Thomas St George McCarthy

Who was Thomas St George McCarthy?

Thomas St. George MacCarthy was an Ireland rugby union international and founder member of the Gaelic Athletic Association, being present at Hayes Hotel, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland at the Association's inaugural meeting on 1 November 1884. He was born at Bansha, Tipperary, though he was often erroneously described as being a native of Kerry. This was due to the similarity of name with his father, George MacCarthy, Lieutenant of the Revenue Police, County Inspector of the RIC and a Resident Magistrate who was from County Kerry, though working in Tipperary and residing in Bansha. The family used the rarer MacCarthy spelling of their surname, which appears more commonly as McCarthy.

At the foundation of the GAA, MacCarthy was a District Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary based at Templemore, County Tipperary. He moved to Dublin in 1877 and became a friend of Michael Cusack, who had a cramming school. He was coached by Cusack for an RIC cadetship examination in 1882, in which he took first place. In 1881, he joined Dublin University Football Club and was capped against Wales in 1882.