William Cody (24 July 1915 – 21 October 2001) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

selector and

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

administrator. In the early 1960s Cody became involved with the James Stephens club and helped to establish a youth section at the club with Georgie Leahy. The club won several under-16 championships in both hurling and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

, four county minor championships from six successive final appearances as well as two county under-21 championships. Cody was elected vice-chairman of the club in 1967 before taking over as chairman in 1969. During his sixteen-year term of office, the club won two

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

titles. Under Cody's chairmanship the club also purchased its main club grounds at Larchfield. At inter-county level Cody served as a selector in several grades. A three-year stint as a selector with the Kilkenny minor team ended without success, however, as a senior selector in 1971 he helped guide the team to the

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

title. Cody was married to Annie Hoyne and had nine children. His son,

Brian Cody Brian Cody (born 12 July 1954) is an Irish former hurling manager and player and retired schoolmaster. He managed the senior Kilkenny county team between 1998 and 2022, becoming the county's longest-serving manager and most successful in term ...

, is an

-winning captain and manager with Kilkenny.

References

1915 births 2001 deaths Hurling selectors People from Thomastown {{Kilkenny-hurling-bio-stub