Fethard-on-Sea is a village on the Hook Peninsula in Co Wexford, Ireland. In 1957 the village came to national and international attention due to a sectarian boycott of the local protestant community led by the local catholic priest. The boycott was the basis for the film ‘A Love Divided’ which was released in 1999.
In 1949 Sean Cloney, a Roman Catholic, married Sheila Kelly, a Church of Ireland Protestant. The parish priest Fr Stafford told the couple that their children had to be raised as catholic. Sheila resisted and the priest organised a boycott.
The boycott was given support by the local catholic bishop. In a debate in Dáil Éireann Taoiseach Éamon de Valera called on Sheila to honour her pledge to raise her children in the catholic faith. The boycott failed find support outside of Fethard-on-Sea. Though a formal end was arranged damage was caused to community relations for a time.
The Fethard-on-Sea boycott was debated in Dáil Éireann in the year 1957 On This Day.
Fethard-on-Sea
Photo Joe Rattigan