TIPPERARY GAA HAVE appointed Murtagh Brennan as the county’s new CEO/head of operations.

An officer in the Defence Forces for the last 20 years, Castleiney native Brennan competed at all levels for his club, Loughmore-Castleiney, in both football and hurling, and played third-level GAA with UL.

Brennan was both a coach and strength-and-conditioning trainer with the Loughmore-Castleiney senior football and hurling teams in 2020 and 2021, which culminated in a remarkable double county final win last November.

He has also previously fulfilled the role of strength and conditioning coach with the Westmeath minor footballers, Rathcoffey’s senior footballers in Kildare, and across Castledaly GAA Club in Westmeath.

A Tipp statement added that Brennan’s “participation in training Defence Forces teams and athletes at participant and elite levels across a myriad of disciplines further proves that his life is immersed in sport, most particularly GAA.”

He is currently an assistant director/deputy commanding officer for the 120th Irish-Polish Battalion in Lebanon, and manages 564 multi-national soldiers serving in the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in the Middle Eastern State.

Brennan graduated from UL with an honours degree in Sports Science and later completed a masters in Sports Management at UCD.

Tipperary GAA chairman Joe Kennedy described Brennan as “an excellent appointment for Tipperary GAA”, adding that “Murtagh has vast experience from his previous positions with the Defence Forces and the GAA, we are delighted to have someone of Murtagh’s calibre on board with Tipperary GAA.

“The county committee look forward to working with Murtagh in continuing to develop Gaelic games in our county and wish him the best of luck as CEO.”

Brennan will begin his work in the role on 1 January.