Séamus Cleere

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**Séamus Cleere**
Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Full name	Séamus Cleere
Date of Birth	1940
Place of birth	Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny
Club information
Club	Bennettsbridge
Position	Half-back
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)

Inter County
County	Kilkenny
Position	Half-back
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Kilkenny	1960s
Inter County Titles
Leinster Titles	0
All-Ireland	2
All-Stars	5
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Séamus Cleere (born 1940) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with Bennetsbridge and Kilkenny in the 1960s.

1 Early life
2 Playing career
- 2.1 Club
- 2.2 Inter-county
3 Teams

[edit] Early life

Séamus Cleere was born in Bennetsbridge, County Kilkenny in 1940. He was educated locally and quickly started playing club hurling with his local Bennetsbridge.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

Cleere played his club hurling with his local Bennettsbridge club. He had much success with the side in the 1960s, winning six Kilkenny SHC titles in all.

[edit] Inter-county

Cleer's hurling skills were quickly spotted by the inter-county selectors, and he joined the Kilkenny senior team at the start of the 1960s. Cleere won a National Hurling League medal in 1962, as well as claiming a Kilkenny SHC medal at the end of the year. As a result of this win he was appointed captain of the Kilkenny team for 1963. That year he won his very first Leinster title, before guiding Kilkenny to an All-Ireland victory over Waterford. His performance throughout the championship earned him the coveted Texaco Hurler of the Year award, the first Kilkenny man to win the prize.

In 1964 Cleere captainLeinster to Railway Cup victory, before later claiming his second Leinster championship medal. Unfortunately Kilkenny were defeated by Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. In 1965 he won another Railway Cup medal, before capturing his second National League medal and his third Leinster championship medal in 1966. Kilkenny were subsequently defeated by a very young Cork team in the All-Ireland final. In 1967 Cleere captured his third and final Railway Cup medal, before later claiming his fourth Leinster championship medal. This was subsequently converted into his second All-Ireland medal, following a victory over Tipperary. Cleere won his fifth Leinster medal in 1969, however, a knee-injury kept him out of the All-Ireland final which Kilkenny won. In spite of this he was still awarded with a third All-Ireland medal and he retired following the conclusion of the championship.

Preceded by Jimmy Doyle (Tipperary)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1963	Succeeded by Mick Murphy (Tipperary)
Preceded by Donie Nealon (Tipperary)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1963	Succeeded by John Doyle (Tipperary)

[edit] Teams

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1963 (15th title)
1 O. Walsh \| 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin \| 3 C. Whelan \| 4 M. Treacy \| 5 S. Cleere (Capt.) \| 6 T. Carroll \| 7 M. Coogan \| 8 P. Moran \| 9 S. Clohessy \| 10 D. Heaslip \| 11 J. McGovern \| 12 E. Keher \| 13 T. Walsh \| 14 W. Dwyer \| 15 T. Murphy \| Subs: O. Gough \|

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1967 (16th title)
1 O. Walsh \| 2 T. Carroll \| 3 P. Dillon \| 4 J. Treacy (Capt.) \| 5 S. Cleere \| 6 P. Henderson \| 7 M. Coogan \| 8 P. Moran \| 9 J. Teehan \| 10 E. Keher \| 11 T. Walsh \| 12 C. Dunne \| 13 J. Bennett \| 14 J. Lynch \| 15 M. Brennan \| Subs: R. Blanchfield \| J. Kinsella \| P. Carroll \|