Liam Griffin (born 1946) is an Irish former hurler and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played hurling at various times with his local clubs Rosslare and Newmarket-on Fergus with the

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

and

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

senior inter-county teams in the 1960s. Griffin later served as manager of the Wexford senior inter-county team from in 1995 and 1996. Later he was instrumental on the Hurling Development Committee that established the

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is ...

and

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

for weaker hurling counties. In 2009 he was named in the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

''s list of the ''125 Most Influential People In GAA History''.

Early life

Born and raised in Rosslare,

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

, Griffin played both

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and

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 ...

as a

boarder Boarder may refer to: Persons A boarder may be a person who: *snowboards *skateboards *bodyboards * surfs *stays at a boarding house *attends a boarding school *takes part in a boarding attack Other uses * ''The Star Boarder'', a 1914 American ...

at the De La Salle College in

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

. He won consecutive Corn Uí Mhuirí titles in 1964 and 1965, as well as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ing the college's

Dr Harty Cup The Dr. Harty Cup is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster PPS GAA division of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It has been contested every year, except on three occasions, since 1918. As the pin ...

team to defeat by Limerick CBS in 1965.

Club career

Griffin's home club of St Mary's Rosslare had very little in terms of hurling. He never played juvenile or underage and only began his club career in earnest after moving to Shannon. Griffin soon joined the

Newmarket-on-Fergus Newmarket-on-Fergus, historically known as Corracatlin (), is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It is from Ennis, from Shannon Airport, and from Limerick. History The English rendering of the name 'Newmarket-on-Fergus' probably owes its ori ...

club and won three consecutive Clare SHC medals between 1966 and 1968, following three consecutive defeats of

Clarecastle Clarecastle (''An Clár'' or ) is a village just south of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland. Name The town is named after the Clare Castle, which stands on an island in the narrowest navigable part of the River Fergus. The Irish ''Clár'', meani ...

. After returning to his hometown of Rosslare, Griffin played with and trained the St Mary's club to the Wexford JAFC title in 1975. He was later

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of the Wexford District team that beat HWH–Bunclody by 3-07 to 0-07 in the 1977 final. Griffin suffered an injury in the game that resulted in a piece of his kidney having to be removed in an emergency operation.

Inter-county career

Griffin first played for

as a member of the minor team beaten by

kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

in the 1964 Leinster minor semi-final. He immediately progressed to the under-21 team, won a Leinster U21HC medal and was a substitute when Wexford beat Tipperary by 3-07 to 1-04 in the 1965 All-Ireland under-21 final. Griffin was also a member of the Wexford intermediate team in 1965 and won a Leinster IHC medal before being beaten by

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

in the 1965 All-Ireland home final. He later declared for

and was a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

at under-21 levels in 1966 and 1967. Griffin was drafted onto the senior team for a

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

games against

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 ...

in March 1968. He later scored 1-02 in Clare's 1968 Munster SHC first round defeat of

Coaching career

Griffin's coaching experience was limited to club and juvenile levels in his local area. He had actively sought the position of Wexford minor team manager on a number of occasions but was unsuccessful. Griffin was appointed manager of the Wexford senior hurling team in September 1994. His first season in charge saw a mid-table finish for Wexford in Division 2 of the

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 ...

, before exiting the Leinster SHC after a defeat by

Offaly County Offaly (; ) 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, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

. There were also off-field difficulties, with Griffin stripping Liam Dunne of the

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

after playing a club game the week before Wexford's game against Offaly. Griffin retained the managerial position for a second season and guided Wexford to their first Leinster SHC title in 19 years after a 2-23 to 2-15 defeat of Offaly in the final. He later steered the team to a first All-Ireland SHC title in 28 years, after Wexford's 1-13 to 0-14 defeat of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in the 1996 All-Ireland final. Griffin was named Philips Sports Manager of the Year, before stepping down from the management position in October 1996.

Promotion of hurling

In early 2000, Griffin said the GAA should be ashamed of itself over its failure in the promotion of hurling.

Honours

Player

;De La Salle College * Corn Uí Mhuirí: 1964, 1965 ;St Mary's Rosslare *Wexford Junior A Football Championship: 1975 ;Newmarket-on-Fergus * Clare Senior Hurling Championship: 1967, 1968, 1969 * Clare Under-21 Hurling Championship: 1967 ;Wexford District *

Wexford Senior Football Championship The Wexford Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Wexford GAA clubs. The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1886. The 2024 champions are Castlet ...

: 1977 ;Wexford *

Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship The Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship was an inter county competition between the Intermediate Hurling county teams in the province of Leinster. The Leinster Council organizes the series of games. The winners of the championship each ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the oneills.com GAA Hurling Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). ...

Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Under-20 Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the oneills.com Leinster GAA Under-20 Hurling Championship), is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic ...

Management

;Wexford District *

: 1977 ;Wexford *

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hur ...

Sources

* Corry, Eoghan, ''The GAA Book of Lists'' (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005). * Walsh, Denis, ''Hurling: the Revolution Years'' (Penguin Ireland, 2005).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Liam 1947 births Living people St Mary's Rosslare hurlers Newmarket-on-Fergus hurlers Clare inter-county hurlers Wexford inter-county hurlers Gaelic games administrators Hurling managers People educated at De La Salle College Waterford Nicky Rackard Cup Christy Ring Cup 20th-century Irish sportsmen