Patrick Clohessy (16 April 1908 – 6 August 1971) was an Irish sportsperson and politician. He played hurling for his local club Fedamore and at senior level for the Limerick county team from 1928 until 1940. He later became a

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician.

Playing career

Club

Clohessy played club hurling with his local club in Fedamore. His brothers,

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, Andy and Jack, also played for Fedamore. He won his sole senior county title with the club in 1927.

Inter-county

Clohessy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

senior hurling team in 1928. At that stage Limerick were down the pecking order in terms of the top teams in the

Munster Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurlin ...

. All this changed in 1933 when Limerick defeated the reigning provincial champions of Clare, giving Clohessy his first Munster title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Limerick against Kilkenny – 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 beat

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. In their second consecutive All-Ireland final appearance Limerick faced

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. 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 first

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal. 1935 saw Limerick capture Clohessy win his first National 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 with

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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.

Provincial

Clohessy also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in 1932, however, on that occasion his side was defeated by

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

. Clohessy remained on the team and helped Munster to capture the Railway Cup title in 1934. He won a further four title sin-a-row in 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940.

Political career

A farmer by profession, he contested the 1954 general election in the

Limerick East Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. With a populati ...

constituency but was not elected. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) at the subsequent 1957 general election and held his seat until retiring at the 1969 general election. His nephew Peadar Clohessy was a Fianna Fáil and

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Ma ...

TD for Limerick East in the 1980s and 1990s.

References

Sources

*Corry, Eoghan, ''The GAA Book of Lists'' (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).

External links

Munster final winning teamsLimerick GAA honours
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clohessy, Paddy 1908 births 1971 deaths All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Fedamore hurlers Fianna Fáil TDs 20th-century Irish farmers Irish sportsperson-politicians Limerick inter-county hurlers Members of the 16th Dáil Members of the 17th Dáil Members of the 18th Dáil Munster inter-provincial hurlers Politicians from County Limerick