Bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh has described one of Clare’s best known GAA figures, Fr Michael McNamara, as a miracle-worker who wasn’t fully recognised for his achievements.
A priest for 40 years and a former coach to the senior Clare hurling team in the 1980s, Fr McNamara (64) died suddenly on Saturday from natural causes.
Fr McNamara also served a long spell as Clare County Board chairman and vice- chairman between 1994 and 2003. In those years, Clare’s hurlers won two senior All-Irelands and three Munster titles.
At a packed St Peter and St Paul Cathedral in Ennis yesterday afternoon for Fr McNamara’s funeral Mass, Dr Walsh led the tributes to his friend, who had served as parish priest to the parish of Doora-Barefield that covers urban and rural areas of Ennis.