Jack McCaffrey (born 19 October 1993) is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who plays for Clontarf.

Early and personal life

His father

Noel Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community *Noel Park, a suburb in Greater London, Engla ...

also represented Dublin in football. McCaffrey attended

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

private school and studied medicine at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD) and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery & Bachelor in the Art of Obstetrics. His classmates included Mark English, considered by

Jerry Kiernan Jeremiah "Fran" Kiernan (31 May 1953 – 21 January 2021) was an Irish long-distance runner. Biography Kiernan was born in Listowel, County Kerry. He represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where ...

to be the country's "greatest talent" ever in

middle-distance running Middle-distance running events are Track and field#Running, track races longer than Sprint (running), sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres m ...

. English issued a challenge to McCaffrey, himself considered football's fastest player, to take him on over

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. McCaffrey is a qualified medical doctor. He works in Temple Street Children's Hospital. He is an opponent of professionalism within the GAA.

Playing career

In April 2013, McCaffrey won a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

winners' medal as Dublin defeated Tyrone by 0–18 to 0–17 to win the 2013 National Football League. He made his championship debut against

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

in the

2013 Leinster Senior Football Championship The 2013 Leinster Senior Football Championship was that year's installment of the annual Leinster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of the Leinster GAA. It was won by Dublin who defeated Meath in the final. This was Dublin's 52n ...

. He scored a solo goal in the 2013 All-Ireland quarter-final against

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 * ...

. Still teenaged, he played in the 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, the first such final he would play in. McCaffrey, who was substituted at half-time, recalled how he "got roasted by Kevin McLoughlin". He played twice and netted for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

against

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in the

2013 International Rules Series The 2013 International Rules Series (officially the 2013 Irish Daily Mail International Rules Series) was the 17th International Rules Series contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland international rules football team, Ireland and Austral ...

. In November 2013, he was named as

GAA/GPA Young Footballer of the Year The GAA & GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), perc ...

. In November 2015, McCaffrey received the highest individual honour in the sport when he was named as

GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year The Gaelic Athletic Association & Gaelic Player's Association All Stars Footballer of the Year — known for sponsorship reasons as the PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year — is a Gaelic football award. It is presented annually to the footballer ...

. He did so in spite of contracting

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...

"in around the Thursday" before the 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, which left him unable to finish the game. "I couldn't keep any food or water down so I got a drip to stay hydrated. But that was actually great at the time because it completely distracted from the build-up to a final ... all you were worried about is, 'Am I going to be okay?' You're no thinking about the occasion itself. And then thankfully I pulled through and performed okay for the 50 minutes that I lasted". McCaffrey missed the

2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 129th edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA's premier inter-county gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887. 33 teams took part. 31 of the 32 Counties of Ire ...

due his travels abroad. He travelled to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, then

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. In December 2016, McCaffrey confirmed that he would be available again for selection in 2017. McCaffrey played in that year's All-Ireland final win but left the pitch early after sustaining what later proved to be an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

injury. His antics later in the evening as

Michael Lyster Michael Lyster (born 11 April 1954) is an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for RTÉ. He mainly covered sporting events, such as Gaelic games and Olympic Games. He is best known for presenting '' The Sunday Game Live'', which he ...

interviewed Jim Gavin and

Stephen Cluxton Stephen Cluxton (born 17 December 1981) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Dublin county team. Cluxton made his senior debut for Dublin during the 2001 Championship. Since then he has established h ...

were much remarked upon. A month after the final, McCaffrey had surgery. McCaffrey returned for Dublin against

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

as a substitute in June 2018. Another substitute appearance in the Leinster final against

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

followed, seeing him make two goal chances by himself. However, he did not find the net in that game. He is a former self-admitted "horrific tackler" but the

2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 131st final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the culmination of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in Gaelic football. The match was played at Cro ...

proved to be when he "figured out I'm actually a defender as opposed to some loose attacking player". His dispossession of Mattie Donnelly during injury time of that game offered evidence of this. McCaffrey was named Man of the Match after his team's 2018 final victory. While being interviewed by Lyster for ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'' highlights programme, a leak through the ceiling of the Gibson Hotel caused Lyster, McCaffrey and GAA President John Horan to be drenched in water live on air. Interviewed the following day by journalists, McCaffrey reminded them: "This was the first time I've been on the pitch when the final whistle blew in an All-Ireland final. Incredible. It was so satisfying, such a relief." Another All Star followed, as did a second Footballer of the Year nomination. McCaffrey won the man of the match award in the drawn

2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 132nd final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the culmination of the 2019 tournament, the top level of competition in Gaelic football. Reigning All-Ireland champi ...

as well; a second consecutive award, "RTÉ veterans" were reported to be finding it difficult to recall such an occurrence ever before. He was top scorer (1–3) from open play. This compared with the 3–14 from his previous 38 championship games. The three points were also a classic

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

, sent over with fist and both feet. Defensively, he forced eight turnovers of possession. McCaffrey left the Dublin panel ahead of the

2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) was the 133rd edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887. The public health measures introduced to combat ...

. He later described the drawn

as the game that "broke me" but decided initially to remain when his former minor and under-21 manager Dessie Farrell was appointed as Jim Gavin's successor.

Honours

Team

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

(6): 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023 *

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster GAA, Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Asso ...

(6): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 *

(3): 2013, 2014, 2015 *

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ...

(2): 2012, 2014 (c) *

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the high ...

(2): 2012, 2014

Individual

* All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final Man of the Match (2):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

(drawn game) * ''

'' Player of the Year (1): 2015 *

(1): 2013 *

(1): 2015 *

GAA GPA All Stars Awards The Gaelic Athletic Association-Gaelic Players' Association All Stars Awards (often known simply as the All Stars) are awarded annually to the best player in each of the 15 playing positions in Gaelic football and hurling. Additionally, one play ...

(3): 2015, 2017, 2018 * UCD Alumni Award Winner Sport 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Jack 1993 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (football) Clontarf Gaelic footballers Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football backs Gaelic games players from Dublin (city) Irish international rules football players Medical doctors from County Dublin People educated at Belvedere College People from Clontarf, Dublin 21st-century Irish medical doctors Winners of six All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football) 21st-century Irish sportsmen