Dr. Liam Hennessy is the Academic Director of Setanta College. He is a qualified Physical Education teacher, Exercise Physiologist and Strength & Conditioning Coach. He has spent over 20 years working full-time in sport.

Liam was previously the Director of Fitness with the Irish Rugby Football Union, a position he commenced in 2000. At the IRFU he headed a staff of 24 full time coaches. His role was to develop a world class system of player support within the areas of Strength and Conditioning, Injury Rehabilitation, Sport Nutrition and Medical Care.

Liam is also Fitness Coach to Padraig Harrington having worked with Padraig for over a decade now.

He gained his undergraduate degree in Physical Education and English from Thomond College in 1981 and from there he completed his Master’s at Loughborough University before going on to complete a further Master’s in Clinical Physiology.

Liam was also an international athlete, competing over 50 times for Ireland at the Pole vault. After competing he became national jumps coach. Liam also had the distinction of being Irish team manager at the first world junior Athletic Championships in Athens in 1985.

In 1999/2000 the founder, Dr Brian Moore, began his doctoral research (investigating patterns of red blood cell production-under the supervision of Professor Craig Sharp) with a small cohort of some of the best endurance athletes in the world. This information was utilised in their preparations for the Sydney Olympiad and two of the medallists (1G, 1S). This work attracted the attention of the worlds’ premier sports science research facility, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Dr Moore led an AIS funded research expedition to the home of Kenyan running, Eldoret, in the rift valley and to training and competition venues around the world (USA, South Africa, Athens and Australia).

Consultancy work continued with the UK Athletics World Class Performance Plan and athletes of the calibre of Paula Radcliffe and Kelly Holmes and led to an appointment as project leader of the UK Sport global haematological profiling initiative. This role extended to support the British Swimming, British Triathlon, British Rowing and UK Athletics squads from which 6 Olympic medallists emerged at the Athens games 2004. In 2005 Dr Moore began working with the Olympic Sailing Squad and developed a number of innovative solutions, incorporating his previous experiences to optimise performance and support athletes competing at the highest level which culminated in nine Olympic medallists at Beijing 2008.

ORRECO was incorporated in November 2009 by Dr Brian Moore and Dr Andrew Hodgson.

Professor Ian Jeffreys is an internationally renowned coach, educator and author and is regarded as a world authority in the development of speed and agility and conditioning for team sports, where his unique Gamespeed system and RAMP warm-up protocols have been adopted by a wide range of coaches and organisations.

He is a Professor of strength and conditioning at the University of South Wales, where he co-ordinates all of the University strength and conditioning activities, as well as managing the strength and conditioning programmes for Cardiff City Football Club’s Academy.

Ian has been a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) since 1989. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT) with the NSCA, and has been re-certified with Distinction (*D) in all categories. He is also an Emeritus Registered Coach (RSCC*E) and a fellow of the NSCA.

Ian was a founder member of the UKSCA and was a board member with the organisation from its inception in 2004 through to 2013. He is a senior assessor and education tutor for the UKSCA and in 2015 was made an honorary fellow of the Association.

Ian is editor of Professional Strength and Conditioning the UKSCA Journal, and Associate Editor of the Strength and Conditioning Journal and Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning.

He has authored six books and numerous book chapters, and is a frequent presenter and coach around the world.

Coach Landow is highly sought after for his ability to analyze and correct biomechanics. His goal is to maximize human performance, while decreasing the likelihood of injury.

Loren has trained thousands of athletes of all ages and abilities, including over 400 professional athletes in the NFL, NHL, MLB, UFC, WNBA and Olympic medalist.

Coach Landow served as the Strength and Speed coach during the NFL lockout for over 20 Denver Bronco players and had over 45 professional NFL athletes train with him. He has worked with over 30 NFL All-Pro’s and over 20 first round draft selections in the NFL.

Coach Landow has been a National and International presenter for the leading organizations in the performance field, and also serves as a consultant for many professional and collegiate teams across the country.

Michael Fennelly is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a midfielder for the Kilkenny senior team. A member of the famous Fennelly hurling dynasty, he made his first appearance for the Kilkenny team during the 2006 championship and eventually became a regular member of the starting fifteen. Since then he has won seven All-Ireland medals, seven Leinster medals, five National League medals.

In 2009, Michael captained the team to a record-equalling fourth All-Ireland title.

Michael has a number of personal achievements. In addition to winning two All-Star awards, in 2011 he made a clean sweep of all the top individual awards, winning the All-Star and Texaco Hurler of the Year awards.

At club level, Michael Fennelly is a triple All-Ireland medalist with Ballyhale Shamrocks. He also has four Leinster and seven county club championship medals.

Des Ryan is the current Head of Sports Medicine & Athletic Development (Academy) for Arsenal FC.

Prior to his current role, Des worked for the IRFU as fitness education manager and his responsibilities were managing the Continued Professional Development (CPD) programme for IRFU Strength and Conditioning Coaches. His role included managing the fitness development structures for rugby players at Under 19 years of age and below. His responsibilities also included managing the Strength and Conditioning staff with the age grade international teams, Ireland women’s, club and A team. Previous to this Des worked for Connacht Rugby for 10 years as Head Fitness Advisor from 2000 to 2008. During this time Des has worked with the Ireland A rugby team for 3 years and assisted with the Ireland senior team.

Des has presented at many conferences over the past few years in Ireland and abroad including conferences run by the International Rugby Board (IRB) and the GAA’s national coaching development conference.

Claire Brady graduated from DCU with a BSc in Athletic Therapy & Training. Upon completion of her degree she focused on her sprinting career where she has competed at both World and European championships. She then completed a MSc in Sports Performance through the University of Limerick finishing top of her class. Her dissertation focused on whether the deficits seen in the FMS reflect those seen in dynamic movements.

Claire is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and her main areas of interest are human movement, injury prevention and performance.

Claire is delivering the Anatomy & Physiology and Speed & Endurance Development modules on the BSc Sports Strength and Conditioning programme in LIT Tipperary and is a tutor for the Speed Development module with Setanta College.

Damien is currently lecturing on the full time BSc Sports Strength and Conditioning course at LIT Thurles and has also been lecturing with Setanta College for the previous eight years. His main subject area is on Growth, Movement and Development. He has developed activities to improve a person’s fundamental and rudimentary movement skills, which are currently being used in a number of Primary Schools around Ireland. As a result of these activities Primary school teachers have commented on the student’s improvement in their overall physical movement ability and their academic performance.

Damien is currently involved in a number of research studies:

• Tracking physical activity and health status among teenagers
• Quantifying the physical activity levels of duel inter-county minor hurling and football players
• Quantifying the player’s physical training load prior to inter county minor and senior championship matches

Damien completed a research Masters on the Physiological Demands of Inter County and Inter Club hurling using GPS technology. This was the first ever study which quantified the physiological playing demands of hurling games using GPS technology.

He also has qualified as a Level 2 Coaching Ireland Tutor and over the previous 15 years has delivered GAA sports specific coaching courses and a wide range of CPD courses to tutors, coaches and players.

John Corr, BA Strength & Conditioning, Physical Therapist, Gym Owner.

World Masters Sprint Finalist 2012.

Clients Include – Professional Rugby, Irish Sailing Association Development & Olympic Academy, Irish Race- walking,Track Sprints, GAA, Hockey, Rugby.

Keith is an experienced Setanta College tutor, delivering modules since 2008.

Currently, Keith is the tutor for Sport Psychology and Coaching Philosophy, Methods & Ethics. Previously, he has tutored on Coaching Skills, Resistance Training, Sports Nutrition, Fitness Conditioning, Anatomy & Physiology, Fitness Testing and Programme Management.

Keith’s background is from the Health & Fitness industry and then progressed into the Strength & Conditioning industry over the past ten years.

He has extensive coaching experience within Gaelic Games, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Athletics, Hockey and Australian Rules Football.

His academic achievements are from an undergraduate degree in Recreation & Leisure to a Masters degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology. His areas of sporting and conditioning interests include: Sport & Exercise Psychology, Anti-Doping Regulations, Coaching Behaviours & Pedagogy, Monitoring & Recovery Science along with Underage Sporting Structures.

Adam is a former Setanta College student and has completed the bachelors level 8 degree, graduating in 2015, and is now an assistant tutor for the resistance training module.

Adam currently works for Apple Inc. as a fitness consultant and is also working with Intercounty GAA teams and individual athletes to help them better their performance.

Adam’s previous experience includes youth rugby and GAA teams and working in the private gym sector catering for general health and fitness enthusiasts.

Antoine holds a number of academic and professional qualifications including the UKSCA and a Masters in Strength and Conditioning.

Antoine worked for Connacht Rugby and the IRFU for a number of years. He was the Strength & Conditioning coach to a number of Irish International such as Robbie Henshaw, Tiernan O’Halloran, Finlay Bealham, Kiernan Marmion and Ultan Dillane. He worked with numerous representative teams including the Ireland U18.

Antoine is a World Rugby educator and he is leading the Strength and conditioning education programme for World Rugby across in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America. Antoine is currently the Head of the Athletic Performance department for the German Rugby National Team.

Antoine is currently lecturing on the BSc in Sports Strength & Conditioning and Masters programme in LIT-Tipperary in partnership with Setanta College.

Paul tutors on our Long Term Athlete/Player Development module. Over the past fifteen years Paul has coached at all ages and grades within the GAA ranging from county development squads to inter-county senior level as well as extensive club experience in Meath, Louth, Kildare and Dublin. Additionally, Paul has coached not only in an S&C capacity but also with a focus on technical and tactical development of the players in his care. Most recently Paul was established and managed the physical performance pathway for Meath GAA elite development squads from U14 to U21. Paul operates his own performance and coaching business, Match-Fit, with a focus on coaching, S&C and sports science. Match-Fit also manage and operate the EU business for athlete monitoring technology VX Sport.

Ben graduated with a first class honours BSc in Sports Science and Health from DCU in 2011, He then went on to complete his MSc in Strength and Conditioning at the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Ben worked providing strength and conditioning support to rugby and hurling teams before taking up a lecturing role on the BSc in Sports Science and Human Performance at University Centre Farnborough in the UK. While in the UK Ben was also the lead strength and conditioning coach for the Netball Superleague national champions Surrey Storm. Ben is a UKSCA qualified strength and conditioning coach and also a NSCA certified personal trainer.