Conor Cusack (born 16 January 1979) is an Irish sportsperson. He played

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

with the

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

senior inter-county team in 2006. Known nationally in Ireland for his

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

advocacy, Cusack continues to play hurling with his local

Cloyne Cloyne () is a small town located to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork, Ireland. It is also a see city of the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic dioce ...

club.

Early life

Cusack was born in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

in 1979. He was educated locally and currently works as an apprentice electrician. His brother, Donal Óg, is also a hurler as was a cousin,

Christy Ring Nicholas Christy Michael Ring (30 October 1920 – 2 March 1979) was an Irish hurler whose league and championship career at senior level with the Cork county team spanned twenty-four years from 1939 to 1963. He established many championship ...

Sporting career

Cusack was noted as a good hurler from an early age. He plays with his local

Cloyne GAA Cloyne GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland. The club is affiliated to the East Cork Board and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling, but also fields teams in Gaelic football. History Located in ...

club and was a member of the

senior

panel for several years. His brother, Donal Óg, was the

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

on the team. Cusack made his debut in the 2006 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final against

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

, coming on as a substitute in the closing minutes.

Personal life

Cusack devotes much of his time to highlighting mental health and articulating his own experiences of depression. He has spoken about this on national television, on ''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

''. In January 2014, Cusack for the first time publicly discussed his attraction to men. Ahead of the 2015 Marriage Equality referendum, he spoke on ''

The Saturday Night Show ''The Saturday Night Show'' is a talk show hosted by Brendan O'Connor broadcast on RTÉ One between 2010 and 2015. The show features guest interviews, audience participation and live music. ''The Saturday Night Show'' is broadcast every Saturday ...

'' in favour of the proposition and challenged those who opposed it.

References

External links

Cusack's writings
1979 births Living people Cloyne hurlers Cork inter-county hurlers Irish electricians Irish gay sportsmen Mental health activists LGBTQ hurlers Irish male bloggers 21st-century Irish LGBTQ people {{Cork-hurling-bio-stub