Niall Fitzgerald’s executive career was with Unilever for 37 years. He was an executive board member for 18 years and served respectively as Finance Director, Foods Director and Detergents Director until his appointment as Chairman and CEO in 1996; a position he held until 2004. During his Unilever career he worked and lived in Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa, the USA and the UK.

He has chaired a broad range of companies and public bodies. These include Reuters, Hakluyt, the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust, International Business Council, Conference Board, Investment Climate Facility for Africa, British Museum, the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TAB) and Advertising Association.

He was created an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002, and holds a number of Honorary Doctorates from American, British and Irish universities.

Tim O’Connor, formerly Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, former Secretary General to the Irish President, former Consul General of Ireland in New York, Chairman of ‘The Gathering’.

Enda Connellan was Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company for 33 years. He retired from this role in 2010.

He took up the post of President of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick in October 2011.  He was nominated by the colleges of education in Ireland to the Teaching Council of Ireland in April 2012. He is an internationally respected academic in the field of Pastoral Theology; he is particularly interested in the relationship between faith and praxis.  He is also a qualified Psychotherapist and studied at the London Institute of Psychosynthesis. He holds a BD from the Pontifical University of Maynooth, an MA from the University of London, and a PhD from the University of Surrey. In May 2013, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane letter (L.H.D) from De Sales University, Pennsylvania.

He is the editor of international journal, The Pastoral Review, which is published in London by The Tablet.  Prior to his appointment at Mary Immaculate College, he worked in pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Southwark, he taught in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Roehampton University, and was latterly Vice-Principal and Professor of Catholic Pastoral Studies at St. Mary’s University College, Strawberry Hill in Twickenham, London, where he had also been Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and the founding Head of the School of Theology, Philosophy, and History. He is a visiting professor at St Mary’s University College, London.

He is committed to world class provision of initial teacher education and continuing professional development. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). He is a member of the recently established Consultative Forum of Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI).

Keith Wood graduated from St Munchin’s College in 1989. He made his international debut in 1994 against Australia. He was capped 58 times for his country and five time for the Lions.

Conor Murray made his competitive debut for Munster against Connacht in the Magners League on 18^th April 2010. He made his European Cup debut for Munster against Northampton Saints on the 12^th November 2011. He was selected in the squad for 2013 victorious British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. He made his Ireland debut against France on 13^th August 2011. He has 86 caps for Munster, 47 caps for Ireland, and 2 for The British and Irish Lions. He won the Six Nations championship in 2014 and 2015.

Keith Earls currently plays for Munster and Ireland and has represented the Lions on the South African Tour 2009. He scored his first international try against Canada on his debut in Thomond Park. He also won the European Cup in 2008 and the Rabo-Direct Pro 12. He is currently Irelands top try scorer at Rugby World Cups.

Colm Galvin plays as a midfielder for the Clare senior hurling team. He joined the team during the championship in 2012. He is a 3 time All Ireland under 21 hurling champion.  In 2013 and 2014 he was named an all-star at under 21 level and  he was also named a senior all-star in 2013. He won an All Ireland senior hurling championship medal in 2013. At club level he plays for Clonlara.

Donal O’Grady made his senior debut in the 2004 championship and captained the Limerick Hurling Team in 2013 with whom he won a Munster Senior Hurling Medal. O’Grady has also lined out with Munster in a number of inter-provincial campaigns. In 2007 he was at midfield in his debut year when Munster defeated Connacht by 2-22 to 2-19 to take the Railway Cup title. O’Grady won a second inter-provincial medal in 2013 following Munster’s 1-22 to 0-15 defeat of Connacht.

Anthony Foley is a retired Irish rugby union player and current head coach of Munster. He played for Munster and Ireland.

Foley held a number of club and league records at the end of his Munster career. He held the record for most European caps (86), until it was beaten by John Hayes. He was the first Munster player to reach 200 caps and was the most capped player (with 202 caps), until Alan Quinlan overtook this record in September 2010. Foley still holds the record for most tries by a forward in the European Cup, with a total of 23. His career total of 39 tries for Munster placed him only two behind the all-time leader Anthony Horgan.

Barry Murphy was a member of our Junior Cup winning team of 1998. He played for Munster for 8 years during 2003 to 2011. He has 73 caps for Munster scoring 75 points and won the European Cup with Munster in 2006. He played for Ireland for 2 years during  2007 to 2009 scoring 5 points. He scored a try against the all blacks when they played at Thomond Park in 2008. He is now a member of Irish band Hermitage Green.

Bill Mulcahy represented UL Bohemians R.F.C. University College Dublin R.F.C., Bective Rangers, Skerries RFC, Leinster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions.

Colm Tucker toured south Africa in 1980 with the British and Irish lions during a period when at club level he was representing Shannon RFC. He was caped 3 times for Ireland and twice for the lions where he played flanker.

Damien Varley scored two tries as Munchin’s won the Munster Schools Senior Cup final in 2002. He made his senior debut for Munster as a replacement in a Celtic League fixture against Ospreys on 5th May 2006. He has 121 caps for Munster and 3 for Ireland and was selected in Ireland’s squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Denis Hurley made his Munster debut against Llanelli Scarlets in May 2006, in a Celtic League fixture. He sprung to notice when he was preferred to Shaun Payne at fullback in Munster’s 2007–08 European Cup quarter-final clash with Gloucester. He stayed at fullback for the semi-final against Saracens, and started in the 2008 Cup Final against Toulouse, which Munster won 16–13.

Hurley was part of the Munster team that won the Celtic League in the 2008–09 season, and again in the 2010–11 season. He also started for Munster in their historic 15–6 victory against Australia in November 2010. He was on the wing for Munster A in their 31–12 2011–12 British and Irish Cup Final victory against Cross Keys in April 2012. He captained Munster in the 2015 Pro12 Grand Final against Glasgow Warriors.
He made his Ireland debut against USA on 31 May 2009 in Santa Clara and was also Ireland A’s right-winger when they won the 2009 Churchill Cup. He played for Ireland Wolfhounds against Scotland A in January 2011 and against England Saxons in February 2011 and was called-up to Ireland’s 2011 Six Nations Championship squad. He was selected in the Ireland Wolfhounds squad for their games against the England Saxons in January 2012, which again earned him a call-up to the full Irish squad, for the 2012 Six Nations Championship.

Donnacha Ryan won the Munster Schools Senior Cup for St Munchin’s in 2002 (alongside Damien Varley). He is also a member of Shannon Rugby Football Club where he won an AIL league medal in the 2005-6 season. He plays Lock/Flanker for Munster where he has 146 caps. He represented Irelands youth at U18 and U21 level and made his debut for the National team in 2008 against Argentina. Donnacha was on the Munster team that won the Celtic League twice in a row between seasons 2008/9 and 2010/11. He also won the European cup with them in season 2007/8.

Jerry Flannery played Hooker for Munster and Ireland. Flannery retired in March 2012 due to injury problems and now works as coach in the Munster set up. Jerry played 93 times for Munster and 41 for Ireland winning 2 European cups in 2006 and 2008 while winning the Grand slam with Ireland in 2009.Jerry was also selected for the Lions tour to South Africa in 2009 but due to injury was unable to take part.

Jeremy Staunton played for Munster up until 2004 making 58 appearances for and scoring 358 points along the way. He moved to English side Harlequins for one season making 25 appearances and scoring 212 points before moving to London Wasps in 2005 making 53 appearances and scoring 184 points. He also spent a year on loan at London Irish in 2007 and played 6 times scoring 21 points. He then moved to Leicester Tigers until he retired in 2012. He played 5 times for the Ireland senior team scoring 21 points. He won the Celtic League once with Munster, won the Anglo-Welsh cup with Wasps, as well as the European Cup in 2007 and the English Premiership three times.

Philip Danaher played for Garryowen (as captain), Lansdowne, Munster and won 28 caps between 1988 and 1995 for Ireland. He made his international debut against Scotland on January 16, 1988 and captained the team 3 times, including the 1992 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand.

He was a squad member in the Five Nations Championship from 1988 to 1990 and 1992 to 1995 and in tours to France 1988, North America 1989, New Zealand 1992 and Australia 1994. He retired in 1996 following a serious thumb injury. He was later assistant coach on tours to South Africa 1998 and Australia 1999.

George Clancy  is an international rugby referee. He has played with Bruff RFC. On his international debut in 2008 he took charge of England’s clash with Barbarians at Twickenham but his first proper Test was South Africa versus Italy later. His Six Nations bow arrived the following year with the meeting of France and Scotland in Paris. He also officiated at 2011 and 2014 Rugby World Cups and currently is on the IRB international referring panel.

David McHugh is an international Rugby Union Test referee. He has refereed matches at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cups, as well as refereeing the finals of the 1996 and 2001 European Cups. He officiated at his first international game in 1994.

Eamon ‘Ned’ Rea  played as a full-forward for the Limerick senior team and joined the team during the 1964 championship. He was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the 1974 championship. During that time he won one All-Ireland medal and two Munster medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

At club level he was a three-time county club championship medalist with Faughs. He began his career with Effin.

Frank O’Mara specialized in the 1500 and 3000 metres becoming World Indoor Champion at the latter twice. He ran for the University of Arkansas where he won the 1500 meter at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1983. He competed for the Irish national team in three Olympic Games – 1984 at Los Angeles, 1988 at Seoul and 1992 at Barcelona.

Niall O’Shaughnessy was one of our greatest milers ever. He was the youngest member of the athletics team at the Montreal Olympics where he competed in the 800 and 1500m. The previous year at 19 years of age he set the Irish record for 800m with a time of 1:46.79. In 1977, at just 21 years of age he set a European Indoor mile record with a time of 3:55.4. This was the second fastest time ever in the World.

While a student at St. Munchin’s College he set numerous North Munster and Munster records. He was runner-up in the 1973 Irish Schools 800m but went on to win the 800m at Catholic Student Games (FISEC) in Vittel, France. He accepted a scholarship to the University of Arkansas that year. At Arkansas, he was very successful both athletically and academically. He was runner-up in the US Colleges (NCAA) indoor mile twice and third in the outdoor 1500m. He still holds the Arkansas indoor school record.

He qualified for the 1980 Olympics with a time of 3:39 for the 1500m. He was conflicted about the US boycott of the Moscow games and subsequently declined his position on the team. He retired from athletics later that summer at 24 years of age.

Neil Cusack graduated from St Munchin’s College in 1970 having gained a scholarship to East Tennessee University. In 1974 at the age of 22 he won the Boston Marathon and remains the only Irish athlete to have done so. He represented Ireland at the Olympic Games twice, in 1972 in Munich and in 1976 in Montreal. In 1981 he won the Dublin Marathon.

Larry Moloney graduated from St Munchin’s College in 1969. His kicking defeated Rockwell in the 1968 Munster Schools Senior Cup final. Ten years later he played for Munster in the historic defeat of the All-Blacks in Thomond Park.
In his Rugby career, Larry played for Garryowen and Munster and was capped for Ireland.

Niall Collins is a Fianna Fáil politician and TD. He previously served as member of Limerick County Council for the Bruff Local electoral area. He was first elected to the council at the 2004 local elections. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election for the Limerick West constituency. He was elected on the 1st count and received the 9th highest vote in the country and the highest vote of any of the newcomers to the Dáil

John Gormley was the leader of the Green Party from 2007 to 2011, and was a TD for the Dublin South-East constituency from 1997 to 2011. He served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2007 to 2011. He was previously the party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Health and Children, and chairman of the party.

Kieran O’Donnell Fine Gael politician. He is a Senator and former TD for the Limerick City constituency.

He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2002 Seanad election. He was elected on his first attempt to Limerick County Council for the Castleconnell electoral area in 2004. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election.

In October 2007 O’Donnell was appointed party deputy spokesperson on Finance, with special responsibility for Freedom of Information, Procurement Reform and the Office of Public Works. As deputy spokesperson, O’Donnell was given the full Finance portfolio on an acting basis by Enda Kenny on 14 June 2010 when Kenny sacked Richard Bruton.

Kieran O’Hanlon is the Mayor of Limerick City & County Council (2016/17). This is the second time that he has served in the position. He is a Fianna Fail Councillor for Limerick City.

Fergal Lawlor created The Cranberries in 1990 with Noel and Mike Hogan. Lead singer Dolores O’Riordan later joined the band.

The Cranberries’ debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? (and the singles, “Dreams” and “Linger”), released in 1993, gained very little attention. However, after the band started touring, MTV began regularly playing their videos. In 1994 they released No Need to Argue with a more streamlined sound. Within one year, the album went triple platinum.

The Cranberries third album, To the Faithful Departed, highlighted elements of rock more than the previous albums and went double platinum. After releasing Bury the Hatchet in 1999, The Cranberries embarked on their most successful world tour to date. Their next album, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, also did well and sold 1.5 million copes.

For Barry Murphy music did not become a first priority until he retired from his career in professional rugby in 2011. Throughout this ten year period he played for Munster and Ireland. He retired aged 29 as a result of an injury, this was in some ways a catalyst for Hermitage Green coming together – as at this point he began organising jam sessions with the then would-be members of the band. These sessions enabled him to adapt his guitar playing to suit the bass and took on the roll of singer/bass player in the band.

Daniel Murphy plays guitar, dobro, five string banjo, harmonica, piano and didgeridoo with Hermitage Green. His early influences were in metal, rock and classical music. He studied music and media in the University of Limerick where his interests broadened to folk and bluegrass styles. After becoming immersed in playing dobro, he travelled to Kolkata in India and spent time studying under world renowned Hindustani slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya.

He is a keen sportsman – holding an All Ireland medal in kickboxing, and in 2012 won the light heavyweight Munster boxing title.

Sean O’Riada was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figure in the revival of Irish traditional music during the 1960s.

His career began as a music director at Radio Éireann from 1954, after which he worked at the Abbey Theatre from 1955 to 1962. He lectured in music at University College Cork from 1963 until his death in 1971. He became a household name in Ireland through his participation in Ceoltóirí Chualann, compositions, writings and broadcasts. His best-known pieces in the classical tradition include Nomos No. 1: Hercules Dux Ferrariae(1957), but he became particularly famous for his film scores Mise Éire (1959).

Michael Collins (born 1964) is a novelist and international ultra-distance runner. His novel The Keepers of Truth was shortlisted for the 2000 Booker Prize. He has also won the Irish Novel of the Year Award and theLucien Barriere Literary Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival. Collins is a graduate of Oxford University. 

A former member of the Irish National Team for the 100k distance (62.2 miles) he holds the Irish national masters record over the 100k distance. As captain of the Irish National Team in 2010 he won a bronze medal at the World 100k Championships held in Gibraltar. He has also won The 100-mile Himalayan Stage Race and also The Mount Everest Challenge Marathon, along with The Last Marathon in Antarctica, and The North Pole Marathon.