Preceded by Ted Theodore Succeeded by Alfred Jones Positions Flanker Preceded by New seat | Constituency Paddington Name John Fihelly Succeeded by Ted Theodore Nationality Irish Resting place Toowong Cemetery | |
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Born 7 November 1882
Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland ( 1882-11-07 ) Died March 2, 1945, Brisbane, Australia | ||
Political party Australian Labor Party | ||
John Arthur Fihelly (7 November 1882 – 2 March 1945) was a rugby union player who represented Australia, a rugby league player, a founder of the Queensland rugby league, and a Labor Party politician.
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Early life
Fihelly, a flanker, was born in Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland and claimed 1 international rugby cap for Australia. He was one of rugby league football's founding players in Brisbane, being selected to represent Queensland during the 1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain against the visiting "All Blacks" in what were the first games of rugby league football ever played in Queensland. In 1908 he travelled to Britain on the first Kangaroo tour as assistant manager.
Politics
Fihelly was elected as the Labor member for Paddington in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in 1912 and held several ministerial roles including Attorney-General until his resignation in 1922.
Later life
Upon his death in 1945, Fihelly was rewarded with a State funeral at St Stephen's Cathedral and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.