Séamus Gardiner (1894 – 10 January 1976), was the 14th
president
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*'' Præsident ...
of the
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
(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](_blank)
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, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is 15 km north of Nenagh, at the junction of the N52 road (Ireland), N52 and N65 road (Ireland), N65 roads. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a p ...
, 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 () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...
for the first time since
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Ross Hyde (; 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 to June 1945. He was a l ...
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 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 ( ; ) 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 "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...
for
Ballyboden St Enda's and
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
.
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
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