John McGrath (born 28 July 1994) is an Irish hurler and Gaelic footballer who plays for Tipperary Senior Championship club Loughmore–Castleiney and at inter-county level with the

Tipperary senior hurling team The Tipperary county hurling team represents Tipperary in hurling and is governed by Tipperary GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland S ...

. He usually lines out as a right corner-forward.

Playing career

Our Lady's Secondary School

McGrath first came to prominence as a hurler with Our Lady's Secondary School in

Templemore Templemore () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. The 2011 Cens ...

. He played in every grade of hurling before eventually joining the college's senior hurling team. On 24 February 2013, McGrath top scored with 0-05 for the team when they suffered a 2–21 to 1–11 defeat by Dungarvan Colleges in the Harty Cup final.

University of Limerick

As a student at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

, McGrath joined the senior hurling team during his second year. On 1 March 2015, he was selected at right wing-forward when UL faced the

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Phort Láirge) was an institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engineerin ...

in the Fitzgibbon Cup final. McGrath spent much of the game at centre-forward and top scored for UL with 0–05 in the 0–21 to 3–12 draw. He was switched to full-forward for the replay on 11 March. McGrath ended the game with 0-06 and collected a winners' medal following the 2–18 to 1–14 defeat. McGrath lined out in a second successive Fitzgibbon Cup final on 27 February 2016. He was selected at right corner-forward but spent much of the game at centre-forward and scored 2–07 in the 1–30 to 3–22 defeat by

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the Univ ...

. On 24 February 2018, McGrath lined out in a third Fitzgibbon Cup final when UL faced DCU Dóchas Éireann. He scored two points from right corner-forward and collected a second winners' medal following a 2–21 to 2–15 victory.

Loughmore–Castleiney

McGrath joined the Loughmore–Castleiney club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels, enjoying championship success in the minor and under-21 grades. On 13 October 2013, McGrath lined out at right wing-forward against Nenagh Éire Óg in his first Tipperary Hurling Championship final. He was held scoreless throughout but ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1–17 to 1–16 victory. On 3 November 2013, McGrath lined out in his second final of the year when Loughmore–Castleiney faced Aherlow Gaels in the Tipperary Football Championship final. He top scored with 1-09 from midfield in the 3–10 to 0–09 victory. On 2 November 2014, McGrath lined out in a second successive Tipperary Hurling Championship final. He scored 1-01 from right wing-forward in the 2–22 to 3–11 defeat by

Thurles Sarsfields Thurles Sarsfields is a Tipperary GAA club which is located in County Tipperary, Ireland. Both hurling and Gaelic football are played in the "Mid-Tipperary" divisional competitions. The club is centred in the town of Thurles at Semple Stadium ...

. McGrath lined out in a second successive Tipperary Football Championship final on 21 December 2014. He scored 0-02 from frees in the 2–07 to 1–10 draw with

Cahir Cahir (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Iffa and Offa West. Location and access For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dubli ...

. McGrath top scored with 0–04 in the replay on 26 December 2014 and collected a second successive winners' medal following a 0–09 to 2–02 victory. McGrath lined out in a third Tipperary Football Championship final in four seasons on 30 October 2016. He scored a point from midfield and ended the game with a third winners' medal following a 1–09 to 1–06 defeat of

Moyle Rovers Moyle may refer to: Places *Moyle District Council, a former local authority in County Antrim, Northern Ireland *Moyle River, Northern Territory, Australia *Straits of Moyle, the sea between northeastern Northern Ireland southwestern Scotland ...

. McGrath won his fourth Tipperary Senior Football Championship and second Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship in the space of a week as his club, Loughmore–Castleiney, completed the Tipperary double for the second time in November 2021. He scored the winning goal in the football final versus

Clonmel Commercials Clonmel Commercials GFC is a Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic football club located in the town of Clonmel in County Tipperary, Ireland. The club is part of the South Division of Tipperary GAA. They have been Tipperary Senior Football champ ...

and the winning point against

. He was awarded the man of the match award in the hurling and football quarter-finals, semi-finals as well as the hurling drawn final and football final.

Tipperary

Minor and under-21

McGrath was just 15-years-old when he was selected for the

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

minor hurling team prior to the start of the 2010 Munster Championship. He was an unused substitute during Tipperary's 0–17 to 1–13 defeat by Clare on 5 May 2010. McGrath became a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

during the 2011 Munster Championships. On 3 July, he was an unused substitute with the Tipperary minor football team when they defeated

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

by 3–11 to 1–09 to win the

Munster Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurlin ...

. On 18 September 2011, McGrath was selected at centre-forward when Tipperary faced

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in the

All-Ireland final The All-Ireland Final may refer to: * All-Ireland Hurling Final, the last match to be played in the All-Ireland Hurling Championship (Senior, Minor and Under-21 levels) * The last match to be played in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship ...

. He was substituted at half-time but ended the game with a winners' medal following the 3–09 to 1–14 victory. McGrath was again eligible for the minor grade in 2012 and retained his status as a dual player. On 8 July 2012, he won a second successive Munster Championship with the Tipperary minor football team after coming on as a 55th-minute substitute in the 2–14 to 1–14 defeat of

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 ...

in the final. On 15 July 2012, McGrath lined out at midfield when the Tipperary minor hurling team faced Clare in the Munster final. He top scored with 0-07, including three from frees, and collected a winners' medal following the 1–16 to 1–12 victory. McGrath again lined out at midfield when Tipperary faced Dublin in the

. He top scored with 1–07 in the 2–13 to 1–16 draw. McGrath was again the top scorer with 0–10 in the replay on 30 September 2012. He ended the game with an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medal following the 2–18 to 1–11 victory. McGrath was also Tipperary's top championship scorer with 2-46 from six games. McGrath joined the Tipperary under-21 hurling panel in advance of the 2013 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 17 July 2013 when he came on as a 35th-minute substitute in a 5–19 to 2–13 defeat of Cork. McGrath was once again introduced as a substitute when Tipperary suffered a 1–17 to 2–10 defeat by Clare in the Munster final on 7 August 2013. McGrath was added to the Tipperary under-21 football team during the 2014 Munster Championship. On 9 April 2014, he lined out at right wing-forward when Tipperary suffered a 1–18 to 3–08 defeat by Cork in the Munster final. For the second successive season, McGrath was a dual player at under-21 level with Tipperary in 2015. An injury ruled him out of the Munster final with the footballers against Cork on 9 April 2015, however, he claimed a winners' medal as an unused substitute following the 1–15 to 3–08 victory. On 2 May 2015, McGrath started the

against Tyrone on the bench. He came on in the 52nd minute in what was Tipperary's only substitution in the 1–11 to 0–13 defeat.

Senior

McGrath was added to the Tipperary senior team in advance of the 2015 National League. He made his first appearance for the team on 22 February 2015 when he scored 0-02 from left corner-forward in a 2–18 to 0–20 defeat of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. A chronic groin injury meant that McGrath was an unused substitute for Tipperary in the subsequent

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. On 12 July 2015, he won a

medal as a non-playing substitute following Tipperary's 0–21 to 0–16 defeat of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

in the Munster final. On 22 May 2016, McGrath made his

debut at left corner-forward in a 0–22 to 0–13 defeat of Cork. He was switched to right corner-forward for the Munster final against Waterford. McGrath scored 3-02, including a goal from a penalty, and collected a second successive winners' medal following the 5–19 to 0–13 victory. He retained his position at right corner-forward for the

against Kilkenny on 4 September 2016. McGrath ended the game with an

medal after scoring 1–03 in a 2–29 to 2–20 victory. He ended the season by being named in the left corner-forward position on the All-Star team. On 23 April 2017, McGrath lined out in his first National League final. He top scored for Tipperary with 0-06 from frees but ended on the losing side following a 3–21 to 0–14 victory for Galway. McGrath played in a second successive National League final on 8 April 2018. Switched from corner-forward and lining out at left wing-forward, he scored 0-02 from play but ended on the losing side following a 2–23 to 2–17 defeat by Kilkenny. On 30 June 2019, McGrath lined out at right corner-forward when Tipperary faced Limerick in the Munster final. He scored a 44th-minute goal to bring the sides level, however, he ended the game on the losing side after a 2–26 to 2–14 defeat. On 18 August 2019, McGrath was selected at left corner-forward when Tipperary faced Kilkenny in the

. He scored three points from play and ended the game with a second All-Ireland winners' medal following the 3–25 to 0–20 victory. McGrath ended the season by receiving an All-Star nomination.

Personal life

McGrath is the son of Pat McGrath who won an All-Ireland medal with Tipperary in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

. His brother, Noel McGrath, is a three-time All-Ireland medalist and a current teammate on the Tipperary senior team.

Career statistics

Club

Hurling

Football

Inter-county

Honours

;Loughmore–Castleiney *

Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship The Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the FBD Insurance Tipperary County Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Associati ...

(2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Tipperary Senior Football Championship The Tipperary Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Tipperary. The winners of the Tipperary Championship qualify to represent their county in the Munster ...

(4): 2013,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Mid Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship The Mid Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Centenary Agri Mid Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Mid Tipperary Board of the Gaelic Athletic Associati ...

(3): 2011, 2016, 2018 * Mid Tipperary Senior Football Championship (5): 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 ;University of Limerick *

Fitzgibbon Cup The Fitzgibbon Cup ( ga, Corn Mhic Giobúin) is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions (universities, colleges and institutes of technology) in Ireland. The Fitzgibbon Cup competition is administered ...

(2): 2015,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

;Tipperary * All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (2):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Munster Senior Hurling Championship (2): 2015,

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). I ...

(1):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

(1): 2011 *

Munster Minor Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Munster GAA Hurling Minor Championship) is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Assoc ...

(1):

Munster Minor Football Championship The Munster Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18) in the province of Munster in Ireland. It is ...

(2): 2011, 2012 ;Individual * All Star Award (1): 2016 *Munster GAA Senior Hurler of the Year (1): 2016 *''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'' Team of the Year (1): 2016

References

External links

John McGrath profile
at the Tipperary GAA website {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, John 1994 births Living people Dual players Irish postmen Loughmore-Castleiney hurlers Loughmore-Castleiney Gaelic footballers People educated at Our Lady's Secondary School, Templemore Tipperary inter-county hurlers