Seán McCarthy (hurler)

Seán McCarthy (born 8 February 1966) is former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Ballinhassig^[1] and with the Cork senior inter-county team in the 1980s and 1990s.

Playing career

Club

McCarthy played his club hurling with his local Ballinhassig club. He started out as a goalkeeper on the under-12 team before later becoming a half-back and winning an under-14 county title. McCarthy never won a senior county title, however, he did play in the county championship with the divisional side Carrigdhoun.

Inter-county

McCarthy first came to prominence as a member of the Cork minor hurling team, however, the team lost out in the first-round of the championship in both 1983 and 1984. He later played with the under-21 team but had little success at this level here. Following a great display for his divisional side McCarthy was called up for senior inter-county duty as a member of the Cork panel for the All-Ireland final. Without ever lining out for his native-county he had collected his first All-Ireland medal as Cork defeated Galway in the final. McCarthy’s senior debut came the following year in a National Hurling League game, however, he missedf the entire championship in 1988 due to a back injury. The following year he dropped down a grade to play with the intermediate team that won the All-Ireland title.

In 1990 McCarthy was back with the senior team and won his first Munster title following a surprise victory over arch-rivals Tipperary. Cork later qualified for another All-Ireland appearance with Galway. Once again Cork were complete underdogs, however, in a thrilling and high-scoring game Cork defeated the men from the West, giving McCarthy his first All-Ireland medal on the field of play. Two years later in 1992 he won a second Munster title. Cork later faced Kilkenny in the championship decider, however, victory went to ‘the Cats’ on that occasion. In spite of this loss McCarthy’s performance still earned him an All-Star award. In 1993 he added a National Hurling League medal to his collection. McCarthy continued hurling at inter-county level until 1997. He now owns his own sports bar called SoHo bar and restaurant on the Grand Parade in Cork City.

References