Minister has strong links to Charleville

THE RECENTLY appointed Minister for Justice Ms Frances Fitzgerald has strong family connections with Charleville.

Her father the late Col. Tadhg Ryan and her mother Anna (nee Hayes) are both natives of the Newtownbarry area of the town.

Born in Croom, Co. Limerick, when the family moved away from Charleville, the young Frances Ryan was a frequent visitor with her siblings to both her paternal and maternal grandparents and their extended families in Charleville.

Her late father, Col. Tadhg Ryan of the Irish Army, was a member of the then Rathluirc Hurling Club and won North Cork Hurling Championship medals with the Charleville club in 1937, 1938 and 1939 and won a Minor All-Ireland medal playing with Cork in 1938. Among his team mates on that team were other giants of Cork hurling Christy Ring, Alan Lotty, Eamon Young and Jim Sadlier of Buttevant

Tadhg Ryan also played with C. B. S. Secondary School Charleville and was on the famous Charleville team that won the Cork County Intermediate Hurling 1946/47.

The minister’s grandfather, Tim Ryan, was a keen amateur actor and featured in many amateur shows and dramatic presentations on the stage of the town’s parochial hall, now the community hall, through the years.

Local people joined in congratulating the new minister for Justice and wished her well in her new portfolio, particularly Ms Aileen Browne a Fine Gael candidate in the forthcoming local election, who also hails from Newtownbarry, Charleville.

Championship

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