Charles McCarthy (born 1946) is an Irish former hurler who played as a left corner-forward at senior level for the Cork county team.
[1] Born in Tower Street, Cork, McCarthy first played competitive hurling during his schooling at Sullivan's Quay CBS.
[2] He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Cork minor teams as a dual player, before later joining the under-21 hurling side.
As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, McCarthy won one Railway Cup medal.
McCarthy's career tally of 24 goals and 149 points ranks him as Cork's fifth highest championship scorer of all-time.
After serving as coach of the Cork minor and senior teams he guided club side St Finbarr's to championship success.
University College Cork provided the opposition; however, a youthful St Finbarr's team powered to a 6–8 to 2–6 victory.
In spite of being regarded as underdogs against Blackrock, Con Roche gave a masterful display in helping "the Barr's" to a 2–17 to 2–14 victory.
A low-scoring 0–7 to 0–3 victory gave McCarthy his second Munster medal; however, the game was tinged with sadness for St Finbarr's as an horrific shin-bone injury brought Bernie Scully's career to an end.
The second thirty minutes saw "the Barr's" take control with Jimmy Barry-Murphy scoring the deciding goal.
McCarthy bagged 3–1 as Cork powered to a remarkable 10–7 to 1–4 victory, collecting an All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship medal in what was his last game in that grade.
[9] Three weeks later McCarthy was back in Croke Park as Cork's minor footballers faced Offaly in the All-Ireland decider.
[11] McCarthy made his senior championship debut for Cork on 4 July 1965 when he came on as a substitute in a 2–6 apiece Munster semi-final draw with Waterford.
Once again this victory paved the way for an All-Ireland showdown with Kilkenny on 7 September 1969, however, the team suffered a setback in the week leading up to the game when midfielder Justin McCarthy broke his leg in a motorcycle accident.
[13][14] The Leesiders got into their stride following an early goal by McCarthy and led by six points coming up to half time when Kilkenny raised a green flag themselves.
In spite of this Cork led at the interval and looked a good bet for the victory, particularly after Kilkenny forward Pat Delaney left the field on a stretcher.
It was a successful campaign for the Rebels as an aggregate 5–21 to 6–16 defeat of New York gave McCarthy his second league medal.
Kilkenny's great scoring threat Eddie Keher was deployed closer to goal and finished the game with 2–9.
Championship success eluded Cork over the next few years, however, McCarthy won a fourth league medal in 1974 following a 6–15 to 1–12 defeat of Limerick.
Wexford had a two-point lead with ten minutes to go, however, three points from Jimmy Barry-Murphy, two from Pat Moylan and a kicked effort from Ray Cummins gave Cork a 2–21 to 4–11 victory.
Cork faced Clare in the provincial decider in 1977, on a day when armed robbers made away with the takings from the gate of £24,579 during the second half of the game.
[23] Martin Coleman brought off a match-winning save from Christy Keogh to foil the Wexford comeback in the dying seconds and a 1–17 to 3–8 victory gave McCarthy his fourth All-Ireland medal.
The team go off to a good start with McCarthy won an eighth Munster medal following a 0–13 to 0–11 defeat of Clare in a dour provincial decider.
Cork were never really troubled over the course of the seventy minutes and a Jimmy Barry-Murphy goal helped the team to a 1–15 to 2–8 victory over their age-old rivals.
Age and the exertions of the three previous campaigns finally caught up with Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final and a 2–14 to 1–13 defeat by Galway brought the four-in-a-row dream to an end.
That year Cork aimed to make history by capturing a record-breaking sixth Munster title in-a-row when the faced Limerick.
That year Cork claimed the Munster title following a 1–13 to 1–8 defeat of Tipperary before later facing Wexford in the All-Ireland decider on 1 September 1985.
[30] Three years later McCarthy took over as coach of the Cork senior team following the sudden resignation of Johnny Clifford due to ill health.
In 1993, McCarthy was coach of the St Finbarr's senior hurling team that reached the final of the county championship.
West Cork divisional side and underdogs Carbery provided the opposition; however, they shocked the city-based club by securing a 1–17 apiece draw.