Maurice Davin

Maurice Davin
Personal information

Sport	Hurling
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
	Tipperary

Maurice Davin (1842–1927) was an Irish farmer who became co-founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He was also the first President of the GAA and the only man ever to serve two terms as president.

Biography

He was born in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He became an extremely talented athlete and achieved international fame in the 1870s when he held numerous world records for running, hurdling, jumping and weight-throwing.^[1] In fact at a time he was regarded as the best athlete in the world.^[2]

From 1887 he actively campaigned for a body to control Irish athletics.^[3] Athletics in Ireland at the time was controlled directly by an English association which excluded the masses from most competitions.^[2]

Davin wrote "the laws under which athletic sports are held in Ireland were designed mainly for the guidance of Englishmen, and they do not deal at all with the characteristic sports and pastimes of the Irish race. Irish football is a great game" he wrote, "but there are no rules for either hurling or football and they are often dangerous."^[2]

Together with Michael Cusack, of Carron on the eastern fringe of The Burren, County Clare he called a meeting in Hayes’s Commercial Hotel, Thurles, County Tipperary, on 1 November 1884, and founded the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). In that meeting they established ""a Gaelic athletic association for the preservation and cultivation of national pastimes".^[2] As far as we know, only six others attended the historic meeting.

Davin was elected President and Cusack became its first secretary. John Wyse Power and John McKay were also elected secretaries. Later, Thomas Croke, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Michael Davitt and Charles Stewart Parnell became patrons. The following year standardised rules were set for hurling, football, weight throwing, jumping, running, walking and cycling. Séamus Ó Riain described Davin as "the rock on which the Association survived turbulent waves".^[4]

Many top games including the 1904 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Kilkenny and Cork were played on Davin's farm.^[3] The Davin Stand in Croke Park, Dublin is named in his honour as are some GAA clubs throughout the country including Carrick Davins in Tipperary. Every year in his home town of Carrick-On-Suir on the 27th of December the Maurice Davin awards take place.These awards celebrate inter county talent from the tri-county area of Tipperary,Kilkenny and Waterford as well as members from local clubs.

AAA Championships winners in men's shot put

1876–1914	1880: William Winthrop 1881: Maurice Davin (IRL) 1882: George Ross 1883–84: Owen Harte (IRL) 1885: Donald McKinnon 1886–87: James Mitchell (IRL) 1888: George Gray CAN 1889: William Barry (IRL) & R.A. Greene 1890: R.A. Greene 1891–92: William Barry (IRL) 1893–99: Denis Horgan (IRL) 1900: Richard Sheldon USA 1901–02: Wesley Coe USA 1903: Tom Nicolson 1904–05: Denis Horgan (IRL) 1906–07: Tom Kirkwood 1908–10: Denis Horgan (IRL) 1911: John Barrett (IRL) 1912: Denis Horgan (IRL) 1913: Einar Nilsson SWE 1914: Armas Taipale FIN

1919–39	1919: Bertil Jansson SWE 1920: Raoul Paoli FRA 1921: Bertil Jansson SWE 1922: Ville Pörhölä FIN 1923: John Barrett IRL 1924: Reginald "Rex" Woods 1925: Herb Schwarze USA 1926: Reginald "Rex" Woods 1927: Georg Brechenmacher GER 1928: Édouard Duhour FRA 1929: József Darányi HUN 1930: Jules Noël FRA 1931: József Darányi HUN 1932: Harry Hart SAF 1933–34: Zygmunt Heljasz POL 1935–36: Aad de Bruyn NED 1937: Hans Woellke GER 1938: Angiolo Profeti ITA 1939: Aad de Bruyn NED

1946–59	1946: Aad de Bruyn NED 1947–48: David Guiney IRL 1949: John Giles 1950: Petar Šarčević YUG 1951: Gunnar Huseby ISL 1952–54: John Savidge 1955–56: Barclay Palmer 1957–59: Arthur Rowe

1960–present	1960–61: Arthur Rowe 1962: Jay Silvester USA 1963: Mike Lindsay 1964–65: Vilmos Varjú HUN 1966: Jan Botha RSA 1967: Dawid Booysen RSA 1968–69: Jeff Teale 1970–71: Les Mills NZL 1972–73: Geoff Capes 1974: Al Feuerbach USA 1975–79: Geoff Capes 1980: Brian Oldfield USA 1981–82: Mike Winch 1983: Mike Carter USA 1984: Mike Winch 1985–86: Billy Cole 1987: Paul Edwards 1988–89: Simon Williams 1990–92: Paul Edwards 1993: Matt Simson 1994: Paul Edwards 1995: Mark Proctor 1996: Matt Simson 1997: Steph Hayward 1998–99: Mark Proctor 2000: Steph Hayward 2001–02: Mark Proctor 2003–10: Carl Myerscough

References

↑ "Maurice Davin - Co-Founder of the G.A.A". Retrieved 2007-07-17.
1 2 3 4 Weeshie Fogarty. "A Short History of the GAA". Retrieved 2007-07-17.
1 2 "Maurice Davin". Retrieved 2007-07-17.
↑ Ó Riain, Séamus. Maurice Davin, (1842-1927): First President of the GAA. Geography Publications. ISBN 0-906602-25-4. the rock on which the Association survived turbulent waves

Preceded by New position	President of the Gaelic Athletic Association 1884-1887	Succeeded by Edward Bennet
Preceded by Edward Bennet	President of the Gaelic Athletic Association 1888-1889	Succeeded by Peter Kelly

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 36166119 LCCN: n95080076

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