James McCarthy (Gaelic footballer)
Irish Gaelic footballer (born 1990)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James McCarthy (born 1 March 1990) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for the Ballymun Kickhams club and, formerly, for the Dublin county team. He is widely regarded as one of Dublin's greatest ever players.[1][2]
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| Born | 1 March 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | EBS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Gaelic football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
He was a student at Sacred Heart BNS Ballygall and St Kevin's College in Ballygall.[3]
His father John was also a Dublin senior inter-county player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) on three occasions.
Playing career
College
McCarthy attended DCU where he was a defender for the Gaelic football team.[4] In 2012, he won the Sigerson Cup and the O'Byrne Cup with the college.
Club
McCarthy won two Dublin SFC titles with Ballymun, in 2012 and 2020. He added a Leinster Club SFC title in 2012. Ballymun then defeated Dr Crokes in the All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final before losing the 2013 All-Ireland Club SFC final to St Brigid's GAA (Roscommon).
Inter-county
Under-21
McCarthy won the 2010 Leinster Under-21 Football Championship and All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship with Dublin.
Senior
He made his championship debut for Dublin against Laois in the 2011 Leinster SFC quarter-final,[5] winning his first Leinster SFC title against Wexford at Croke Park in July that year.[6] Dublin progressed to the 2011 All-Ireland SFC final against Kerry,[7] and McCarthy won his first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The game finished on a scoreline of 1–12 to 1–11, in Dublin's favour.[8] McCarthy was nominated for GAA GPA Young Player of the Year for his performances.[citation needed]
On 4 November 2024, McCarthy announced his retirement from inter-county football, ending his 14-year senior career. In a released statement he said: "I have decided to retire from representing Dublin GAA at inter-county level, this decision hasn't been an easy one to make but I feel it's the right time."[9][10][11]
Personal life
As of 2020, McCarthy was employed by AIB and lived within two kilometres of Poppintree Park, Albert College Park and Johnstown Park.[12]
Honours
- Dublin
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (9): 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 (c)
- Leinster Senior Football Championship (14): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (c), 2023 (c), 2024 (c)
- National Football League (5): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
- All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship (1): 2010
- Leinster Under-21 Football Championship (1): 2010
- Ballymun Kickhams
- Leinster Senior Club Football Championship (1): 2012
- Dublin Senior Football Championship (2): 2012, 2020
- DCU
- Sigerson Cup (1): 2012
- O'Byrne Cup (1): 2012
- Individual
- All Star (5): 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final Man of the Match (1): 2017
- The Sunday Game Team of the Year (1): 2023
- The Sunday Game Footballer of the Year (1): 2023
- In May 2020, the Irish Independent named McCarthy at number eighteen in its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".[13]