The death took place last week of former Clare hurler and well known golfer Bernie Hoey, Newpark, Ennis.
Pre-deceased by his son Ger, a key figure in the St. Josephs, Doora-Barefield Clare. Munster and All-Ireland senior winning team of 1998/’99, Bernie was a leading light on the hurling fields in the 1950s and early 1960s.
A member of the Clooney club, he helped St. Flannans College to Harty Cup glory in 1952. In that campaign the famed Ennis nursery defeated the holders and favourites Thurles CBS. They beat Limerick CBS in he semi-final and went on to account for St. Finbarrs from Cork in a final believed to have been amongst the best the competition has produced. His performances with the college team earned him a call up to the Clare minor side. He went on to captain and win a Fitzgibbon cup with UCD in 1957/58.
He was part of the Clare senior panel from 1955 to 1961. He was a member of the Clare senior team which played Kilkenny in Wembley in 1958 and that same year he was full back on the Clare side which lost to Cork in the Munster senior championship.
He followed the fortunes of Clooney Quin and his adopted parish of St. Josephs Doora-Barefield and Clare throughout his life and was particularly proud of the involvement of his sons in successes achieved by both club and county while also taking great pride in the performances of his daughters in camogie and ladies football and of the golf successes of his son John.
He was particularly proud when St. Josephs won the Clare intermediate camogie championship in 2015 as the team which beat Éire Óg in the final included his daughter Sarah and his grand daughter Caoimhe.
Bernie was a valued member of the Clare senior hurlers supporters committee and played a key role in the very successful annual golf classic run by this group in the late 1990s.
He was an outstanding golfer and served the Ennis club in a variety of roles over many years. He was club captain, club president, club trustee and served as course manager for many years.
He played senior cup and Barton shield for the club and won two Knox cup (the club’s prestigious singles matchplay competition) titles, An indication of his prowess as a golfer can be gleaned from the fact that he qualified for and played in the South of Ireland amateur championship when his life long friend Noel Pyne, a 50 time South of Ireland competitor, was his caddy.
Bernie also managed a number of Ennis golf club teams including the club’s mixed foursomes team which won the All-Ireland title with his wife Bridget a key member of the side.
He provided invaluable assistance to the St. Josephs club during the development of the club’s playing facilities at Gurteen.
He is survived by his wife Bridget, sons John and David, daughters Maeve and Sarah, brother Michael, sisters Brigid and Mary and extended family
Following requim Mass at the Church of Our Lady in Roslevan on Thursday last he was laid to rest in Templemaley cemetery. Chief celebrant at his funeral mass was Scariff native Fr. Brendan Moloney, a second cousin, who is the parish priest in the Silvermines in Tipperary.
