Talk:Cathal Crowe

Proposed draft
Political Career[edit]

Crowe was first elected to Care County Council in 2004 at 21 years of age, making him the youngest councillor in Ireland.[4] Reflecting on this in a 2019 interview, Crowe said “I was very green when first elected. I didn’t own a suit at the time, was finishing exams at UL and drove around on a scooter. With my first pay cheque from the Council I bought a Play Station 2. For all the experience I lacked, I had huge hunger and desire to make things better for my community and the Council”. [5]

Crowe went on to successfully contest three more elections to Clare County Council in 2009, 2014 and 2019, twice topping the poll by receiving the most first preference votes.[6][7]

Canvassing shoes[edit]

Cathal Crowe canvassing shoes As a young aspiring politician running for his first election, Crowe said he was given advice by his mentor Willie O'Dea that he would need to "get out there and burn shoe leather". [8] He bought the shoes from his future wife, who had a summer job in a Limerick city shoe shop .[9] Crowe was first photographed by John Kelly photographer making the “V” for victory sign through the worn-out soles of his canvassing shoes just after being first elected in the 2004 elections.[8] Crowe considers them his lucky shoes and they have been a feature of all of his subsequent campaigns.[9][10]

The shoes have been displayed in the Clare Museum as part of an exhibition depicting Irish political life and are also included in a civics textbook on the Junior Certificate syllabus.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Crowe is the son of Michael, a retired fire fighter and Irene, a retired nurse. [11] and has two sisters; Yvonne and Eimear. [12] In 2013 he married Charleville native Maeve Fehilly [13] and they have three children; Sam, Charlie and Eve.[14]

Prior to being elected as a T.D. to Dáill Éireann, Crowe juggled his work as Councillor and Mayor with teaching in Parteen National School. [15][12]

World War 1 Widow's Penny Project[edit]

In 2016, Crowe purchased a World War 1 “Widow’s Penny” memorial death medallion on eBay and decided it could be the basis of an interesting history project for the children in his sixth class in Parteen National School. “I thought it would be a fascinating project to try and reunite the family with the medal.”[16] The medallion originally belonged to the family of Sergeant Edward Lynch, a Cork soldier who died in the First World War on December 21st 1914.[17] In May 2017, after many months of research, Crowe and his pupils succeeded in reuniting the Widow’s Penny with the Lynch family in a ceremony held in the local church in Parteen.[18][19] The project culminated in a group of the pupils, together with Crowe and 3 other teachers (Mr. Ruane, Ms. Guckian, Ms. Collins) travelling to Belgium to retrace the steps of the fallen soldier whose name is inscribed on the medallion.[17] Yvonneclare2020 (talk) 09:31, 19 February 2020 (UTC) Yvonneclare2020

References ^ "Cathal Crowe". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 15 February 2020. 2.^ Kane, Conor (2020-01-05). "Mayor of Clare to boycott Royal Irish Constabulary commemoration". RTE News. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 3.^ McGreevy, Ronan; Deegan, Gordon. "FF mayor who started boycott of RIC event wins seat in Clare". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 February 2020. 4.^ Deegan, Gordon. "Clare country results: Fianna Fáil once against largest party". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 5.^ "Cathal Crowe becomes second youngest Mayor of Clare". The Clare Echo News. 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 6.^ "7 sitting candidates face 3 challengers in Shannon MD". The Clare Echo News. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 7.^ Wednesday; May 15; Am, 2019-11:29 (2019-05-15). "Clare County Council - The Results". www.irishexaminer.com. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 8.^ Jump up to: a b c Hobbs, Austin (2014-02-14). "John Kelly photo in Junior Cert book". Retrieved 2020-02-18. 9.^ Jump up to: a b Rabbits, Nick (2020-02-10). "Meelick Councillor Cathal Crowe wins FF seat in County Clare". Limerick Leader. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 10.^ "Boundary move gives Crowe election wings". The Clare Champion. 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 11.^ Danaher, Dan. "Crowe up and running in Dail race". Retrieved 2020-02-18. 12.^ Jump up to: a b McMahon, Páraic (2020-02-07). "I've always wanted to enter national politics". Clare Echo Newspaper. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 13.^ "Honeymoon over for newlyweds on rival sides". independent. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 14.^ "Westbury councillor elected new Mayor of Clare". www.limerickleader.ie. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 15.^ "Cllr. Cathal Crowe | Clare County Council". Fianna Fáil. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 16.^ "TheJournal.ie - Clare schoolkids close in on solving mystery of Irish soldier who died in WW1". www.thejournal.ie. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 17.^ Jump up to: a b Flynn, Pat. "Parteen pupils solve death plaque mystery | The Clare Herald". Retrieved 2020-02-18. 18.^ "Parteen students to commemorate Lynch brothers". The Clare Champion. 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2020-02-18. 19.^ Duffy, Muireann (2017-06-20). "Parteen Students Reunite Family With WW1 Death Plaque". Clare FM. Retrieved 2020-02-18. Yvonneclare2020 (talk) 09:35, 19 February 2020 (UTC) Yvonneclare2020
 * Yvonneclare2020, do you know Cathal Crowe? It seems like it, in which case you should not be editing this article, as its against Wikipedia rules, see WP:COI. Spleodrach (talk) 19:45, 19 February 2020 (UTC)a


 * Spleodrach, yes I do know him. I had explained this to Jeff G., who advised me to post my draft here on the Talk page so it could be reviewed and edited as necessary.  I am new to Wiki (just this week) & finding my feet so was grateful to Jeff G. for his kind and friendly advice.  Yvonneclare2020 (talk) 23:27, 19 February 2020 (UTC) Yvonneclare2020

Recent updates from The Ditch
has recently added a raft of negative information based on reporting by The Ditch. This source has not been vetted by Wikipedia regarding its reliability, but to my eye, the website, whose editorial board consists of two journalists of little note (at least as far as Wikipedia is concerned), seems to be little more than a muckraking outfit. The only other source for this material is a piece from RTE where Crowe denies the accusations. I'd prefer to see firmer sourcing for this additional controversial material. If it can't be shown that other outlets have picked up The Ditch's story and either corroborated or at least reiterated the reporting, I'm inclined to revert this edit. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 19:43, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I agree. Spleodrach (talk) 22:08, 3 April 2023 (UTC)