Moloney, Liam
August 27, 1993
Limerick will always have pride of place in Liam Moloney's heart - Claughaun clubman was one of the best hurlers ever to emerge from Shannonside
Liam Moloney was never one to horde sports photos, didn't wade through the statistics of past results with a view to banking them upstairs for future regurgitations nor did he ever see the accumulation of medals as his primary goal in life. The Limerick star from yesteryear was a colossus of the gaelic games scene in his time but a love for, and an enjoyment of the country's unique sports was his sole motivation.
Should the credo of the G.A.A. ever convert or propagate Biblical like proverbs on the lines of "Ye shall know him by the medals that he keeps", stars from bygone days such as Claughaun's retired citizen will be forever consigned to the wings as mere extras in the G.A.A'S 109 year ongoing production. Any move by G.A.A. scribes or historians to do just that couldn't be tolerated and wouldn't be. Grassroots gaelic games followers if not card-carrying members of Equity would doubtless take up arms with God on their side to resist such a development.
A player whose days with Limerick's hurling and footballing fraternity straddled two decades, the current proprietor of Stat Oil's Caherdavin service station on Limerick's Ennis Road doesn't possess the sort of medal collection that would lay the basis for an exhibition. Truth to tell, a few tournament medals with the County Seniors is the most he could rustle up in the home place if invited to do so. Still the same, Liam is in the majority when it comes to logging the identity of the "domestiques" of the G.A.A. The sort of player who gave it his all, was as clever as most of his peers but given the hard facts relating to team games never quite grew to be overladen with medals of a provincial or All-Ireland hue.
A quick glance at the Moloney Curriculum Vitae demonstrates clearly the imbalance between the definite star quality in focus and the rewards correspondingly gleaned. A more detailed C.V. might tell us more though, help explain why such a talented football and hurling player should be left so naked of the games top honours. A cursory glance at the material at hand identify the consistent presence of Tipperary and Waterford in the spoilsports department as far as the 55 year old businessman's hurling career, at least, is concerned.
Liam Moloney with some of the best hurlers ever produced by Limerick but unfortunately he also played against some of the best sportsmen produced by this country. As a swift hurling attacker with Limerick Seniors, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Tipperary's Jimmy Doyle. Waterford's Seamus Power and Wexford's Nicky Rackard. All three symbolised a powerful axis in the way of Liam and Limerick powering their way up the provincial and national rankings.
The boys from Wexford were as much a bogey force to Limerick as the other pair from further south were. In fact, it was the Yellow bellies who destroyed arguably Liam's best chance of a national Senior medal. That was back in 1958. Twenty year old Moloney was probably at his peak as a pacey intelligent forty yards operator that year. Good enough at the time in fact to be given the job of leading the attack for Munster in their 1958 Railway Cup final victory over Leinster. Not a bad distinction itself, one would agree, especially when one considers that also part of that self same winning squad were other "common-or-garden" hurling artists such as Cork's Christy Ring. Tipperary's Jimmy Doyle and Waterford's Tom Cheasty.
Liam Moloney was playing great stuff in season 1957/'58. So too were Limerick, collectively but as All-Ireland champions from 1956, Wexford went into the National League final of '57/'58 as match favourites. In a great game, Limerick eventually bowed the knee to Wexford on a 4-8 to 5-7 scoreline. Liam remembers the great county players of his 'ilk. Men like Dermot Kelly, Tommy Garry, Jim and Jack Quaid, he admired players who he says had all the attributes but sadly in Liam's era collectively Limerick hadn't enough of what it took. "We never seemed to get past the first round of the Championship. We had good hurlers but possibly lack of training was our undoing on different occasions. We nearly always seemed to run out of steam or out of luck".
Son of a Castleconnell father and a Clonfert, Co. Galway mother, the young Moloney, like many of his peers in decades past had little or no diversions from the native game. Corbally, on the outskirts of Limerick City, was Liam's home patch and at first it was local Post Office employee Sean O'Connell who evoked the best of his natural talents. "Sean was an avid Tipperary supporter but for us young fellas he was a great motivator and a great influence on me personally", remembered the affable businessman. Partly because Corbally hadn't the resources to field a team Liam played his underage sport with Claughaun but his association had perhaps more to do with a coming together of forces with his friend Tom Neylon. Coming together with others such as Ray Prendergast, Tommy Garry and Tommy Grimes at Limerick C.B.S. brought with it Dean Ryan Munster Cup success in 1954. Defeat a year later in the Doctor Harty Cup final to North Mon in Thurles would bring Liam back on terra firma and provide him with an early taste of the injustices of sporting life.
A strong running, able freetaker whose forte was scoring goals off 21 yard frees, the 5 foot 9 inch attacker fared better on the football front however. Limerick C.B.S. won the Munster Colleges title and of that team, a handful of players including Liam himself, were to proceed to win provincial Minor football medals.
Before running out Munster title winner in 1956, Limerick would have to work hard for their dues, however. Limerick's first round provincial tie pitted them against defending provincial title holders Tipperary. At one stage eleven points adrift, Limerick spearheaded by a 1-3 personal tally from Liam Moloney, pulled back the deficit to clinch a semi final place against mighty Cork. The Corbally teenager retained his scoring touch against the Rebels, notching 1-2 in a 1- 4 to 0-5 victory. On to the final then and a tilt with the Kingdom. Again Liam chipped in with a 1-2 contribution in Limerick's 1-7 to 1-5 triumph, a victory which was essentially the mother of all shocks but which sadly didn't lead to greater things. In their semi final duel with a Des Foley powered Dublin Minor XV, Liam and Company lost out on a 2-5 to 1-12 scoreline but for the Claughaun clubman there was a least the satisfaction or consolation of having accounted for 2-3 of the losers total.
For the Claughaun team mate of such workmanlike artisans as Tom Neylon, Sonny Cronin and Sonny Downes, losing wasn't a thing that came easy to him. He was always fully committed and patently had no time for losers. An out and out forward with only scores on his mind, centre half forward was perhaps his most effective position although in latter years, he more than made a nuisance of himself playing out of the corner forward berth.
A Railway Cup Colleges medal winner with Munster coincided with his Minor Provincial winning show and the winning didn't stop there for the haulage contractor's son. A local Senior Hurling Championship win over parish rivals Saint Pats in 1957 started the ball rolling on a splendid domestic club scene run. "The win over St. Pat's was all the sweeter because it was our first Senior title in thirty three years, a memorable victory for us all", explained the former star dual player who most admired fellow Limerick attacker Vivian Coble.
Married to Sixmilebridge lady Anne Ryan and proud father of Aidan, Karl and Fiona, the former B.P. employee was to scoop a hatful of medals between 1957 and '71 on the club scene. The 'Pat's derby win was followed up by similar successes in '58, '68 and '71 while Senior Football Championship medals were howled in 1959, '61 and a magnificent hat trick in '69, '70 and '71. The Moloney medal haul was added to years subsequently when son Aidan helped himself to five Senior county football medals and one hurling medal over the years. Despite the temptation of changing clubs in the 1961-'64 era when Claughaun were going through a patchy period, true blue Liam stuck with it and thanks to the loyalty of men like him, Claughaun grew to be strong. Despite undergoing operations which saw him lost cartileges out of both knees, Liam continued to play his wares at the club level the ripe young age of 41, a less than mobile full back but twice as cute as his opponents.
Chairman of Claughaun back in Centenary Year 1984 and still mindful of the time Limerick let Kerry off the hook in the 1965 Munster Senior Football final Liam quit the intercounty scene the same year but is still one of the county's most faithful followers. Knowledgeable too about the current state of play on the G.A.A. front. Kilkenny are his favourites this year, to win the All-Ireland, that is. Limerick will always have pride of place in his heart though. The team's shock exit from this year's Munster Championship hit hard and Liam is fairly clear as to why the Green and Whites lost out and are losing out. "We underestimated Clare completely. They were by far the hungrier side but all the same we didn't seem to be physically strong enough for them. We're not playing the way we should, like shoulder to shoulder and using our natural skills in the same way that Mackey and Cregan did. I only hope we can turn it around and go back to our natural game sooner rather than later".
Written by Hogan Stand Magazine
27 / 08 / 93
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