Rugby duo awarded for dedication to the sport
Father and son Jerry and Billy Holland have been honoured for their decades of contribution to rugby.
The former Munster Rugby players have been awarded the latest Cork Persons of the Month award for May.
Jerry Holland as a player, coach and manager helped transition rugby from its amateur era to the present professional one and together. He was also Munster head coach from 1994-1997, during which time the team won IRFU Interprovincial Championship twice and all Heineken Cup home games. Jerry also managed the Ireland A team in 1998, and Munster from 2000-2008, seeing the team win the Heineken Cup in 2006 and 2008, and has been Director of Rugby in Cork Constitution since 2010.
Meanwhile Billy has more than 245 caps, captained the Munster team 47 times and has been capped by Ireland. He will retire from professional rugby this summer.
In 2020, Billy and his wife Lanlih raised more than €500,000 for Crumlin Children’s Hospital, CUH Children’s Wards and the Ronald McDonald House, in honour of their late daughter Emmeline.
Awards organiser Manus O’Callaghan said: “The Hollands are one of Cork’s great rugby families and have made a major contribution to Cork, Munster and Irish rugby over a very long period.”
They will go forward for possible selection as Cork Persons of the Year.