He played for club side Killala and also lined out at inter-county level with the Mayo senior football team.
Gilvarry was a student at Blackrock College in Dublin, and captained the school's rugby union team to a Leinster Senior Cup title.
He won the first of four consecutive Connacht SFC titles in 1948, however, Mayo were later beaten by Cavan in the 1948 All-Ireland final.
Gilvarry was one of the key forwards when Mayo claimed back-to-back All-Ireland SFC titles after defeats of Louth in 1950 and Meath in 1951.
[2] His inter-county performances also earned inclusion on the Connacht team, with Gilvarry winning a Railway Cup medal in 1951.