'There were parties everywhere': Cork winner of Mastermind International recalls triumph

John Mulcahy recollects memories from when he was on top of the quiz world, writes Darragh Leen

John Mulcahy, who made history in 1979 as the first Irishman to win Mastermind International, with his winning trophy and other quiz awards behind him. Picture: Chani Anderson

Few Irishmen can lay claim to the title of Mastermind in the show’s enduring 53-year run but only one is a Mastermind International champion — a mild-mannered geography teacher from Whitechurch, Co Cork.

John Mulcahy — just 29 at the time — etched his name into the annals of trivia history in the echoing chambers of London’s Guildhall in February 1979.