Death announced of former Camogie President Liz Howard

Tipperary GAA and the wider Gaelic Games family is in mourning after the sad passing of former Camogie President and trailblazer Liz Howard.

Howard became PRO of the Tipperary County Board in 1980.

It was a watershed moment as she became the first woman appointed to the GAA board of the county where the association was born in 1884.

Later in life, she again broke new ground and made history again by being appointed the first female analyst for both hurling and football in RTE's new The Sunday Game show.

She spent three years on the show, over two decades as Tipp PRO, and from 2006-09, Howard was elected president of the Camogie Association.

Born into a strong GAA family, her father, Garrett, won five All-Ireland senior hurling medals, three with his native Limerick and two with Dublin.

Howard and her siblings were born in Deerpark, Carrick-on-Suir. Later the family moved to Clare, where she, and her sisters, Pat and Jo, started a camogie club in Feakle. Both Liz and Joe played for Clare and Tipperary.

Howard won a county championship with Roscrea, a Munster championship with Tipperary, as well as the inaugural National League in 1977.

She joined the Celtic Club in Dublin, winning two club championships and two Leinster junior championships in the 1970s.

In 2006, she was elected the 27th President of the Camogie Association in which she focused on the development of the game and the raising of its profile.

Howard served on national GAA committees, including policy and planning, presentation and awards, which she chaired, and increased participation, which set the groundwork for the integration of all three Gaelic associations.

In 2007, Howard was selected as Tipperary Person of the Year by the Tipperary Association in Dublin.

She was selected as Sport Ireland Volunteer of the Year in 2009.

Later, she was appointed to Sport Ireland anti-drugs disciplinary panel.

In 2022, Howard was awarded a Laochra Gael by Tipperary GAA for her service to Gaelic Games.

In her working life, she had a long and very successful career in Aer Lingus as ground and cabin crew before moving to human resources, where she trained and specialised in all aspects of recruitment.

Later, she was manager of the cabin crew on the European Operation.

Behind the scenes, Howard was a huge supporter of all those involved with Tipperary GAA and the wider Gaelic Games family across the county and country, going out of her way to help players, administrators and management teams off the field.

A passionate supporter of her county across all four codes, her creed was: 'Tipperary is bigger than any of us!’

Uachtarán an Chumainn Camógaíochta, Brian Molloy expressed his condolences: "On behalf of the Camogie Association, I would like to share my sympathies with Liz's family, her many friends, former colleagues and the wider Gaelic games community on her passing.

RTÉ Archives: The Sunday Game begins in 1979 with Liz Howard as pundit

"Liz Howard was one of the great servants of our Association, someone who dedicated decades of her life to the promotion and development of camogie at club, county and national level. Her contribution to our sport was immense.

"Liz brought passion, intelligence and enormous energy to every role she held. She was a proud advocate for camogie and for women in sport, and her leadership helped strengthen and modernise the Association during an important period in its history.

"She will also be remembered as a deeply respected figure within Gaelic games, whose love for Camogie and hurling shone through in everything she did.

"Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis."

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