Liam Mulvihill (born 25 May 1946) is an Irish retired

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

administrator. He served as Director-General 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 ...

from June 1979 until January 2008. Born in

Keenagh Keenagh or Kenagh () is a village in County Longford, Ireland. south of Longford, Longford town, it is on the R397 road (Ireland), R397 near the Royal Canal of Ireland, Royal Canal. The village has two churches (Catholic and Church of Ireland) ...

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

, Mulvihill was the eldest of ten children. He was educated at St. Mel's College, where he won a

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup (), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The competition itself is re ...

medal in 1963, and later qualified as a primary school teacher from St. Patrick's College in

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 ...

. Mulvihill moved to

Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

in 1974 when he was appointed as a primary schools inspector. Mulvihill played

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 ...

for

Kenagh Keenagh or Kenagh () is a village in County Longford, Ireland. south of Longford town, it is on the R397 near the Royal Canal. The village has two churches (Catholic and Church of Ireland), a couple of shops and three pubs. There are also GAA ...

and at all grades for the Longford county team before becoming involved in the administration of the game. He served as secretary of the Kenagh minors, a position which led to his representing the club on the Longford Minor Board. Mulvihill was subsequently appointed to the Longford County Board. He was elected vice-president of the board at the age of 23 before being elected chairman in 1970. Mulvihill served in this position until 1974 when he was elected Longford county representative on the

GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...

's Central Council. Mulvihill was the unanimous choice to succeed

Seán Ó Síocháin Seán Ó Síocháin (24 March 1914 – 2 February 1997) was an Irish Gaelic footballer, hurler, ballad singer, broadcaster and Gaelic games administrator. His championship career with the Cork and Dublin senior teams spanned seven seaso ...

as Director-General of the GAA in 1979. Over the course of his 29-year tenure he oversaw some of the major changes within the GAA, most notably the redevelopment of

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

between 1993 and 2005, the abolition of

Rule 21 Rule 21 of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was a rule in force from 1897 to 2001 which banned members of the British security forces from membership of the GAA and thus from playing Gaelic games. The affected organisations included the Brit ...

(2001) and

Rule 42 Rule 42 (now Rule 5.1 and Rule 44 in the 2008 guide) is a rule of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) which in practice prohibits the playing of non-Gaelic games in GAA stadiums. The rule is often mistakenly believed to prohibit '' foreign spor ...

(2007).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulvihill, Liam 1946 births Living people Chairmen of county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic games administrators Kenagh Gaelic footballers Longford County Board administrators Longford inter-county Gaelic footballers People educated at St Mel's College