Cork camogie star Hannah Looney, Armagh footballer Niall Grimley and Dublin football great David Hickey were among the winners at Friday night’s Gaelic Writers’ Association awards at the Iveagh Garden Hotel in the capital.
Clare hurler John Conlon and Kerry footballer Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh were also honoured on a night when Munster GAA’s Dermot ‘Weeshie’ Lynch was named PRO of the year for 2024.
The recently retired journalist Seán McGoldrick was honoured with a lifetime achievement award.
Grimley, Conlon, Looney and Ní Mhuircheartaigh were all recognised with personality of the year awards in their respective codes.
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Hickey, Tom Dempsey (Wexford), Kitty Ryan Savage (Tipperary) and Ciara Gaynor (Tipperary) were inducted into the GWA Hall of Fame.
Hickey won three All-Irelands for the transformative Dublin side of the 1970s and also played semi-professional rugby in France.
He was later selector and team doctor for the Dublin team and has campaigned on a range of issues including Palestine, where he is involved with ‘Gaels Against Genocide’.
Dempsey was a star turn on Wexford’s 1996 All-Ireland winning side and has since forged a career with RTÉ as a highly respected analyst.
Kitty Ryan Savage was an All-Ireland winning captain in 1974 and her induction marks 50 years since that historic occasion.
Gaynor is a five-time All-Ireland winner with Tipperary. A daughter of another Premier legend and 2021 GWA Hall of Fame inductee, Len, in recent years she has again demonstrated her incredible drive by competing in ironman contests at the triathlon world championships.
McGoldrick, the former Sunday World GAA correspondent and Irish Press writer, has covered Gaelic football, hurling, boxing, athletics and many more sports through a long career as a journalist.
He has written several acclaimed books, including the autobiographies of Pat Spillane and Jimmy Magee, a history of the Dublin Marathon, and Punching Above Their Weight, an in-depth account of Ireland’s Olympic success in boxing.
The full list of winners from the Gaelic Writers’ Association (GWA) Awards are:
Football Personality of the Year – Niall Grimley (Armagh)
Ladies Football Personality of the Year – Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh
Hurling Personality of the Year – John Conlon (Clare)
Camogie Personality of the Year – Hannah Looney (Cork)
Football Hall of Fame – David Hickey (Dublin)
Ladies Football Hall of Fame – Kitty Ryan Savage (Tipperary)
Hurling Hall of Fame – Tom Dempsey (Wexford)
Camogie Hall of Fame – Ciara Gaynor (Tipperary)
PRO of the Year – Dermot ‘Weeshie’ Lynch (Kerry and Munster)
Lifetime Achievement Award – Seán McGoldrick
