Mick Mackey

Mick Mackey

Michael ‘Mick’ Mackey (12 July 1912 – 13 September 1982) was a famous Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with the famous Ahane club from 1930 until 1948 and was a member of the Limerick senior inter-county team from 1930 until 1947. Mackey is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game. Almost unanimously regarded as the second-best hurler of all-time (with even many claiming that Mackey was the best -though Henry Shefflins name could now also be thrown into the mix), many former players, commentators and fans believe that the only other player who could be said to have bested him was the unparalleled Christy Ring .

Mackey’s status as one of the all-time greats is self-evident. In a senior inter-county career that lasted for seventeen years he was the star player on the team during Limerick's golden age of hurling. Mackey won three All-Ireland titles, five Munster titles, five consecutive National Hurling League titles and eight Railway Cup titles with Munster.

Mackey's importance to Limerick is impossible to overstate. When he burst on the hurling scene in the 1930s he was unquestionably the greatest hurler yet seen. From his usual position at centre-forward Mackey inspired the whole team, and their reputation as great entertainers of hurling owed a lot to his charismatic style and his new hurling techniques. He was physically imposing and his swashbuckling style brought huge crowds to see him play. During his playing days it was Mackey that developed the solo-run style, though he eschewed the use of the sliotar resting on the hurley, which he did not consider correct hurling, preferring instead to bounce it on the hurley as he charged at defences.

While his exploits on the field are well documented, Mackey has also been the recipient of many awards and honours off the field. In 1980 he was the first recipient of the prestigious All-Time All-Star Award. Mackey was also posthumously honoured in 1984 when he was named, by popular opinion, in the centre-forward position on the GAA Hurling Team of the Century. He was named in the same position on the GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium in 2000.