Gerald McCarthy

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Gerald McCarthy

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Gearóid Mac Carthaigh
Date of Birth	September, 1945
Place of birth	Cork,
Club information
Club	St. Finbarr's
Position	Midfield
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Cork
Position	Midfield
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Cork	1965-1979
Inter County Titles
Munster Titles	9
All-Ireland	5
All-Stars	1
* club appearances and scores correct as of December 8, 2006. **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of December 8, 2006.

Gerald McCarthy (born September, 1945) is a former Irish sportsperson who played hurling with Cork in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the current manager of the Cork senior hurling team.

[edit] Early life

Gerald McCarthy was born in Cork in 1945. He was educated locally and quickly showed a natural talent for hurling. He soon joined the St. Finbarr's GAA club in the city, a club where he had much success. In 1964 McCarthy and St. Finbarr's made it all the way to the Cork County Final, however, they lost out to Glen Rovers in what was Christy Ring's last appearance in a county final. Later that same year McCarthy first donned the red jersey of Cork when he played against Kilkenny in a National Hurling League game. He quickly became a regular fixture in midfield. McCarthy didn't have to wait long for his first county championship medal, because in 1965 St. Finbarr's were back in the final and won. The side later went on to win the Munster club hurling title. As a result of the Barr's victory in Cork, McCarthy was awarded the captaincy of the Cork senior hurling team in 1966.

[edit] Playing career

1966 proved to be a special year for Cork and McCarthy. He won his first Munster Championship title before leading his team to victory over Kilkenny to claim his first All-Ireland medal, and a victory for Cork for the first time since 1954. McCarthy also captained the Cork under-21 side to victory in the inaugural All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship in 1966, a dual captaincy that was a rarity in Gaelic Games. Two years later in 1968 McCarthy claimed his second County Championship medal wth St. Finbarr's. More success followed with the inter-county hurlers in 1969 when they claimed the National Hurling League title and another Munster title, before losing to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider. The team bounced back in 1970, with McCarthy winning a second National League medal and a third Munster title, before claiming a second All-Ireland title with a victory over Wexford in the first 80-minute All-Ireland final.

By now McCarthy was one of the best players on what would become one of the most oustanding teams of the decade. In 1972 he won his third National League medal with Cork, before claiming his fourth Munster Championship medal. Once again Cork lost out to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, however, the game itself is considered one of the greatest finals of modern times. Two years later in 1974 McCarthy enjoyed more success with club and county. He won his fourth and final National League medal before winning his third county championship medal with St. Finbarr's. This county victory paved the way for a second Munster club title and a first All-Ireland club title at the start of 1975. The rest of the year proved successful for McCarthy, who was captain of Cork for a second time. He won a fifth Munster medal but his side were knocked out by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. In spite of this McCarthy's skill was rewarded when he won his first All-Star Award.

In 1976 Cork and McCarthy were back, claiming a second consecutive Munster title and a first All-Ireland victory in six years. It was McCarthy's third All-Ireland medal and the beginning of a wonderful run of success. In 1977 he claimed his seventh Munster medal before winning his fourth All-Ireland medal with a comprehensive victory over Wexford once again. McCarthy rounded off the year by winning his fourth county championship medal with St. Finbarr's as well as another Munster club hurling title. 1978 began well for McCarthy when he won a second All-Ireland club hurling title with the Barrs. He later claimed his eighth Munster championship medal before defeating Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. It was his fifth All-Ireland medal and the third in a row for him and Cork.

In 1979 Cork were the favourites to retain the All-Ireland title and become the first team in thirty years to complete the four-in-a-row. The year started well when Cork claimed their fifth Munster title in-a-row, bringing McCarthy's total up to nine. However, the side were beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final and the four-in-a-row dream was over. McCarthy retired from inter-county hurling following the defeat. There were three striking aspects to Gerald's hurling. Firstly he almost never ran with the ball but believed in rapid delivery. The second was that he was very poor on his left and was brilliant at being able to manoeuvre onto his right. The third was his party trick which he did at will. He would catch a flying ball on his hurley without touching it with his hand and rapidly hit it. He had no equal in any county at this.

[edit] Managerial career

Following his retirement as a player he didn't remain too far away from hurling for long. In 1980 he was appointed coach of the St. Finbarr's senior hurling team, a side with which he would have much success. In his very first year in charge he brought them County Championship and Munster club hurling honours. In 1981 he built on and repeated this success by claiming a second consecutive county title with his side. In 1982 McCarthy was back with the Cork senior hurling side, this time as their trainer. They won a Munster championship title under his regime, however, they lost the All-Ireland final to Kilkenny. McCarthy resigned from the management team after this, in protest over his lack of input into the team selection. He completed the year by coaching St. Finbarr's to a third consecutive county championship.

He remained at St. Finbarr's as coach until 1986, winning a fourth county championship title in the meantime. In 1990 he returned to the Cork senior hurling side as co-manager and trainer. With Canon Michael O'Brien he brought Munster and All-Ireland honours to Cork against all the odds. Cork repeated their provincial success in 1992, however, they lost to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. In 1993 Cork started well under McCarthy by winning the National Hurling League, however, the side were beaten in the Munster Championship. With that the management team resigned and it was expected that McCarthy would be appointed full manager of the side. This didn't happen and instead Johnny Clifford got the job.

In late 1996 McCarthy was appointed manager of the Waterford senior hurling team. He introduced a new regime immediately, cutting players and training harder than ever before. Little progress was made in 1997, however, in 1998 McCarthy lead Waterford to a Munster final appearance and an All-Ireland semi-final appearance where they narrowly lost to Kilkenny. He remained as Waterford manager until 2001, when he was succeeded by his former team-mate from Cork and namesake, Justin McCarthy.

In 2006 he was back coaching at St. Finbarr's, this time it was the senior camogie side with whom he won the county championship. He was later appointed manager of the Cork senior hurlers after being head-hunted for the job by the county board.

Preceded by Peter Doolan	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1966	Succeeded by Richie Browne
Preceded by Jimmy Doyle (Tipperary)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1966	Succeeded by Jim Treacy (Kilkenny)
Preceded by John Horgan	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1975	Succeeded by Ray Cummins
Preceded by '	Waterford Senior Hurling Manager 1997-2001	Succeeded by Justin McCarthy
Preceded by John Allen	Cork Senior Hurling Manager 2007 – present	Incumbent

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1966 (20th title)
1 P. Barry | 2 P. Doolan | 3 T. O'Donoghue | 4 D. Murphy | 5 T. Connolly | 6 J. O'Sullivan | 7 P. Fitzgerald | 8 J. McCarthy | 9 M. Waters | 10 S. Barry | 11 J. O'Halloran | 12 G. McCarthy (Capt.) | 13 C. McCarthy | 14 C. Sheehan | 15 J. Bennett |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1970 (21st title)
1 P. Barry (Capt.) | 2 T. Maher | 3 P. McDonnell | 4 J. Horgan | 5 D. Clifford | 6 P. Hegarty | 7 C. Roche | 8 G. McCarthy | 9 S. Looney | 10 T. Ryan | 11 W. Walsh | 12 C. Cullinane | 13 C. McCarthy | 14 R. Cummins | 15 E. O'Brien |

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1976 (22nd title)
1 M. Coleman | 2 B. Murphy | 3 P. McDonnell | 4 M. O'Doherty | 5 P. Barry | 6 J. Crowley | 7 D. Coughlan | 8 G. McCarthy | 9 P. Moylan | 10 M. Malone | 11 B. Cummins | 12 J. Barry-Murphy | 13 C. McCarthy | 14 R. Cummins (Capt.) | 15 S. O'Leary | Subs: J. Horgan | E. O'Donoghue | Manager: B. Troy

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1977 (23rd title)
1 M. Coleman | 2 B. Murphy | 3 M. O'Doherty (Capt.) | 4 J. Horgan | 5 D. McCurtain | 6 J. Crowley | 7 D. Coughlan | 8 T. Cashman | 9 T. Crowley | 10 M. Malone | 11 G. McCarthy | 12 J. Barry-Murphy | 13 C. McCarthy | 14 R. Cummins | 15 S. O'Leary | Subs: P. Moylan | T. Murphy | Manager: B. Troy

	Cork - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1978 (24th title)
1 M. Coleman | 2 B. Murphy | 3 M. O'Doherty | 4 J. Horgan | 5 D. McCurtain | 6 J. Crowley | 7 D. Coughlan | 8 T. Cashman | 9 P. Moylan | 10 J. Barry-Murphy | 11 G. McCarthy | 12 T. Crowley | 13 C. McCarthy (Capt.) | 14 R. Cummins | 15 S. O'Leary | Subs: J. Allen | E. O'Donoghue | Manager: B. Troy