ALTHOUGH he had to wait until last year's congress in London to secure the presidency of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the eyes of nearly everybody it was the previous election in 1993 that elected Joe McDonagh.
In that election, at the age of 39, he created a major surprise by running Jack Boothman so close and completely eclipsing another of the favourites, Tipperary's Michael Maher.
"A lot of us had it in mind that Joe should run," says John Prenty, secretary of the Connacht Council and one of McDonagh's closest associates, "but maybe not so soon."
The GAA was said to have selected two presidents that day and so it proved when, three years later, McDonagh defeated Sean McCague from Monaghan to become the youngest president this century of Ireland's largest sporting organisation. His sole Galway predecessor, Peter Kelly, had been a few weeks younger than McDonagh when elected in 1889.
He is also the first president to be a registered player and he continues to hurl with Ballindereen. At the end of last year he fulfilled a life long ambition to win a county medal, when his club won the Galway Junior C championship. McDonagh's teenage son Eoin played on the same team.
An exuberant personality who radiates a cultural joie de vivre, sometimes lacking in the sterner traditions of Gaeldom, McDonagh may surprise with the tightness of his focus in office. He feels free to prioritise the games and his administrative experience has placed great emphasis on coaching.
As GAA president, McDonagh's powers are limited the presidency is not an executive position despite its workload. The impact a president can make is confined to the projection of the association's image and the quality of his initiatives.
The workload, however, is enormous. GAA presidents keep on their jobs, and all their work for the association is voluntary. They are required to contribute to high level meetings on subjects as diverse as construction and television rights.
The GAA's world is changing at a faster rate than ever before. Competition for the leisure time allegiances of children is fierce and coaching programmes are being introduced all over the country.
Television coverage of football and hurling has undergone a radical change, with live broadcasts every Sunday during the summer. The prospect of more profound change being brought about by the rapidly evolving digital technology will raise questions about how the GAA can best disseminate its message and whether pay per view is to have a role in future broadcasting policy.
The redevelopment of Croke "Park continues, involving huge commitment of resources and potential government support, which in turn brings up the thorny matter of whether other sports should be allowed to lease it. McDonagh's views are unexceptionally conservative on Rule 21, the membership ban on members of the Northern security forces, and Rule 42, prohibiting other games on GAA pitches.
Born in Cortoon, near Tuam, to parents who were both national school teachers, he was reared in Ballindereen, also in Co Galway. His father is vice president of the Galway county board, an honorific title but one that extends his sequence of service to the county board to a 37th successive year.
A modest man, Maitias MacDonncha turned down the offer of county presidency earlier this year.
Of the features that define McDonagh's early years, hurling and the Irish language were the most prominent. A native speaker with a mellilluous command of the language, he is also, an accomplished orator.
He was one of the first generation of Galway children to be shaped by the work of the county's, Coiste Iomana, a hurling initiative set up by the GAA president Alf Murray and enthusiastically organised by McDonagh's father, among others.
This committee was responsible for Galway's transformation from a mainly footballing environment into one of the strongest hurling counties.
The young Joe played in a minor All Ireland final in 1970 (on the same team as future Irish rugby captain and coach Ciaran Fitzgerald) and won an All Ireland under 21 medal in 1972, the first major breakthrough by the county.
His senior career was blighted by a mysterious virus which confined him to hospital for a lengthy period. A distinguished hurler who won a All Star in 1976, McDonagh came out of hospital to captain Galway in the 1979 All Ireland, which they disappointingly lost.
When, a year later, the county finally won their first All Ireland since the 1920s, McDonagh was a substitute. But he became famous for taking the microphone and singing The West's Awake on what was an intensely emotional afternoon for the county.
This sense of showmanship has extended to taking the stage at Galway's Taibhdhearc theatre, and presenting a weekly programme in Irish on Galway Bay FM, where he also served as head of sport for a few years.
Like his parents and his wife Peggy, McDonagh is a teacher. Having graduated from UCG with a degree in Celtic Studies, he went on to teach in Colaiste Enda in Galway.
In recent years, he has become Adult Education Officer with the city and county VEC, promoting the Irish language. Whereas combining the presidency with teaching would have been impossible, his employers are understanding about his new role.