Farmer Sean Sane had great interest in hurling

THE PARISH of Piercestown was saddened by the death of Sean Sane on June 15 following a short illness.

Sean, who farmed all his life at Ballykelly, was a devout follower of all things hurling in his club St. Martin's, Wexford and nationally. Sean was born in January 1940 at the home of his parents Joe and Anastasia Sane in Ballykelly in Drinagh.

He was an only child. Educated at Piercestown N.S., Sean went to work on the family farm at the age of 14 years.

Sean was also a loving family man. He married Galway native Emma Kelly in 1972 and they had two children Darin (38) and Majella (36).

He met Emma, who was working in Dublin at the time, at an engagement party at a Dublin hotel and soon they were wed. Sean was also delighted to have three grandchildren and spent many happy hours with Aodhan (4), TJ (4) and Ellie (21 months).

Farming was in Sean's blood and so it was that he took over the family farm and continued to be a dairy farmer until his retirement in 1997. However, he continued to farm up until his recent illness. Sean won a quality milk award from Snowcream over the years such was the calibre of the milk produced at Ballykelly.

He also became something of a tourist attraction in years gone by as the tourists coming off the boat in Rosslare Harbour would be engrossed with Sean bringing the cows home on the main road for milking twice daily. Many would stop and take pictures and have a chat before continuing on their holiday.

The GAA was central to Sean's life. The cliche says that 'he never missed a match' and that rings true, particularly of Sean. He was an avid follower of St. Martin's and played underage and Junior for the club.

For a period in the 1960s St. Martin's had three junior hurling teams as there had been a lot of re-grading and there were not too many senior teams. Sean hurled with these Junior teams and played in the famous game between St. Martin's and the newly formed Drinagh Slashers in Lightwater.

He served as a committee member of the club for a long number of years and was heavily involved in the building of the original St. Martin's GAA Community Centre in the early 1980s. He was a regular in the clubhouse bar at the weekends and rarely, if ever, missed out on a Sunday night.

He also acted a selector for many underage and adult teams in the club throughout the years. He was a selector on the Junior hurling team that won the Junior 'B' county final in 1982 after victory over Buffers Alley.

Without doubt the All-Ireland success of 1996 gave Sean enormous pleasure but he was also present for Wexford's All-Ireland final appearances in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1976 and 1977.

Sean also attended numerous Munster finals, Railway Cup finals and National League finals down through the years with his friends from St. Martin's as they would regularly fill a car and head off for Thurles, Nowlan Park, Galway or Croke Park.

He maintained his passion for hurling right up until the end and listened attentively to the radio commentary of the Leinster Senior Hurl-
ing championship replay between Wexford and Dublin on the evening of his death.

The year of 1999 brought special happiness to all involved in St. Martin's as the club captured their first ever Wexford Senior Hurling title and it was extra special for Sean as his son Darin lined out at corner back. This was repeated in 2008 as Darin again played at corner-back as St. Martin's defeated Oulart-the Ballagh to claim a second title.

Another extremely proud moment for Sean was when Darin won a Leinster under-21 hurling medal in 1996.

When Wexford Park re-opened in 2001 after redevelopment, Sean volunteered as a steward and was a familiar face for players as he religiously manned the gate where they ran out onto the pitch at the Clonard End.

Sean was also a very talented gardener and his vegetable garden was always immaculate which resulted in beautiful vegetables on the table throughout the summer in the Sane household.

It has been said of Sean that you could sum him up in five words - Family, farming, garden, pitch (St. Martin's) and the Park (Wexford Park).

A huge crowd attended Sean's funeral Mass in Piercestown and also visited the family home in Ballykelly around the time of the funeral which provided his family with great comfort.

He is survived by his wife Emma, son Darin, daughter Majella, Darin's partner Caitriona, son-in-law David, grandchildren Aodhan, TJ and Ellie.

Courtesy of The Wexford People Tweet

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