Paddy Buggy (15 March 1929 – 15 May 2013) was an Irish sportsperson. He played

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 ...

with his local club

Slieverue Slieverue, officially Slieveroe, () is a village in South County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. It is located in the historical barony of Ida. Despite the name, the land is relatively low-lying and fertile. Slieverue's population, as of the 20 ...

and was a member of the

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

senior inter-county team from 1949 until 1960. Buggy later served as the 27th president of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 1982 until 1985.

Playing career

Club

Born in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, Buggy played his club

with his local

club. He won one senior county title with the club in 1954.

Inter-county

Buggy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

senior team in the late 1940s. He made his championship debut in 1949 and won his first

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 ...

the following year in 1950. Kilkenny later played Tipperary in an unexciting final which Tipp won by a point. Three years later in 1953 Buggy won a second Leinster medal; however, Kilkenny were later defeated by

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final. In 1957 Buggy won his third Leinster title before lining out in his second All-Ireland final.

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

provided the opposition on that occasion in an exciting championship decider. Waterford led by six points with fifteen minutes to go, however, Kilkenny stormed back with two quick goals to win the game by a point giving Buggy an

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 ...

medal. The following year he won a fourth Leinster title before being later beaten by Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final. In 1959 Buggy won his fifth Leinster title before lining out in a third All-Ireland final. Once again Waterford provided the opposition, however, the game ended in a draw. In the replay it was the Déise who emerged victorious by seven points. Buggy retired from inter-county hurling in 1960.

Provincial

Buggy also won a

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medal with

in 1954.

Administrative roles

Buggy began his administrative career with the

club at the age of 18 when he served as secretary of the minor section of the club. He later filled every available administrative position on the club's committee. As well as becoming a club administrator, Buggy was also elected as the Slieverue representative on the Kilkenny Southern Board in 1947, before being elected as one of the club's delegates to the Kilkenny County Board in 1950. He remained on the board until 1955 when he was elected to the

Leinster Council The Leinster Council is a provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, rounders and handball in the province of Leinster. The Leinster Council has been partnered with the European County ...

. Buggy rose to the position of vice-chairman before gaining promotion to the position of chairman between 1978 and 1980.

GAA presidency

Buggy was officially nominated as the

candidate for president of the GAA in January 1981. He also received the backing of

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...

and Wicklow. In the election in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

on 29 March 1981, he defeated

Mick Loftus Michael Loftus (born 9 August 1929) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, referee and Gaelic games administrator. His league and championship career at senior level with the Mayo county team lasted four seasons from 1949 until 1953. Early life ...

, the chairman of the Connacht Council, by 145 votes to 136 and was elected on the fifth count. As president he presided over the

centenary {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

celebrations of the organisation in 1984 and was generally regarded as an able administrator, particularly close to the grass-root membership.

Personal life

Buggy also managed the Leinster team to five consecutive Railway Cup victories from 1971 until 1975. Very proud of his native roots, Buggy was vociferous in the campaign to keep Slieverue in County Kilkenny amid moves to have it incorporated into the expanding City of

as a suburb on the northern bank of the river

Suir The River Suir ( ; ga, an tSiúr or ''Abhainn na Siúire'' ) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean through Waterford after a distance of . The catchment area of the Suir is 3,610 km2.

. He died on 15 May 2013, aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buggy, Paddy 1929 births 2013 deaths All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Chairmen of Gaelic games governing bodies Gaelic games club administrators Hurling managers Kilkenny County Board administrators Kilkenny inter-county hurlers Leinster Provincial Council administrators Leinster inter-provincial hurlers Presidents of the Gaelic Athletic Association Slieverue hurlers