Wexford Mourns With The Passing Of An All-Time Hurling Great

The GAA world was shocked today to learn of the passing of one of the all-time greats of the game…

It is with sadness that Wexford Weekly reports that GAA great Art Foley has passed away. Art Foley, who was born in 1928, was a goalkeeper for Wexford.

Foley proved central to Wexford’s All-Ireland successes in 1955 and 1956, while he also won three Leinster titles in 1954, 55 and 56 and a National Hurling League title in 1955.

In the league final against Galway, an unfortunate event happened which had an unsettling effect on our team. Our star goalkeeper, Art Foley, appeared to lose his nerve on that occasion, and there were several attempts to find a suitable replacement, one being my brother Jim who played in the Leinster final. Ray Brennan, a Wexford native, was giving outstanding displays in goal for UCD around that time. He was brought in for the All-Ireland semi-final and final. Although Brennan was a fine goalkeeper, too much was expected of him, especially in the final. In retrospect, it was a mistake to drop Foley, a brilliant goalkeeper who later proved his worth in no uncertain fashion” – Billy Rackard in his book No Hurling at the Dairy Door.

Funeral arrangements: Arthur White Funeral Home, 234 Broadway, Bethpage, New York, USA, on Tuesday, October 29th, 2 pm to 4 pm and 7 pm to 9 pm.

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