Kevin Foley lives adjacent to Cloughbawn playing pitches and sports complex and himself and his wife Nancy have been care-taking, feeding the troops, minding dressing room and complex keys and looking after team jerseys for years. They have eight children – four girls and four boys – all grown up now. They have fifteen beautiful grandchildren.

Kevin was chairman of the club from 1990 to 1992 and helps to represent Cloughbawn at district level every year, even though he says their duties (the district) are diminishing by the year. He was a mentor and selector and transport manager for years at under age level. He carried most of the teams in his own car.

He began his playing career as a goal-keeper at the age of seventeen against Ballyhogue in 1945. He recalls that this match got a little out of hand and several scuffles ensued. Kevin claims the referee, Larry Doyle, from Ballymurn, (after what he thinks was about three hours) gave three sharp blows on his whistle to end the match (which had turned into a brawl) and then ran his best and didn’t stop until he got home to Ballymurn – safe!

He played in goal again the next year,1946, and with the help of seven Floods, two Harris’s and two Harringtons, won the Junior Hurling Championship, beating Castlebridge by 12 points.

That 1946 final was played in the Spring of 1947 and shortly after that year they met Rathnure in the Senior Championship. Cloughbawn were without Larry Harrington and Sean Flood, due to injury and lost by a couple of points. Foley was still a young goalman. He remembers with pride winning the Senior Hurling in 1949 and 1951, beating Rathnure and Horeswood respectively. He was an established half back by then. He remembers the Aidans team of the 1950’s being a very strong side as was Rathnure.

He recalls sharing play with the best of them during this period and especially the match they lost to the Aidans in 1958 – Padge Kehoe getting the winner in the last minute. Aidans won by 2 points.

Kevin claims that in Tim Flood Cloughbawn had the best forward in Wexford at the time and that Pat Harrington was as good as any at centre back. He states that when you trained on lads like these at home every evening of the week, you weren’t worried about who you were marking in the matches. He remembers Tim Flood beating a young strong Faythe Harriers team who had just entered Senior ranks, on his own. He scored 2-8. He reckons he was a brilliant forward and a hardy fellow as well, not alone at hurling but at football also. He also liked The Hopper McGrath.

His one regret is that Cloughbawn never won a football championship, he lost in three county finals – against The Sarsfields, Corach Ramblers and Castletown, he thinks.. He mentioned that Ballyhogue beat them after four years trying and went on to be a great football team.

He thinks that hurling nowadays is copying the soccer too much, blaming Croke Park for introducing yellow cards and red cards and the like. He asks, how is a hurler to express himself when, after one foul you’re showed yellow and the next – off you go. You have to try hard or you’ll be taken off by the selectors. It was much easier in his time. He claims that in a recent match a certain referee was looking out for offside as well as everything else! Don’t rule it out!

Kevin says that Rathnure and Cloughbawn never had a whole lot between them and he rates this match today as being 50/50 also. He thinks this Cloughbawn side has plenty of good young hurlers and hopes to be washing winners jerseys for many years to come!

(In an interview with Tom Furlong.)