Art Foley
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Art Foley was a Wexford goalkeeper from 1946 to 1956. He was small for a goalkeeper but very solid and strong. He played with the St. Aidans of Enniscorthy also as the netminder. His quick hands in goal made him an important member of the Wexford team, but confidence and inconsistency was something he lacked in the early days when in the Wexford goal, which in turn meant he was dropped on numerous occasions and failed to stamp his position fully in the team. During the 1951 championship he was dropped from the team and indeed the squad as Wexford struggled to find a goalkeeper and Art wasn't in anyway impressive in the goal. However Wexford lost the All-Ireland that year with 7 goals put past the then goalkeeper Ray Brennan who never played inter-county after that, so Art was brought back into the frame again in 1952. He didn't really maintain the goal position fully during the 52 and 53 campaign. But during the summer months of 54, 55, 56 he was the number 1 goalman for Wexford until he finished hurling in 56 and then emigrated to America. A popular goalkeeper amongst the Wexford faithful and regarded as one of the heroes in the 1956 All-Ireland final, he has written his name firmly into the hurling archives. He has also had many articles written about him in newspapers mainly due to the myth surrounding his save from Christy Ring which has been literally talked through the generations.
He is currently living in Long Island in America where he has been for the last fifty years. He has come home many times for all the get-togethers and presentations, with his former hurling team mates.
[edit] The Save from Christy Ring
The most famous moment in Art's career but also one of the most famous moments in hurling history was his vital save in the dying minutes of the 1956 All Ireland hurling final. With seconds remainng in the final and Wexford gone into a 2 point lead; the ball broke to Christy Ring and he headed straight for goal with the Wexford back line in pursuit. When he got to the 21 yard line he let off a shot that was set to rattle the back of the net, but the shot was somehow blocked by Art Foley and then cleared by him too. Much has been said about it, and newspapers pages have been filled as regards this particular save but what happened after it also.
People for decades have always maintained that Art caught the ball in that final. But this was completely not true and the ball was blocked by his hurley. Michael O"Heir the commentator of the match said as he watched the action unfold, this record was later dubbed in a video of the match. Michael O' Heir not actually seeing the play gone under way it happened so fast:
"Terry Kelly on to Christy Ring.....Ring in front of the goal is going through....he steadies himself...he takes a shot...and it's blocked by Art Foley....and it's cleared out by Art Foley....what a great save there by Art Foley"
and that answered the many rumours that were going around about the famous save. The save was indeed blocked by the hurl and not the hand.
Then came the square off between Art and Ringy and what did Christy say to Art? Well to answer that question; Christy after Art had made the save, raced in grabbed Art by the hair and said "You little black bastard you've beaten us"....but he then congratulated him and went off in search of another chance. Within a minute the ball dropped into Art again and after it was cleared it made its way up the pitch and was buried in the back of the Cork net by Nicky Rackard. Tom Dixon tagged on another point to put the icing on the cake. Wexford 2-14 Cork 2-8
