View source for Paddy Clohessy

{{Short description|Irish hurler and Fianna Fáil politician (1908–1971)}}
{{redirect|Patrick Clohessy|the Australian long-distance runner|Pat Clohessy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image        =
| office       = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start   = [[1957 Irish general election|March 1957]]
| term_end     = [[1969 Irish general election|June 1969]]
| constituency = [[Limerick East (Dáil constituency)|Limerick East]]
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1908|4|16|df=y}}
| birth_place  = Fedamore, [[County Limerick]], Ireland
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1971|8|8|1908|4|16|df=y}}
| death_place  = County Limerick, Ireland
| nationality  = [[Irish people|Irish]] 
| party        = [[Fianna Fáil]]
| education    = 
| alma_mater   = 
| spouse       = 
| children     = 
|}}
{{Infobox Gaelic games player
| code           = Hurling
| sport          = Hurling
| image          = 
| name           = Paddy Clohessy
| irish          =
| feet           = 6
| inches         = 1
| nickname       =
| county         = Limerick
| province       = Munster
| club           = [[Fedamore GAA|Fedamore]]
| clposition     = Half-back
| clubs          =
| clyears        =
| clapps(points) =
| clcounty       =
| clprovince     =
| clallireland   =
| counties       = [[Limerick county hurling team|Limerick]]
| icposition     = Half-back
| icyears        = 1928–1940
| icapps(points) =
| icprovince     = 3
| icallireland   = 4
| nhl            = 4
| clupdate       =
| icupdate       =
}}
'''Patrick Clohessy''' (16 April 1908 – 6 August 1971) was an Irish sportsperson and politician. He played [[hurling]] for his local club [[Fedamore GAA|Fedamore]] and at senior level for the [[Limerick county hurling team|Limerick county team]] from 1928 until 1940. He later became a [[Fianna Fáil]] politician.

==Playing career==
===Club===
Clohessy played club [[hurling]] with his local club in Fedamore. His brothers, [[Dave Clohessy|Dave]], Andy and Jack, also played for Fedamore.<ref name="LL">{{cite web |date=11 November 1986 |title=Crowds at funeral of Dave Clohessy |url=http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/sports%20people%20009.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722045844/http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/sports%20people%20009.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-22 |access-date=8 March 2016 |work=Limerick Leader}}</ref> He won his sole senior [[Limerick Senior Hurling Championship|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 GAA|Limerick]] senior hurling team in 1928. At that stage Limerick were down the pecking order in terms of the top teams in the [[Munster Senior Hurling Championship|Munster Championship]].

All this changed in 1933 when Limerick defeated the reigning provincial champions of [[Clare GAA|Clare]], giving Clohessy his first Munster title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Limerick against [[Kilkenny GAA|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 [[Waterford GAA|Waterford]]. In their second consecutive All-Ireland final appearance Limerick faced [[Dublin GAA|Dublin]]. 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 Senior Hurling Championship|All-Ireland]] 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 [[Cork GAA|Cork]] 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 GAA|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 GAA|Leinster]].  Clohessy remained on the team and helped Munster to capture the [[GAA Interprovincial Championship|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 Irish general election|1954 general election]] in the [[Limerick East (Dáil constituency)|Limerick East]] constituency but was not elected.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2514|title=Patrick Clohessy|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=13 December 2008}}</ref> He was elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] as a [[Fianna Fáil]] [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) at the subsequent [[1957 Irish general election|1957 general election]] and held his seat until retiring at the [[1969 Irish general election|1969 general election]].<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Patrick-Clohessy.D.1957-03-20/|title=Patrick Clohessy|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=13 December 2008}}</ref>

His nephew [[Peadar Clohessy]] was a Fianna Fáil and [[Progressive Democrats]] TD for Limerick East in the 1980s and 1990s.

==See also==
*[[Families in the Oireachtas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080719154803/http://munster.gaa.ie/teams/seniorhurling.html Munster final winning teams]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120525185227/http://www.hoganstand.com/Limerick/Profile.aspx Limerick GAA honours]

{{Limerick East (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{Limerick NHL Team 1934}}
{{Limerick Hurling Team 1934}}
{{Limerick NHL Team 1935}}
{{Limerick Hurling Team 1936}}
{{Limerick Hurling Team 1940}}

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