Liam Griffin
Encyclopedia
Liam Griffin is a retired Irish
hurling
manager
and former player. He played hurling
at various times with his local clubs Rosslare and Newmarket-on Fergus with the Wexford
and Clare
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
and Nicky Rackard Cup
for weaker hurling counties. In 2009 he was named in the Sunday Tribune
's list of the 125 Most Influential People In GAA History.
, County Wexford
in 1945 or 1947. His parents ran a guesthouse in the town before buying a small hotel nearby in the late 1950s. Griffin was educated locally and later worked in his parents’ hotel. In the 1960s he became the first member of his family to study hotel management at the Shannon College of Hotel Management and he later spent a decade working in various hotels in Wales
, Switzerland
and Ireland
. In the 1970s Griffin left the hotel industry and joined Bord Fáilte to gain experience in the wider tourism industry. He later returned to buy his parents hotel in Rosslare at the end of the decade and began building up his business empire. By the start of the 2000s the Griffin Group, run by Liam and two of his sons, controlled three hotels across the south-east coast of Ireland.
After finishing his playing and managerial careers in hurling Griffin later served as a pundit with RTÉ
's The Sunday Game
. In 2008 he became part of the analysis team on TV3's championship coverage and has been a regular hurling analyst on The Breakfast Show and The Right Hook
on Newstalk radio for a number of years.
with his local club in Rosslare and had some juvenile success. After moving to Clare in the 1960s he joined the Newmarket-on Fergus club. Here he played a key role in helping the club win three senior county titles in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
minor team. He later played with the Clare
under-21 team, however, he enjoyed little success with 'the Banner county.' Griffin didn't continue playing after the under-21 grade.
in the National Hurling League
while the team's championship preparations did not go to plan either. Liam Dunne
, the team captain, played a club match for Oulart-the Ballagh
before the Leinster semi-final and was duly stripped of the captaincy. This caused tensions between some of the players and Griffin. The first outing in the championship saw Wexford fall by seven points to Offaly
and Griffin was put under severe pressure.
’s All-Ireland victory in 1995 spurred on the so-called ‘weaker counties’ and Griffin tried to get his players to believe in themselves. Griffin’s motivational techniques paid off as Wexford defeated Offaly to capture their first Leinster
title in nearly twenty years. Wexford later qualified to play in the All-Ireland final where Limerick
, the defeated finalists of 1994, provided the opposition. The Munstermen were slight favourites going into the match, however, Griffin’s side led by a point at half-time in spite of being reduced to fourteen players. The team hung on in the second-half to clinch a 1-13 to 0-14 victory, their first All-Ireland
in twenty-eight years.
In spite of guiding his native-county to an emotional championship title Griffin decided to retire as manager at the start of 1997 due to personal issues.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
manager
Manager (Gaelic games)
In Gaelic games, a manager or coach is an individual involved in the direction and instruction of the on-field operations of a team. Managing, or coaching, entails the application of sport tactics and strategies during the game itself, and usually entails substitution of players and other such...
and former player. He played hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
at various times with his local clubs Rosslare and Newmarket-on Fergus with the Wexford
Wexford GAA
The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...
and Clare
Clare GAA
The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....
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
Christy Ring Cup
The Christy Ring Cup is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 2005 for middle-ranking hurling teams in Ireland....
and Nicky Rackard Cup
Nicky Rackard Cup
The Nicky Rackard Cup is a competition for the Tier 3 hurling teams of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The tournament is organised by the [Gaelic Athletic Association]] and is played during the summer months with the final being played in Croke Park, Dublin...
for weaker hurling counties. In 2009 he was named in the Sunday Tribune
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 tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady, Vincent Browne,...
's list of the 125 Most Influential People In GAA History.
Biography
Liam Griffin was born in RosslareRosslare Strand
Rosslare Strand, or simply Rosslare , is a village and Seaside resort in County Wexford, Ireland. The name Rosslare Strand is used to distinguish it from the nearby community of Rosslare Harbour, site of the Rosslare Europort....
, County Wexford
County Wexford
County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wexford. In pre-Norman times it was part of the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig, whose capital was at Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local...
in 1945 or 1947. His parents ran a guesthouse in the town before buying a small hotel nearby in the late 1950s. Griffin was educated locally and later worked in his parents’ hotel. In the 1960s he became the first member of his family to study hotel management at the Shannon College of Hotel Management and he later spent a decade working in various hotels in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. In the 1970s Griffin left the hotel industry and joined Bord Fáilte to gain experience in the wider tourism industry. He later returned to buy his parents hotel in Rosslare at the end of the decade and began building up his business empire. By the start of the 2000s the Griffin Group, run by Liam and two of his sons, controlled three hotels across the south-east coast of Ireland.
After finishing his playing and managerial careers in hurling Griffin later served as a pundit with RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
's The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ Two every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ Two’s longest-running shows, having been on air since 1979, one year after the channel first...
. In 2008 he became part of the analysis team on TV3's championship coverage and has been a regular hurling analyst on The Breakfast Show and The Right Hook
The Right Hook
The Right Hook is a late afternoon to early evening talk programme broadcast on the Dublin, Ireland-based national Newstalk commercial radio station, and hosted by George Hook....
on Newstalk radio for a number of years.
Club
Griffin played his early club hurlingHurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
with his local club in Rosslare and had some juvenile success. After moving to Clare in the 1960s he joined the Newmarket-on Fergus club. Here he played a key role in helping the club win three senior county titles in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
Inter-county
Griffin first came to prominence on the inter-county scene with the WexfordWexford GAA
The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...
minor team. He later played with the Clare
Clare GAA
The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....
under-21 team, however, he enjoyed little success with 'the Banner county.' Griffin didn't continue playing after the under-21 grade.
Wexford
In spite of cutting his inter-county hurling career short Griffin became interested in coaching. Since the early 1970s he coached juvenile teams in the Wexford area and in the early 1990s he completed a diploma in sport psychology. In 1994 Griffin was appointed manager of the Wexford senior inter-county team, however, he wasn't the county board's first choice for the post. He had earlier stood for election as manager of the Wexford minor team and was defeated twice. Fate played a hand in Griffin taking the senior managerial position as some of the earlier favourites withdrew from the race and he got the job. Wexford hurling was in the doldrums at the time as the team hadn’t won a senior All-Ireland title since 1968 or a senior Leinster title since 1977.1995: First season
Griffin’s first season in charge in 1995 saw little in the way of improvement. In spite of introducing a strict diet and training regime his side were beaten by the minnows of MeathMeath GAA
The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath inter-county teams.- Pre-1960s :...
in the National Hurling League
National Hurling League
The National Hurling League is an annual hurling competition between the county teams of Ireland. Contested by 35 teams , it operates on a system of promotion and relegation between four different divisions, with Division One...
while the team's championship preparations did not go to plan either. Liam Dunne
Liam Dunne
Liam Dunne is an Irish retired hurler and is the current manager of the Wexford senior hurling team.Regarded as one of Wexford's all-time greats, Dunne enjoyed a senior inter-county career that spanned three decades...
, the team captain, played a club match for Oulart-the Ballagh
Oulart the Ballagh
Oulart the Ballagh are a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Wexford. Oulart have won the Wexford Senior Hurling Championship on six occasions, most recently in 2007. Their main rivals are Buffer's Alley...
before the Leinster semi-final and was duly stripped of the captaincy. This caused tensions between some of the players and Griffin. The first outing in the championship saw Wexford fall by seven points to Offaly
Offaly GAA
The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...
and Griffin was put under severe pressure.
1996: Leinster and All-Ireland successes
In 1996 Griffin made wholesale changes throughout the team and enforced his new training regime. ClareClare GAA
The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....
’s All-Ireland victory in 1995 spurred on the so-called ‘weaker counties’ and Griffin tried to get his players to believe in themselves. Griffin’s motivational techniques paid off as Wexford defeated Offaly to capture their first Leinster
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
The Leinster GAA Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1888 for the top hurling teams in the province of Leinster in Ireland....
title in nearly twenty years. Wexford later qualified to play in the All-Ireland final where Limerick
Limerick GAA
The Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick...
, the defeated finalists of 1994, provided the opposition. The Munstermen were slight favourites going into the match, however, Griffin’s side led by a point at half-time in spite of being reduced to fourteen players. The team hung on in the second-half to clinch a 1-13 to 0-14 victory, their first All-Ireland
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....
in twenty-eight years.
In spite of guiding his native-county to an emotional championship title Griffin decided to retire as manager at the start of 1997 due to personal issues.