Gerald Mc Carthy (hurler)

Gerald Mc Carthy (hurler)

Gerald McCarthy (born 12 September 1945 in Cork, Ireland) is a former Irish hurling manager and former player. He played hurling with his local club St. Finbarr's and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1965 until 1979. McCarthy captained Cork to the All-Ireland title in 1966 and is regarded as one of Cork's greatest-ever players. He managed the Cork senior inter-county team from 2006 until 2009.

In a senior inter-county career that lasted for fourteen years McCarthy won five All-Ireland titles, nine Munster titles, three National Hurling League titles and five Railway Cup titles with Munster. In 2000 he was chosen to partner Jack Lynch at midfield on the Cork Hurling Team of the Century.

There were three striking aspects to McCarthy’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-hand side and was quite adept at being able to manoeuvre onto his right. The third was his party trick which he did at will. McCarthy would catch a flying ball on his hurley, without touching it with his hand, and rapidly hit it.

As a manager McCarthy has had some moderate success. He took charge of Waterford between 1997 and 2001 and succeeded in getting the team to both Munster final appearance and All-Ireland semi-final appearances. McCarthy, however, failed to make the big breakthrough with the Déise. In 2006 he took charge of Cork, however, his tenure was dogged by the suspension of key players, strike action by the panel of players and other unrest.