Mary Moran

Mary Moran (Máire Ní Mhóráin) was the 18th president of the Camogie Association, elected at the 1973 Congress in the Blarney Hotel in a run-off against Mary Lynch of Monaghan.

A native of Limerick city, she is the daughter of John and Frances Moran, fourth of a family of six (John, James, Brendan, Mary, Margaret and Anthony). When she moved to Cork at the age of 11 she at St Aloysius School (a prominent camogie nursery in those days) and was introduced to game for the first time.

She won Cork Colleges senior and junior championship medals with St Aloysius and played with Cork colleges against Dublin. She played Ashbourne Cup with UCC, and won Cork senior and junior championship medals with Old Aloysius Camogie Club, Aloysians (confined to past and present pupils of St Aloysius School). On being appointed to AIB, Enniscorthy she played with Kilcarry and won a Carlow County Championship medal. On being appointed to AIB, Dame St, she joined Dublin camogie side Celtic, winning Dublin senior league and championship medals.

She won an All Ireland medal and Munster senior championship medals for her adopted county of Cork, When as she says “unfortunately, Old Als went the way of all past pupil clubs” she joined St Finbarr’s as she wished to remain an affiliated member of the Camogie Association and became secretary of the club.

She trained Cork to two All Ireland titles 1972 and 1973, an All Ireland Junior (two in the same afternoon), and two All Ireland Minor in 1975 and 1976. She became the first national camogie coach in 1976. With Ann Carroll in 1978 she wrote the first camogie coaching book Camogie and followed with a second one, The Coach in Action.

She chaired Cork County Camogie Board for ten years, 1968–77, and was President of Cork Camogie Board President of Cork County Board for five years, 1993–97. She was chairman of Munster Camogie Council for five years, 2002–06, secretary of Munster Colleges Council and secretary of All-Ireland Colleges Council for 32 years, 1969–2001, and trustee of the Camogie Association, 2006–2010.

When elected president in 1979, she engaged in the most ambitious programme for a president to date, travelling the length and breadth of the country to attend medals, functions and coaching courses.

During her presidency, in 1980 the first full-time camogie Ardstiúrthóir. Jo Golden, was appointed with a central office provided in Croke Park. In 1979 the 75th Anniversary was marked by the first Junior National League Final won by Kildare, an Idir-Ghaeltacht Competition and a banquet.

She is the author of Camogie Champions (1997), Gymfrocks and Headbands (1997) (History of Munster Colleges), A resounding Success (1998) (History of All-Ireland Colleges), Cork’s Camogie Story (2000) and Munster’s Camogie Story (2004). Her authoritative national history of the sport of camogie, A Game of Our Own: The History of Camogie, was published in 2011.