Fethard-on-Sea boycott

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

Protestant
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 Protestant, came from Johns Hill in the village itself.[1] They married at an Augustinian church in Hammersmith, London in 1949.[2]

They had three daughters: Mary, Eileen and Hazel, who was born after the controversy.[2][3]

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 the Ne Temere decree.[4]

The boycott

Parish priest Fr. Stafford told Sheila Cloney she had to raise her children as Catholics.

Michael Brown.[5] Sheila Cloney went first to Northern Ireland, then Orkney.[5] Eventually Sean traced her to Orkney, they were reconciled and returned to Fethard where their daughters were taught at home.[5]

Éamon de Valera condemned the boycott on 4 July 1957 and called for Mrs Cloney to respect her promise and return with her children to her husband.[6]

Time magazine coined the term "fethardism" to mean a boycott along religious lines in an article on the events.[7]

A 1999 film, A Love Divided, was based on the boycott, with some dramatic licence taken with some events.[3]

Apology

Roman Catholic Bishop

Ferns, "in the spirit of Christian love in which it had been offered."[10]

Father Sean Fortune

Sean Cloney was one of the people from the area who complained about the behaviour of Father Seán Fortune, including child sexual abuse and stealing money.[11] Cloney had compiled a dossier on the priest including a list of seventy young people who had been in contact with the priest.[3] Fortune left Fethard in 1987, and died by suicide while on trial in 1999 for a series of sexual abuse charges.[1][11]

Deaths

The Cloney's eldest daughter, Mary, died in 1998 and Sean Cloney died in October 1999.[11][12] Sheila Cloney died in June 2009.[1][13]

See also

Further reading

  • Bury, Robin (2017). "5. Grabbing Their Children". Buried Lives - The Protestants of Southern Ireland. Dublin: The History Press Ireland. p. 120.
    ISBN 978-184588-880-0
    .
  • Patrick, Maume (2016), "Sheila Cloney",
    doi:10.3318/dib.009842.v1

References

  1. ^ a b c Fethard mourns passing of Sheila Cloney aged 83, New Ross Standard, 1 July 2009
  2. ^ a b Woman at centre of infamous Fethard-on-Sea boycott dies Archived 23 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Michael Parsons, The Irish Times, 30 June 2009
  3. ^ a b c Village torn apart by a mother's love, The Sunday Herald, 26 March 2000
  4. ^ "A love divided, but never conquered". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 4 July 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "If Paisley finally says 'yes', we in the South are in no position to gloat". Irish Examiner. 24 March 2007.
  6. ^ Fethard-on-Sea boycott Archived 2018-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Remarks by Professor Brian Farrell
  7. ^ "Fethardism". Time. 19 August 1957. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  8. ^ Bury 2017, p. 135.
  9. ^ Citing Belfast Telegraph, 1 June 1998.
  10. ^ McGarry, Patsy (1998). "Dr Comiskey apologises for Wexford boycott of Protestant firms in 1957". Irish Times. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  11. ^
    The Sunday Business Post
  12. ^ Father at the centre of Fethard furore, The Irish Times, 10 October 1999, retrieved 4 July 2009
  13. ^ "Remembering the woman who stood up to the Catholic Church over mixed marriage". The Journal. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
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