Patrick McBrearty

Patrick McBrearty
Personal information
Irish name Pádraig Mac Breartaigh[1]
Sport Gaelic football
Position Right corner forward
Born (1993-08-05) 5 August 1993 (age 31)[2]
Dublin, Ireland
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Nickname Paddy[3][4]
Occupation Equity trader[5]
Club(s)
Years Club
2010–
 Cill Chartha
Club titles
Donegal titles 1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
2011–
 Donegal 68 (8-176)
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 6
All-Irelands 1
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of match played 30 June 2024.

Patrick McBrearty (born 5 August 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team, which he has captained since 2023.

He is usually selected in the full-forward line for his county, often flanking Michael Murphy with Colm McFadden (before Murphy and McFadden's retirements, in, respectively, 2022 and 2016).[6] In 2015, Pat Spillane included McBrearty in his top 40 footballers in the game today.[7]

Among other accolades, he has one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title (2012), six Ulster Senior Football Championship titles (2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2024) and two International Rules Series (2013, 2015). With this early success, McBrearty is believed to be "the most decorated player of his age ever to represent Donegal."[8] He is also part of an exclusive club to have played minor and senior matches for their county on the same day.[9] Indeed, he was the first Ulster footballer since Benny Coulter of Down to play both grades on the one afternoon — Benny is still waiting on that All-Ireland medal after Cork 2010.[10]

A major contributor to Donegal teams since his emergence at the start of the successful Jim McGuinness managerial era,[11] McBrearty is considered one of the finest young footballers to have arrived on the Donegal scene since Murphy.[12] Opponents have highlighted his "ace" attacking abilities and regard him as a considerable threat.[13] Like Murphy, McBrearty has been a live target for Australian Football League recruitment.[14] He turns down such offers as he wishes to further his education in Ireland and to spend time with his family.[15] A 2015 survey — conducted among U.S. women with little or no knowledge of Gaelic games — ranked McBrearty as the seventh sexiest GAA player, second in Ulster and top in Donegal.[16]

  1. ^ "Two changes for clash with Roscommon". Donegal News. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ii_0782012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Nobody will pull the wool over Donegal star Paddy's eyes". 29 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  4. ^ Heneghan, Conor (2012). "No pulling the wool over McBrearty's eyes and another classic Donegal anthem". JOE.ie.
  5. ^ "Patrick McBrearty".
  6. ^ "Donegal to have too much firepower". Donegal Democrat. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012. Patrick McBrearty has blossomed in the full-forward line…
  7. ^ "Spillane names Murphy as 'most complete footballer in the game'". 27 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ^ "New role no problem to McBrearty". Donegal Democrat. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012. Just turned 19 on the day of the Kerry game, McBrearty is suely [sic] the most decorated player of his age ever to represent Donegal. And judging by his comments at the recent press night, he is not ready to rest on his laurels… 'If I can get to the end of my career and can say I'm totally satisfied with what I've done and look back and say I'm a happy man, it's something I can take to the grave with me', said Patrick, who says there is plenty of banter at Kilcar training now that he has two Ulstr[sic] medals and the likes of Michael Hegarty has only one.
  9. ^ "County panel Cut to 26". Hogan Stand. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  10. ^ McNulty, Chris (20 September 2014). "McBrearty brothers look to cement a place in history". Donegal News. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  11. ^ "Steady as she goes…". Donegal Democrat. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012. The improvement in Patrick McBrearty this year underlines the work that Jim McGuinness has done with this squad. McBrearty was a huge talent when introduced as a minor, but even though he is still not 19, he has developed as a real team player and was Donegal's best forward in our two championship games to date. He won the penalty for our goal in Cavan and was involved in setting up both goals on Saturday night. His pass to Colm McFadden for the second goal was perfectly timed.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference democrat_drafted was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Horgan, Noel (16 February 2012). "Rebels rightly wary of Patrick Mcbrearty threat". The Corkman. Retrieved 16 February 2012. Ace attacker Mcbrearty (below) provided much of the inspiration for Donegal's success after two epic encounters… and the outcome on Saturday could well hinge on whether or not Cork can curb his influence to a certain extent.
  14. ^ Cummiskey, Gavin (16 February 2012). "McBrearty attends Kennelly's AFL recruitment camp". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference doesnt_give_an_afl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Donegal's sexiest GAA players revealed — US Poll". Donegal News. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.