Irish Examiner view: Sporting legend left his mark

Teddy McCarthy, 57, was the only man in history to win two senior All-Ireland medals on the field of play in one year

Teddy McCarthy of Cork in action against Brian Stafford, right, and PJ Gillic of Meath during the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final match at Croke Park. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

The GAA’s bush telegraph crackled on Tuesday evening with news that was scarcely believable — the death of Teddy McCarthy of Sarsfields and Cork at the age of 57. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.

McCarthy occupied a unique position in the history of Irish sport, never mind Gaelic games. Famously, he was the only man in history to win two senior All-Ireland medals on the field of play in one year, a feat he accomplished in 1990 when Cork defeated Galway in hurling and Meath in football.

The news of his death will remind many in Cork of that glorious summer, one in which Leeside supporters tracked their teams through the Munster Championships and on to an unforgettable fortnight in September, when that nail-biting victory over their bitter rivals from Leinster clinched the football leg of The Double. It remains a singular achievement in Irish sport.

McCarthy was the common thread in the two dressing rooms, a tearaway wing-forward type in hurling but an unlikely midfield option in Gaelic football. Though often yielding inches in height to his opponents, McCarthy’s fielding ability was proverbial.

Football or hurling, McCarthy embodied a particular Cork sporting expression: He had fierce cutting. 

It is difficult now to write about such a dazzling performer in his considerable pomp — blond, quick, indomitable — while acknowledging the hard truth of his passing, but for those who played with him in particular, for the North Monastery, Glanmire, Sarsfields, and Cork, there are memories which will be specific and detailed, tied to a particular day or game.

For the rest, the fact is that athletes such as Teddy McCarthy live forever in the memory — at their peak, running out in the sunshine of Thurles or Killarney, soaring up to pull the ball down out of a thicket of hands. That is a small consolation for thousands of Cork people today, when they wake up and feel a chill that does not quite align with the heat of the morning sun.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé.