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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' 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
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 {{CC-notice, cc=by3, url=http://larnapairce.ie/presidents-of-the-gaa-seamus-gardiner/