Leevale is sad to announce the death of another Leevale great and former chairman Liam Murphy who passed away last Saturday night, aged 80 years.
Liam was a founder member of Leevale. Prior to that he competed and acted as an administrator for Hilltown athletic club. Hilltown AC merged with Fr. Matthews AC to form Leevale in 1967. In that year, with the formation of BLE, international athletics was opened up to Cork athletes for the first time since the 1930s. Liam was a firm advocate of the formation of a strong club in Cork, which would cater for all aspects of our sport. He saw the merger and the formation of Leevale as being the ideal vehicle to achieve this aim. In the late 60s he was elected chairman of Leevale and acted in this position into the mid 1970s. Older members of the club will remember that he was, initially, the “reluctant” chairman. However, having accepted the position he attacked the job with gusto. During his period as chairman he initiated the setting up a Grounds Committee with a view to getting a permanent home for the club. This aim was ultimately achieved with the purchase of a property in Blackrock Road in 1976. As an athletic administrator he was well known for his organizational ability and his no nonsense no fuss approach to getting the job done.
When he gave up his administrative role he remained a great supporter of the club. He would attend some cross country races. He always kept up to date with the newspapers and read with pride the exploits of the current generation of Leevale athletes. Our club would not exist today were it not for the vision of people like Liam.
Liam’s death follows shortly after that of 3 other former Club Chairmen: John Smyth, Joe O’Flynn and Bernard Walley. We are sad to be saying goodbye to another Leevale stalwart. He will be missed by all of us who knew him.
We extend our deepest sympathies, to his wife Pauline, son Tony daughters Mary, Kathleen, Olive and Geraldine
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis
Chairman Leevale AC
Liam Horgan