Jarlath Burns, GAA President: Keynote Address at the American Conference for Irish Studies
Please note that this event takes place at the University of Notre Dame. Times are in EST.
This event is free and open to the public, sponsored by Notre Dame Dublin and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies. Please note that attendance for ACIS registrants is guaranteed, but capacity may be limited for public audiences. Arrive early to avoid disappointment.
Jarlath Burns, president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), will deliver the opening keynote address at the American Conference for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame on Thursday, September 24th. This event will take place from 5:00 - 6:15 pm, in the McKenna Hall Auditorium.
A drinks and bites reception will follow in the McKenna Hall Gallery.
This event is free and open to the public, sponsored by Notre Dame Dublin and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies.
About Jarlath Burns
Jarlath Burns became the 41st President of the GAA since 1884 when he succeeded Larry McCarthy of New York at GAA Annual Congress, held in the Canal Court Hotel in Newry, on February 24, 2024.
A member of the Silverbridge GAA Club in Armagh, Jarlath has served his club, county, and province with distinction on and off the field.
He was his club’s secretary at the time of his election and inauguration and served the club in a multitude of roles over several decades. He will continue in the role of club secretary during his term.
On the field, Jarlath played with Armagh for 13 seasons and was midfield and captain when they won the Ulster senior football title in 1999 – their first Anglo Celt Cup since 1982. Prior to that, he was a part of the St Mary’s team which captured the Sigerson Cup in 1989. During his school years he attended St Colman’s College in Newry, a place where Association founder Michael Cusack had taught prior to the foundation of the GAA.
As an administrator at national level, he served as chair of the inaugural Players’ Committee in 2000 and was chair of the GAA’s 125th anniversary committee in 2009 and Scór Naisiúnta. He has served as Armagh’s Central Council delegate as well as sitting on the GAA’s Medical and Scientific Committee and Pitch Presentation group, and the Standing Committee on Playing Rules.
Passionate about the Irish language and a fluent speaker, he has been a prominent co-commentator on TG4 for many years. Jarlath is a secondary schoolteacher and as Principal of St Paul’s in Bessbrook in Armagh has overseen its growth to a student population of 1,800.
He is the first former senior inter-county player to be Uachtarán CLG since Kilkenny’s Nickey Brennan (2006-2009) and is the first official from a club in the Six Counties to lead the Association since Fermanagh’s Peter Quinn (1991-1994).
Having been runner-up to Larry McCarthy three years earlier, Jarlath was elected on the first count at the Uachtarán Tofa election in Croke Park held at GAA Congress in 2023, claiming 158 of the 277 votes available. Born in 1968, he is married to Suzanne, and they have five children.
He is the second Armagh man to be GAA President after Alf Murray held the position from 1964-1967. Jarlath’s term of office will run until February 2027.
About the conference
The 2026 American Conference for Irish Studies Midwest and South Regional meetings will take place on the iconic University of Notre Dame Campus, September 24 - 27, 2026.
The theme of the meeting is "Irish Studies On The Ground: Place, Presence and Community." The theme acts on a literal and figurative level, wherein papers will focus on physical space and geography as well as on actions and perspective shifts engendered by active involvement within communities.