Vincent O'Donoghue

Michael Vincent O’Donoghue (born May 18, 1900, date of death unknown), was the 17th president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (1952–1955).[1]

Born in Portumna,[2] Galway, the younger of twins, O’Donoghue was the son of an RIC man, and grew up in a variety of places in Ireland. Although a member of the RIC, his father participated in GAA games, usually under assumed names,[2] and O’Donoghue recalls playing hurling from an early age: at age four, while hurling, his twin brother was almost killed in a weight throwing accident.[2]

As an engineering student in UCC, O’Donoghue joined the Cork 1 Brigade of the IRA as its engineer, and took prominent part in the War of Independence, while his twin brother James joined the RIC.[3] O’Donoghue worked closely with Michael O’Neill,[4] whose killing lead to the Dunmanway killings; O’Donoghue’s witness statement was later used to deny any sectarian motivation in the killings.[3]

He was involved in the administration of the GAA, becoming chairman of Waterford county committee from 1936 to 1946 and again in 1948. He strongly opposed the decision to hold the 1947 All-Ireland Football final in New York, arguing that it would encourage emigration.[1]

 This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license.

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.gaa.ie/about-the-gaa/gaa-history/gaa-presidents/
  2. 1 2 3 http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1741%20PART%201.pdf
  3. 1 2 http://jeffdudgeon.com/download/Irish%20political%20controversies/Dunmanway%20Barry%20Keane%20book%20Irish%20Times%2024%20January%202014.docx
  4. ↑ http://westcorktimes.com/home/archives/11561
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Michael Kehoe		 President of the Gaelic Athletic Association
1952–1955 		Succeeded by
Séamus McFerran


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.