Martin Carney ( ga, Máirtín Ó Cearnaigh) is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er. Since retirement, Carney has maintained a national presence as commentator for

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

and TV analyst with ''

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 197 ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Bundoran Bundoran () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The town is located near the N15 road near Ballyshannon, and is the most southerly town in Donegal. The town is a tourist seaside resort, and tourism has been at the heart of the local economy s ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, although he was raised in Ballyshannon, Carney was educated at

St Eunan's College St Eunan's College ( ; ga, Coláiste Adhamhnáin), known locally as The College to distinguish it from the cathedral and GAA club, is a voluntary Roman Catholic all-male secondary day school (and former boarding school) in County Donegal, Ire ...

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

, played Gaelic football for the school team, and is the older brother of former college president Michael Carney. He is one of three footballers from the twentieth century to have played for the Donegal county football team while still attending the college; the others are

Seamus Hoare Seamus Hoare (died 16 May 2022) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as goalkeeper for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. He represented Donegal for 14 years in the 1950s and 1960s. He also represented Ulster, winning four Railway ...

and Paul McGettigan. Another brother, Dermot, was principal at St Ciaran's Community School in Kells and lives in nearby

Athboy Athboy () is a small agricultural town located in County Meath. The town is located on the ''Yellow Ford River'', in wooded country near the County Westmeath border. Local Clubs are Clann Na nGael and Athboy Celtic. History In medieval tim ...

; Martin Carney is a nephew of Jackie Carney.

Sporting career

Carney is a former inter-county footballer for

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

and

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

. In 2002 and 2003, he was one of the selection team for the

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

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 (s ...

. Carney emerged as favourite to take over from

John Maughan John Maughan (born 1962) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player who most recently managed the Offaly football team. He is a former manager of the Mayo, Clare, Roscommon and Fermanagh senior football teams. He is only the third ...

as manager of the Mayo senior football side but quickly ruled himself out of contention.

John O'Mahony John Francis O'Mahony (1815 – 7 February 1877) was a Gaels, Gaelic scholar and the founding member of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Despite coming from a reasonably weal ...

became manager, with Carney acting as a statistician and video analyst. He has experience of management with Mayo in the past, taking the U21 football side to two All-Ireland finals in 1994 and 1995, both which they failed to win, as the minors did in 1991 also. In May 2012, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' named him in its selection of Donegal's "greatest team" spanning the previous 50 years.

Professional life

Carney is former principal at Scoil Mhuire agus Padraig in

Swinford Swinford () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is surrounded by a number of smaller villages, including Midfield and Meelick. It is just off the N5 road, located 18 km (11 mi) from Ireland West Airport Knock (formerly known as K ...

Career statistics

References

1952 births Living people Aodh Ruadh Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic games commentators Heads of schools in Ireland Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers People educated at St Eunan's College People from Ballyshannon {{Donegal-gaelic-football-bio-stub