Club heroes honoured at new pitch celebrations

Amby Power
AMBY Power was the captain of the Clare senior hurling team in 1914, 1915, and 1916, leading the county to its first All-Ireland senior title in 1914 when they beat Laois in the final on a scoreline of 5-1 to 1-0. The game was played in Croke Park in October, 1914 before 15,000 spectators.
Amby Power was born in 1887 in Brook Lodge, Quin close to the parish boundary with Tulla. Two of his brothers, Joe and Fred, also played with the Clare around this period. Amby married Katie Reddan of Killorglin, County Kerry, who inherited a public house in Quin which was then known as Mariah Reddan’s. This public house was subsequently known as Power’s and run by the family for many years. Amby also did some farming in the locality. In later life, he became a member of Clare County Council for the Fine Gael Party and represented the Ennis Electoral Area from 1950 to 1960.
In the early 1900s, Amby and his brothers played with Tulla and won the Redmond Cup with them in 1905 and 1906. The introduction of the parish rule meant the Power had to play with the then Carrahan Club after 1906 and Amby was a member of the Clare team that won the Croke Cup in 1908 beating Galway in the final on a scoreline of 3-14 to 1-4. Parish rule was again abolished in 1911 and the Powers returned to play with Tulla. Tulla won the county hurling championship in 1913 beating Quin in the final. In early 1914, Amby Power is credited with approaching the county board to hold a hurling tournament to help train the county team in preparation for the championship. This tournament was held in Quin.
Michael Power, son of Amby, won a Minor hurling championship with Clooney in 1942 and was actively involved with the club for many years. Amby’s grandsons, John and Ambrose Power, played with Harty Cup teams of St Flannan’s in the 1970s. They, along with younger brother, Paul, all played for the Clooney club.
Amby Power died in February, 1960 and is buried in Quin Abbey burial grounds.

Brendan Vaughan
BRENDAN Vaughan has been described as a “visionary”, “a man before his time”, “a man of the people”.
Brendan Vaughan was born in Mayo in 1933. The family moved to Clooney when Brendan was very young. He was to play an immense role in the betterment of not only the GAA but all aspects of life in Clooney and Clare. The Ireland that Brendan was born into and in which he spent his early years was a much poorer place than today, in spite of our current economic crisis, with far less resources. Brendan trained as a teacher in St Patrick’s Training College, Drumcondra, Dublin and qualified in the early 1950s. His early teaching career was spent at Drumindoora National School and Stonehall National School. He became principal of St Senan’s National School, Shannon in 1964, where he continued a long and successful teaching career until his retirement in 1997.
Apart from playing with Erin’s Hope and Civil Service clubs in Dublin while residing in the capital city, Brendan played his entire club hurling with Clooney with whom he won a junior medal in 1966. At this time, junior hurling was the second-tier of adult hurling in Clare. On his return to Clooney, Brendan, together with the late Brian O’Doherty, took up executive roles in the club and during the late 1950s, the Clooney Hurling Club was one of the top senior clubs in Clare. He served as club delegate to the county board for many years. At the time of Brendan’s death in 2005, he was president of Clooney/Quin GAA Club.
Brendan’s dedication to Clare hurling involved two terms as chairman from 1975 to 1981 and again from 1990 to 1993 which were periods when the fortunes of Clare hurling were changed for the good. During his first term as chairman, the county won two National League titles. Again during his second term, he laid the seeds of Clare’s All-Ireland successes in 1995 and 1997. It was also during his term as chairman in the 1970s that he spearheaded the development of Cusack Park, Ennis that transformed the park into one of the most modern stadia in the country at the time. He took a central role in fundraising, to pay for what at the time was a massive undertaking. Development of club grounds and pitches were high on Brendan’s priorities and numerous clubs throughout the county are indebted to him for his help and encouragement in this regard. He also served as central council delegate, PRO, registrar, development officer and assistant treasurer for Clare County Board.
He was elected Munster Council chairman in 1983 after serving as vice-chairman from 1980 to 1983.
Just weeks before his death, Brendan had been unanimously elected president of Clare GAA.
Brendan was a founder member of Cuman Na Mbunscol in County Clare together with Tulla’s Brian Culloo and helped develop the organisation into the thriving body it is today. He played a major role in the foundation of the Wolfe Tones’ GAA Club. He took an immense interest in refereeing and was a distinguished referee himself for a number of years.
Brendan died on June 30, 2005 and was buried at Fenloe, Newmarket-on-Fergus on July 4, 2005.

Mick Hennessey
THE hurling grounds at Ballyhickey, Hennessy Memorial Park, are named after one of Clare’s most brilliant hurlers and finest hurling administrators, Mick Hennessy.
He was born, reared and lived all his life in the parish at Toonagh,
As a county player, Mick had few equals. He was fast strong and very skilful. Mick first played for Clare in the 1933/34 league campaign and continued to play for the county for 10 years. Mick scored three goals against Cork in the second half of the Munster championship in 1936. He was regarded as being one of the greatest exponents of the overhead striking. He trained and prepared very diligently; as part of his own individual training, he would walk to and from work in Ennis, a distance of seven miles each way. He believed that such walking provided the foundation for his fitness and all-round muscle conditioning. Mick also played and starred for Munster in 1935 and 1936 at a time when the Railway Cup was one of the hurling highlights of the year.
As a young man in the early 1930s, during his own active playing career Mick reorganised the Clooney Hurling Club. It was at that time he introduced the present club colours of red and green, having initially borrowed a set from a friend in Mayo. The 1930s onwards was a golden era for the club; they contested 10 senior finals – five cup and five championship–winning one senior championship and three Clare Cups.
Mick served as Clare County Board secretary for 17 years from the early 1930s. During that time, he did much to lay the foundations for the modern Clare organisation. His county convention reports were known for their clarity. During his preparation for the celebratory events to mark the golden jubilee of the GAA in 1934, Mick felt that the game of camogie needed to be properly established in the county and so he set up a camogie board and helped organise many clubs around the county. He organised and trained the Clooney camogie team that won the inaugural championship in 1933.
Mick was a natural leader and his leadership skills were put to good use in 1946 when he trained the Clare team that won the first National League title for the county. In 1949, he trained the Clare junior team that won the All-Ireland home final, only to be beaten by a single point by London in the final proper. He was also involved with training the 1949 Clare minor team in the same year beaten by Tipperary by a point in the Munster final. Jimmy Smith, who got his first hurley from Mick Hennessy, was one the stars of both teams.
Mick gave great service too to the GAA as a referee, taking charge of games throughout the county and at inter-county level. He had the distinction of refereeing two senior All-Ireland hurling finals in 1942 and 1944.

Seamus Reddan
SEAMUS Reddan was born in Ballyyvroghaun, Maghera in 1921, the second youngest in a family of five. He first came to note as a promising hurler, when, with his fellow clubmates, Jimmy Kelly, Joe O’Halloran and Paul Brohan (Spancilhill), he played on the Ennis CBS Dr Harty team of 1939.
Three years later, at the age of 21, Seamus was a proud member of the Clooney senior team, whose gallant efforts culminated in the winning of the senior championship of 1942. It was also during this vibrant time that Seamus and fellow hurlers, Micko Forde and Sean Hehir, were widely regarded as the finest trio of athletes that Clooney has ever produced, being virtually unbeaten as a relay team at various highly competitive sports meetings throughout the county and beyond.
Following Clooney’s hurling dominance in all Clare competitions, in the early to mid-’40s, Seamus was to the forefront in the acquisition of six acres of land from the Land Commission for a pitch at the present grounds and was happy to participate in naming the park after his worthy friend and mentor, Mick Hennessy.
He filled all the major offices in the club, including president at the time of his passing. He was a selector to numerous teams, including the junior A championship-winning team of 1966.
Seamus arguably made his greatest contributions to the club as a club representative to county board conventions and meetings, where his articulation and deep understanding of the rules allowed him to make his presence felt and gained him the respect of other delegates at a time when objections and counter objections to teams and matches were the norm of the day.
As one of his last ventures, he spearheaded a parish collection for the provision of the covered stand at the grounds.