Liam Clifford
William Peter "Liam" Clifford (27 June 1876 – 24 February 1949) was the ninth president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (1926–1928).
Involved in the dairy co-operative movement in Limerick and neighbouring Clare for many years, Clifford became the Department of Agriculture’s chief dairy inspector in 1936.[1]
Clifford was chairman of the Limerick county board for 20 years, and also had a term as chairman of the Munster board.[citation needed]
Under Liam Clifford's leadership, the Tipperary team toured America.[2] Brendan Fullam stated ‘the Tipperary hurling team – All-Ireland champions of 1925 – boarded the SS Bremen in early May and set forth on a most successful tour of the States’.[3]
Additionally, during Clifford's presidency, the GAA decided to allocate ten percent of gate receipts for ground development, which led to the provision of grounds throughout the country,[4] for which Clifford has been called "the great apostle of grounds development".[5] Therefore, Clifford was described as ‘the first President to encourage the various County Committees to purchase and develop grounds to be used exclusively for Gaelic Games’.[6] Eamonn Sweeney stated ‘in the implementation of Clifford’s grounds programme; the GAA was unrivalled in its ability to provide grounds and facilities in the smallest of villages and towns’.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "GAA Presidents". Gaa.ie. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012.
- ^ "Great Limerick Athletes : William P. Clifford" (PDF). Askaboutireland.ie. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ Brendan Fullam, The Throw-In: The GAA and the Men Who Made It (Dublin, 2004), p.74
- ^ "Fedamore". Visitballyhoura.com.
- ^ Sweeney, Eamonn (13 August 2004). O'Brien Pocket History of Gaelic Sport. The O’Brien Press. ISBN 9780862788544. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ Munster GAA Story Volume 2, 2001.
- ^ Eamonn Sweeney, O'Brien Pocket History of Gaelic Sports (Dublin, 2004), p.14.
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