Liam Gilmartin (31 May 1921 – 2 March 2019) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played at club level with St Patrick's and at senior level for the Roscommon county team. He usually lined out as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Gilmartin is regarded as one of Roscommon's all-time greatest players.

Career

Gilmartin first came to prominence as a footballer with the Roscommon CBS team that won the Connacht Championship for the first time in 1940. By this stage he had also began his football career at club level with St Patrick's and enjoyed his first success in 1941 when the club won the Roscommon Championship. Gilmartin won further titles in 1942 and 1944. At inter-county level, Gilmartin captained the successful Roscommon minor team that won the All-Ireland Championship in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

. He also joined the Roscommon senior team in

. From his debut, Gilmartin was ever-present as a midfielder and made a number of

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

and Championship appearances in a career that ended with his last game in 1945. During that time he was part of two All-Ireland Championship-winning teams – in

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

and

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

. Gilmartin also secured two Connacht Championship medals. Gilmartin was forced into retirement after contracting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1945.

Honours

;Roscommon CBS *

Connacht Colleges Senior Football Championship Connacht colleges senior football "A" championship, is the top level Gaelic football competition for secondary schools in Connacht. They compete for the Aonghus Murphy Memorial Cup. The winners advance to the Hogan Cup, the All-Ireland college ...

(1): 1940 ;St Patrick's *

Roscommon Senior Football Championship The Roscommon Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in County Roscommon. The winners of the Roscommon Championship receive the Fahey Cup and qualify to represent ...

(3): 1941, 1942, 1944 ;Roscommon *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

(2):

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht particip ...

(2):

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it was replaced by an under ...

(1):

Connacht Minor Football Championship The Connacht Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18 until 2017, now under-17) in the province of C ...

(1):

(c)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmartin, Liam 1921 births 2019 deaths Garda Síochána officers Roscommon inter-county Gaelic footballers Police officers from County Roscommon