Thomond says farewell to innovative Limerick legend McNamara

The death has occurred of Sean McNamara, one of the most respected prop forwards in Munster rugby for more than a decade immediately after World War II and who then went on to coach Thomond during the most successful years of the Limerick club.

McNamara and his great friend Brendan Morgan won the first of three Munster Senior Cup medals with Garryowen in 1947 and in the early 50s were joined by Gordon Wood, a forward who later toured with the Lions and was the father of Keith, another Lion of a later generation.

The expression “Morgan, Mac and Wood” became synonymous with powerful Garryowen forward packs that won further Munster Cups in 1952 and 1954.

Sean represented Munster on one occasion, playing alongside his great contemporary Tom Clifford. Though great rugby rivals, Tom and Sean were good friends and related through marriage to the Keyes sisters, Virginia and Hilda.

Sean went on to coach Thomond RFC, for nearly 20 years from 1962, during which time they broke through to win the Munster Junior Cup for the first time in 1971 and enjoyed considerable success subsequently.

The following is from the Thomond RFC history web page;

“The legendary Scan McNamara, was appointed club trainer, coaches being unheard of in those days. Sean had been one of the greatest prop forwards ever to pack down with Garryowen and formed a formidable front row with Lion, Gordon Wood and interpro, Brendan Morgan.

“His ability on the field was only surpassed by his coaching astuteness off it, and he proved to be years ahead of his time in most aspects of the game.

“Engage in conversation anyone who learned his trade under Sean and they will regale you with tales of his exploits for hours; each one with different tales to tell. One thing they will all have in common however is that Sean McNamara brought the rolling maul to Limerick, if not to rugby football.”