Jacqueline “Jackie” McCarthy O'Brien is a former Irish International and rugby player. She played forward for

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

. McCarthy O'Brien represented Ireland 13 times each in soccer (1981–1993) and rugby (1994–1998). She was the country's first mixed-race player in both games.

Biography

Born Jacqueline McCarthy in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England in 1961 to an Irish mother and Jamaican father, she moved to

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, Ireland before her first birthday. In 1966, her mother married All-Ireland handball champion Mickey O’Brien, leading to the adoption of the double-barrelled name. In 2023, she was awarded a one-off commemorative cap by the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

as part of the Women's National Team's 50-year anniversary celebration. In 2019, she was featured in the Vodafone Ireland advert campaign "Ireland's Ball" featuring sports people from each of the 32 counties. This campaign to celebrate the creation of a unique rugby ball, which was designed with a bespoke grip containing the fingerprints of 32 different people from every county in Ireland, symbolising the connection to each other and to Irish rugby. Her involvement in rugby inspired

Joy Neville Joy Neville (born 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ir ...

to participate in the sport. A vocal advocate against racism, in 2021, she appeared on the

Claire Byrne Claire Byrne (born 11 August 1975) is an Irish radio and television presenter. Byrne presented ''The Daily Show'' from September 2010 to March 2012. In 2013, she became an anchor on RTÉ's flagship current affairs programme ''Prime Time''. From ...

show speaking on the subject. She is openly gay and participated in

Limerick Pride Limerick Pride is a week-long annual event in Limerick, Ireland. Although its history dates back to 2001, with the first official pride event, the Pride parade was not introduced until 2007. The Pride parade took place in September from 2007 until ...

events. Her daughter Sam McCarthy is also a football player.

Career

She was in the squad for a friendly against England in 1987. As part of the Euro qualifying team in 1991, she travelled from Limerick to Dublin for training for seven weeks. In 1992, she was listed as a Limerick United player. In a 2019 ''Limerick Leader'' interview, she recalled winning 13 caps for Ireland from 1983 to 1994 with a debut against Northern Ireland at Chimney Corner FC. After retiring from football at 33 years old, she switched to Rugby Union and played for Munster and won 13 caps for Ireland, including at the 1998 World Cup, where World Rugby billed her as “Jackie O’Brian”. In 2024 in an RTÉ/Sunday Independent investigation she opened up about the abuse in the women's team she faced

References

Black Irish sportspeople 20th-century Irish sportswomen Living people Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Ireland women's international rugby union players Rugby union players from Birmingham, West Midlands Irish female rugby union players 1961 births Women's association football forwards Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands {{Ireland-stub