Gaelic Games

Outstanding Wexford hurling goalkeeper Pat Nolan dies, aged 84

An understudy to Art Foley, Nolan won three All-Irelands and played in six finals

Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho

Seán Moran's face
Seán Moran
Sun Aug 29 2021 - 20:33

The death has taken place at the age of 84 of the great Wexford hurling goalkeeper Pat Nolan. A holder of three All-Ireland medals, he is the only Wexford man to have won four hurling leagues.

He won the first Celtic Cross in 1956 as understudy to another legend of the county, Art Foley, but was in goal for the final defeats of Tipperary in 1960 and 1968 and in another three unsuccessful finals in 1962, 1965 and 1970.

In ‘Hurling Giants’ he told the late Brendan Fullam that he remembered as a 12-year-old being put in goal – his father allowed the Oylegate-Glenbrien club to use one of his fields for hurling – while adults played games of ‘backs and forwards’ and “peppered him with shots”.

In this way he learned “to train the eye, sharpen the reflexes and get down to the ground ball – the Achilles heel of many a goalkeeper”.

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He said that his greatest regret was the 1962 final defeat by Tipperary, two years after he won his first All-Ireland against the same opposition. The 1968 final was the most dramatic, as Wexford recovered from an eight-point half-time deficit.

Paddy Downey’s report in The Irish Times recorded how the first-half display by the goalkeeper kept the match within reach of the county:

“In all this time, the only Wexford man who offered defiant and effective resistance to the rampant opposition was Pat Nolan in goal. He made at least half a dozen great saves, which were all the more noteworthy because of the tottering ramparts in front of him.”

He said that his best display had come in the 1968 Whitsun Tournament in Wembley where Wexford beat Cork. Paddy Downey in this newspaper was glowing in his report.

“The match was highlighted by an astounding display of goalkeeping by Wexford’s Pat Nolan, who saved shots from all angles and all heights (I lost count at 30) . . .”

His career extended until 1974 and incorporated a much treasured county title with his club as well as his intercounty haul, which also includes six Leinster medals and four Railway Cups.