Mick Mackey - Early & Private Life

Early & Private Life

Mick Mackey was born in Castleconnell, County Limerick in 1912. He was born into a family that was steeped in the traditions of the game of hurling. His grandfather and namesake, Michael Mackey, was involved in the promotion of Gaelic games even before the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884. He was captain of the Castleconnell team in the infancy days of the association and was a member of the very first Limerick hurling team that played in the inaugural championship in 1887. His father, John "Tyler" Mackey, ranked among the leading hurling personalities of the first two decades of the twentieth century. In a career that lasted from 1901 until 1917 he captained Limerick in the county’s unsuccessful 1910 All-Ireland title bid when Wexford were victorious by a single point.

Mackey was educated at the local national school in Castleconnell. As was common at the time he received little in the way of a second-level education and left school at an early age due to the economic realities of life in the newly-independent Irish Free State. Mackey subsequently joined the Electricity Supply Board where he spent 47 years as a van driver with the company at Ardnacrusha, County Clare. He also spent five years as a member of the Irish Army.