Christopher "Chrissy" McKaigue (born 13 July 1989) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Gaelic footballer who plays for the Derry county team. McKaigue plays club football and hurling for Slaughtneil Robert Emmet's. He is a defender in football and a half forward in hurling. He has represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

International Rules Series The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team (se ...

Personal life

McKaigue is from Slaughtneil. He went to secondary school at

St Patrick's College, Maghera St. Patrick's College, also known as St. Patrick's Co-Ed Comprehensive College, is a co-educational 11–18 secondary school in Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It teaches within the Roman Catholic ethos. St Patrick’s’ Maghe ...

. McKaigue also works at

Gaelcholáiste Dhoire The Gaelcholáiste Dhoire is a multi-denominational, 11–19, all-ability, coeducational, Irish-medium, post-primary school in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is located inside Dungiven Castle. it has had many sporting achieve ...

as a Physical Education teacher and is a

Gaeilge Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

learner.

Football career

Club

McKaigue has won numerous senior titles in both codes with Slaughtneil. In hurling he has won the

Derry Senior Hurling Championship The Derry Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Derry GAA clubs. The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1887. Slaughtneil are the title holders (2022) de ...

nine times and the

Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and contested b ...

four times. In football he is the holder of five

Derry Senior Football Championship The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Champi ...

s and three

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition played between the top clubs in Ulster GAA. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup ( ga, Corn Shéamuis Mhic Fearáin). The winners and t ...

Inter-county

Minor

McKaigue was vice-captain of the Derry Minor team that were runners-up in both the Ulster Minor Championship and All-Ireland Minor Championship in 2007. Earlier that year he won the Ulster Minor Football League with the county, and lifted the cup as captain.

Under-21

In 2008 McKaigue reached the Ulster Under 21 Championship final with Derry Under 21s, but they were beaten by Down due to a late goal.

Senior

;2008–2009 Later in 2008 he was drafted into the Derry Senior panel before the Championship meeting with

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

. He came on as a substitute in that game to make his Derry Senior debut and scored a point. He was involved from the start of the 2009 season - named in the

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between counties and universities in the province of Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football competition based in Ulster behind the Ulster Senior Football Championship, an ...

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

and Championship panels. Derry reached that year's National League final, but were defeated by

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

. ;2022 In 2022, he won his first

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is ...

and Derry's first since 1998. They went on to reach the All-Ireland semi final that year, losing out to Galway. McKaigue, aged 33, won an All Star, becoming one of the oldest first time winners of that award.

International rules

He played twice for

against Australia 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 and Australian footballers from Australia. Ireland e ...

. He also played in the 2014 International Rules Series.

Australian rules football career

In September 2009, it was announced that Australian Football League side Sydney Swans had signed McKaigue as an international rookie. It was anticipated he would play as an attacking defender.

Honours

;Slaughtneil *

(3): 2014, 2016, 2017 *

(4): 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 *

(5): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020 *

(10): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 ;Derry *

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is the fourth tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Each year, the champion team in the Nicky Rackard Cup is promoted to the Christy Ring Cup, and the lowest finishing ...

(1): 2017 *

(1): 2022 ;Individual * Club Hurling Team of the Year (1): 2020 * All Star (1): 2022

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090907011103/http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7106/newsid/84158/default.aspx {{DEFAULTSORT:McKaigue, Chrissy 1989 births Living people Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Dual players Gaelic footballers who switched code Irish international rules football players Irish players of Australian rules football Slaughtneil Gaelic footballers Slaughtneil hurlers