Frawley, Bill
June 16, 2011Despite the fact that he had been unwell for a reasonable short period of time, the news of this recent death sent shockwaves through his many friends and family connections in the Fermoy and the greater district all around.
To most of us who knew him since he first came from his home county of Clare to live in Fermoy, we regarded him as almost indestructible. In Fitzgerald Camp where he spent many years as a seargent in the Ordnance Corps, he was probably one of the fittest athletes ever to set foot inside the gate, a fabulous hurler in his time, and a wonderful man to discuss the pros and cons of hurling matches anywhere. It is no wonder we were rocked at the news of his demise.
A native of Newmarket-on- Fergus, the late Bill followed a career in the Army which saw him based in Dublin and other places before he arrived in Fermoy during the late fifties where he was to be a vital man in the preparation of rifles etc for the crack shooting teams in the camp.
It was because of his hurling prowess that the local club mentors in those years, with their hurling chairman Rev Fr Peadar O'Keane CC, kept in close touch with Sgt Tim O'Riordan, who was in the camp at that time and they were not long about coaxing the new man from Clare to fall in with the local club.
After an injury cut short his playing career, Bill never lost his love for the game and he helped in many capacities in the Fermoy club. Bill was always a great family man, his wife Violet (nee Grumbridge) of almost 50 years was always very supportive of him also, and they both loved nothing better than to slip away to Ardmore, their favourite getaway home in the summer months. He was also proud of his grandchildren and was happy to know that one of them Conor Quinn is involved with the current Fermoy IH squad
.
His level of popularity in the town was shown by the crowds which attended his removal and his funeral mass and burial, Fermoy GAA members formed a guard of honour on the way to St Patrick's Church with the army colleagues doing likewise in the church grounds. Full military honours were accorded at his burial in Kilcrumper New Cemetery. A very proud Clare man, his memory will never be forgotten in Fermoy and the strains of the "Rose of Clare" as his coffin was brought down through the church will live for a long time in the minds of all who were present.
To his wife Violet, his family and extended families, brothers and sisters, we offer our sincere sympathies at this time.
Courtesy of The Corkman
16th June 2011 Tweet
