 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Christian clergy from County Clare {{Clare-hurling-bio-stub