Dr Larry McCarthy

Administration is the unsung hero of sporting institutions, the silent force that underpins the glittering spectacle of athletic prowess. Beyond the roar of the crowds and the triumphs on the field, it is the meticulous orchestration of every detail that ensures the seamless operation of sporting organisations. From his time as secretary of Thomond College GAA Club in the mid-seventies Larry McCarthy has been immersed in sports administration. 

Fast-forward more than 40 years and, during a pandemic, Larry, as a representative of the New York GAA, would top those on field successes by becoming the first overseas official elected to the highest position in the GAA, its 40th president since Maurice Davin’s appointment in 1884. 

A member of Bishopstown GAA Club, he enrolled in The National College of Physical Education (NCPE) in 1973 and graduated from Thomond College in 1977 with a B Ed in Physical Education.  Larry was a member of the Thomond College team that won the All-Ireland club football championship in 1978. 

Qualifications in hand, the Cork native embarked on a career as a teacher in Malahide Community School where he was actively involved in school sports and served as manager of both the Irish U/17 Schools Basketball team and the national U17 team from 1980 to 1984.  
After teaching in Dublin for several years, Larry moved to the US in 1985 for post-graduate study. He played with the Sligo Gaelic Football Club while studying at New York University and graduated from Ohio State University in 1993 with a Ph.D. in Sport Management.  

While on the faculty at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, he was selected in 1994 by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) to be an Olympic Envoy at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The role, the highest-level volunteer position in the Olympic structure, involved managing ACOG services for the Irish team, particularly in the Olympic village.      
Larry re-joined the Sligo Gaelic Football Club on his return to New York and went on to become Secretary of the New York GAA Board from 2003-2009, and New York GAA Chairman from 2009-2011, while also serving as secretary of the Gaelic Park Development Committee. He was elected as a GAA Trustee in 2018, and at the time of his election as Uachtarán Tofa in 2020 was a member of the GAA’s Management Committee. 

An Associate Professor in the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University in New Jersey since 1998, Larry has written and lectured extensively on sports marketing and sponsorship and has presented at conferences around the world.  He co-authored, with Richard Irwin and William Sutton, the textbook, Sport Promotion and Sales Management, the second edition of which was published in 2008.   

His mother Aedin was treasurer of the Cork Camogie Board and Munster Camogie Council so the higher levels of sport administration courses through his veins. His father Larry Sr. played amateur golf for Ireland and captained both the Munster and Irish golf teams.  Larry is one of nine McCarthy children, four of whom have graduated from NCPE/NIHE/UL.

His time as Uachtarán has been dominated by the Association’s recovery from the Covid pandemic but during his tenure, the GAA’s newly structured calendar has been embedded; a format which for the first time offers a clear window of participation for club players who are unconstrained from the impact of the inter-county calendar. As part of this restructuring the GAA’s second tier All-Ireland football championship, the Tailteann Cup, was successfully staged in 2022 and 2023.

In April of 2022 he helped launch the GAA’s five-year strategic plan, Aontas 2026, which among other goals, highlighted the GAA’s commitment to integration with the Camogie Association and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association.  

Larry McCarthy is the first GAA president to appoint female representation on every one of the 30 national committees, and in September 2023 a proposal to have 40 per cent female representation on the GAA’s Management Committee was adopted at a Special Congress.
High profile campaigns on the issue of respect for match officials, and targeting the online abuse of players, volunteers and referees were features of a landmark address that Larry made to Seanad Éireann in April 2023 and furthermore he became the first GAA President to participate in Pride, when he marched with representatives of the Gaelic Games family in the Pride Parade in Dublin. As a member of the diaspora, the GAA World Games in Derry in July of 2023 were among the highlights of his presidency. 

In 2024 the GAA will celebrate its 140th anniversary. The Association is governed by the principle that its enduring challenge is to stay relevant. Against this backdrop, it is enjoying unprecedented levels of popularity and participation which, as Uachtarán, Larry McCarthy, alongside Ard Stiurathoir Tom Ryan, have been responsible for driving.

Married to Dublin-native Barbara, who is also a respected academic, Larry and his wife have two sons, Conor and Shane, who both work in theatre in New York. Having temporarily moved back to Ireland upon his election, Larry’s three-year term of office will run until February 2024.