Sean Cloney, the Wexford farmer and local historian whose life was marked by a number of controversies dating from the 1950s involving the Catholic Church, has died.
The events surrounding Mr Cloney and his family and the village of Fethard-on-Sea, close to their farm in the Hook peninsula in Co Wexford, were the subject of a film, A Love Divided, earlier this year. It told the story of the intervention of the local Catholic clergy in a family dispute over the education of the Cloneys' two young daughters.
Mr Cloney's wife, Sheila, was a member of the Church of Ireland, and the local Catholic curate, Father William Stafford, was insistent that the Catholic Church would have control of every aspect of the children's education, particularly the doctrinal aspect.
As a result and, at the instigation of Father Stafford, there was an organised boycott of local Protestant businesses. This resulted in a considerable amount of national and international media attention and a much publicised visit to the area by the then little known evangelical Protestant preacher, the Rev Ian Paisley.
The Cloneys eventually settled the dispute by educating their daughters at their home in Dungulph Castle, just outside the village.
Mr Cloney was a noted local historian although he had little formal academic education. He went to Rockwell College as a boy but had to leave school early to run the family farm when his parents died.
Despite the controversy surrounding his children's education he remained a devout Catholic, although he chose not to attend the Fethard-on-Sea church at Poulfur. Instead, he went to the parish church at Templetown, a few miles away. He played an active role in the parish and devoted considerable time to community work.
As chairman of the community hall in Fethard-on-Sea he had a number of difficult experiences with Father Sean Fortune, who was sent to Poulfur in 1982 as the local curate. Father Fortune tried to wrest control of the hall from the committee for fund-raising activities.
Father Fortune committed suicide earlier this year while awaiting trial on a number of charges of serious sexual assault against young boys.
After he was stopped from taking control of the local hall, Father Fortune referred to Mr Cloney from the pulpit, saying there was "an evil influence" in the parish. Once again, Mr Cloney found himself the subject of local controversy and some hostility.
Friends said it had no effect on him and he felt vindicated years later when Father Fortune was eventually charged in 1996 in connection with the sexual assaults.
Four years ago Mr Cloney was injured in a car accident and suffered paralysing injuries. He spent almost three years in the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Mr Cloney, who had been unwell for some weeks, died in Wexford General Hospital on Monday night. He is survived by his wife, Sheila, and daughters, Eileen and Hazel. Another daughter, Mary, predeceased him.