Munster Rugby’s ‘driving force’ Dr Garrett Fitzgerald passes away

MUNSTER Rugby’s ‘driving force’ Dr Garrett Fitzgerald has passed away.

Garrett, who served as Munster CEO for 20 years, passed away this Friday evening following an illness.

He retired from his position as CEO in June of 2019.

Dr Fitzgerald was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Limerick in December 2019. In a tribute, Munster Rugby said: “Munster Rugby would like to extend their deepest sympathies to his wife Áine, children Megan, Jamie and Michael, and the extended O’Donnell-Fitzgerald family.”

He was the first CEO appointed to the province and was the longest-serving provincial chief executive in Irish rugby. During those 20 years, he spearheaded the province’s remarkable rise in the professional era and oversaw some of the club’s greatest achievements, both on and off the field.

Landmark events under his stewardship include winning two European Cups and three Pro14 (or equivalent) League titles and the redevelopment of Munster’s two designated home grounds – Irish Independent Park, formerly Musgrave Park, and Thomond Park, the club’s spiritual home.

Hailing from Knockraha in County Cork, Dr Fitzgerald enjoyed early rugby success as a student at Christian Brothers College, Cork, where he won a Munster Schools Senior Cup medal in the 1970s.

Funeral details to be announced