Séamus Gardiner (1894 – 10 January 1976), was the 14th

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

(1943–1946). Born in Clare, he played football for UCD while studying there, he trained to be a national school teacher in

De La Salle College, Waterford De La Salle College Waterford is a secondary school in Waterford, Ireland with over 1,000 students and 90 teachers. De La Salle Teachers Training College The De La Salle Brothers had a presence in Waterford since the 1870s, and opened a teach ...

.De La Salle College
De La Salle GAA Club He played on the Clare senior team, and in 1924 was part of a Munster team that participated in an inter-provincial contest to choose a team for the Tailteann Games. Settling in

Borrisokane Borrisokane () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated at the junction of the N52 and N65 national secondary roads. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 942. The Ballyfinboy River flows through the town on its way to Lough ...

, he became involved in the local GAA club, representing it at board meetings, before going on to become chairman of the board, from 1933 to 1938. In 1940, he was elected vice-chairman of the Munster Council, and chairman in 1940. During Gardiner's presidency, relationships began to renew with the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

for the first time since

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

was removed as a patron. Also during Gardiner's presidency, the Minister of Defence opened up the army to sports other than Gaelic Games, which Gardiner called "a retrograde step", and that the GAA were "entitled to the same treatment for Gaelic games as they had for the past 20 years". Two years after his death, in 1978 the Séamus Gardiner Memorial Park was renamed in his honour. Gardiner's great-granddaughters,

Emer Lucey Emer Lucey is a Women's Irish Hockey League player. During the early 2010s she was member of the Railway Union team that won three leagues titles. In 2012–13 Lucey was also captain of the Railway Union team that won a national double, winning ...

and

Ciara Lucey Ciara Lucey is a camogie player, winner of an All-Star award in 2005. One of just three Dublin players to win awards in the history of the scheme, she was play-maker as Dublin won the All-Ireland Junior Camogie Championship in 2005 for the fi ...

, played senior

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

for Ballyboden St Enda's and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

References

1894 births 1976 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of De La Salle Teacher Training College, Waterford Clare inter-county hurlers Munster Provincial Council administrators People from Borrisokane Presidents of the Gaelic Athletic Association {{CC-notice, cc=by3, url=http://larnapairce.ie/presidents-of-the-gaa-seamus-gardiner/