Lifetime Award for UCC’s Billy Morgan
Cork footballing legend Billy Morgan was honoured last month at the UCC Alumni Achievement Awards for his 50 years of service to UCC GAA at a special awards night at UCC.The award recognises the former Cork manager’s commitment to UCC GAA as a player-turned-manager in his development of young players and his drive in winning various footballing titles at the College.Mr. Morgan has enjoyed an illustrious career at UCC stemming back to 1965, where he was instrumental in the college winning the Sigerson Cup for the twelfth time, and again in 1966, a period described as the “golden years” for the College.After completing his BA in Arts and a Masters degree in Higher Education in 1968, Morgan’s focus returned to his club Nemo Rangers and to Cork GAA, where he won the 1973 All Ireland Senior Footballing Championship at both club and intercounty level. In a career spanning 50 years he has amassed five further All Ireland medals and 9 Munster titles, including one All Star and five Railway Cup medals. Most recently Billy Morgan was the mastermind behind UCC’s 21st Sigerson title in 2014, where the college beat University of Ulster in Belfast. Mr. Morgan is one of the stand-out figures of GAA in UCC and Cork, having nurtured the careers of many future Cork Stars such as James Masters, Paul Kerrigan and Stephen Cronin, as well as other intercounty stars from Kerry and Tipperary.Speaking on the award; UCC Footballing Club President Dr. Con Murphy was ecstatic at the award for Mr. Morgan, commenting that “fifty years after he started with UCC, Billy’s enthusiasm, his desire to add value to the lives of young footballers in the college, his will to win and his continued desire to contribute substantially to college life sets him apart as an extraordinary figure in the history of UCC Gaelic Football Club.”For Mr. Morgan attention now turns back to the 2017 Sigerson Cup campaign for UCC, and the 2017 Cork Senior Footballing Championship following an impressive preseason in the Higher Education League.Other awardees on the night included: Barnardos CEO and political campaigner Fergus Finlay; RTE broadcaster Donncha Ó Dúlaing; biochemist Richard Palmer, who is credited for leading the way for IVF reproductive treatment; and Emeritus Professor in UCD Anne Buttimer.The event was sponsored by Boston Scientific, Bank of Ireland, Henry Ford & Son and PwC, and was organised by the UCC Development and Alumni Office.