Peter Kelly (1847 – 7 April 1908) was

president of the Gaelic Athletic Association The president of the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ga, Uachtarán Cumann Lúthchleas Gael) is the head of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The president holds office for three years. The role of president has existed since the foundation of ...

(GAA) in the late 1880s. Kelly was a native of

Killeenadeema Killeenadeema ( ga, Cillín a Díoma) is a civil parish in County Galway, Ireland. It contains most of the Derrybrien mountains, which hold the Derrybrien Wind Farm. Name The name in Irish is ''Chillín a Díoma'', where ''cillín'' means "litt ...

, Loughrea. He and a number of other men from the area - William J. Duffy, John P. McCarthy, John Sweeney, Loughrea; Michael Glennon, Kilchreest - asked Bishop Patrick Duggan to become the patron of the nascent GAA. Duggan declined citing his poor health, suggesting instead

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Thomas Croke Thomas William Croke D.D. (28 May 1824 – 22 July 1902) was the second Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand (1870–74) and later Archbishop of Cashel and Emly in Ireland. He was important in the Irish nationalist movement especially as a C ...

of Cashel. Kelly attended the foundation of the association at

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

in November 1884. He served as

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

during the Loughrea

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 ...

tournament of 1887, which was attended by over three thousand people. He was a member of the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

References

1847 births 1908 deaths Gaelic games players from County Galway Hurling umpires People from Loughrea Presidents of the Gaelic Athletic Association {{Gaelic-games-bio-stub