Derry GAA is mourning the loss of Liam Hinphey senior, a former player, manager and selector with the county’s senior hurling and football teams, as well as hugely influential member of the Kevin Lynch’s hurling club in Dungiven.

In a statement, Derry GAA paid tribute Hinphey’s dedication to hurling in particular in the Oak Leaf county, at club and county level:

“Liam Hinphey Snr transformed hurling in the Dungiven area, and then the county, when he took up a full-time teaching post at the local school in the mid-60s.

“Local legend tells us that the uncasing of two sealed bags of hurls discovered by Hinphey in a school cupboard led to the beginning of one of the richest fifty year histories within the ancient game.

“Liam Hinphey played for and managed Derry hurling teams and was a selector when the county's senior footballers claimed back-to-back Ulster titles in 1975 and 1976.

Read more: Starting out from a different place: The Liam Hinphey story

“Born in Derry, raised in Kilkenny, his gift to the GAA and our community was a life spent promoting and developing Gaelic games. Our challenge is to follow his example.

“We offer our sympathies to Liam's wife, Mary K, daughter Emer, sons Kevin, Kieran and Liam, and to all his family and friends.

“A giant of a man with a personality to match, Liam Hinphey's legacy will endure for generations to come.

“Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.”