Matty Fouhy

Fouhy played his club hurling with his local club in Carrigtwohill and enjoyed some success. His major moments of victory came in 1949 and 1950 when Carrigtwohill captured back-to-back county intermediate championship titles.

Fouhy first played for Cork as a member of the minor team in 1941. He was an unused substitute that year as Cork claimed the All-Ireland title after a 3-11 to 1-1 defeat of Galway while also claiming a delayed Munster title following a 4-6 to 3-3 defeat of Tipperary.

In 1944 Fouhy joined a Cork senior team on the brink of history as they aimed to capture a fourth All-Ireland title in-a-row. On 3 September 1944 Fouhy was a member of the substitutes as Cork faced Dublin in the All-Ireland decider. Joe Kelly was the hero of the day and he contributed greatly to Cork's 2-13 to 1-2 victory.[1] In spite of playing no part in the game Fouhy still collected an All-Ireland medal.

Fouhy was suspended from the Cork senior team in 1946 after lining out illegally in a club game in Waterford. It was a move which cost him an All-Ireland medal. During this period he spent two unsuccessful years with the Cork junior team.

On 29 June 1947 Fouhy made his senior championship debut when he came on as a substitute in Cork's 3-10 to 1-5 Munster semi-final defeat of Waterford. He remained on the substitutes' bench for the subsequent All-Ireland decider against Kilkenny on 7 September 1947. A last-minute point from Terry Leahy resulted in a 0-14 to 2-7 defeat for Cork.

After a period in the wilderness Cork bounced back in 1952 with Fouhy as a regular member of the team. After missing much of Cork's provincial campaign, he was back at right wing-back on 6 September 1952 as Cork faced Dublin in the All-Ireland decider. In spite of only leading by three points at half-time Cork eventually won by 2-14 to 0-7 and Fouhy picked up a first All-Ireland medal on the field of play.

Fouhy won a National Hurling League medal in 1953 following a 2-10 to 2-7 defeat of Tipperary. He later collected his first Munster medal on the field of play following a 3-10 to 1-11 defeat of Tipperary. On 6 September 1953 Cork faced Galway in the All-Ireland final. The game itself is remembered as one of the ugliest championship deciders ever and is clouded in controversy due to the injury to the Galway captain, Mick Burke. Cork won the game by 3-3 to 0-8, with Fouhy winning a second All-Ireland medal.

In 1954 Fouhy won a second Munster medal on the field of play as old rivals Tipperary were bested by 2-8 to 1-8. A record crowd of 84,856 attended the subsequent All-Ireland decider on 5 September 1954 with Wexford providing the opposition. Wexford had a four-point lead with seventeen minutes left to play, however, history was against the new team of the decade when Johnny Clifford scored the winning goal for Cork with just four minutes left. A narrow 1-9 to 1-6 victory secured a third successive All-Ireland for Cork and for Fouhy.

Four-in-a-row proved beyond Cork, however, the team returned for one last hurrah in 1956. After missing much of the team's successful provincial campaign, Fouhy was restored to the starting fifteen for the All-Ireland showdown with Wexford on 23 September 1956. The game has gone down in history as one of the all-time classics as Christy Ring was bidding for a record ninth All-Ireland medal. The game turned on one important incident as the Wexford goalkeeper, Art Foley, made a miraculous save from a Ring shot and cleared the sliotar up the field to set up another attack. Nicky Rackard scored a crucial goal with two minutes to go giving Wexford a 2-14 to 2-8 victory.[2][3]

Fouhy retired from inter-county hurling following Cork's defeat by Waterford in the 1957 Munster decider.

Fouhy also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition and enjoyed much success. He first lined out with his province in 1950. That year he picked up his first Railway Cup winners' medal as Munster triumphed over Leinster. It was the first of four Railway Cup titles in-a-row for Fouhy and for Munster. Munster were defeated by Leinster in 1954 as Fouhy hoped to make it five-in-a-row.[4]