Mick Kearney (born 29 March 1991) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player, currently playing for Irish side

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

in the United Rugby Championship. His primary position is

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, though he has also played as a flanker.

Career

Club

Kearney, who is originally from

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 ...

and attended

Mount Temple Comprehensive School Mount Temple Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under the patronage of the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and has, as a primary objective, the provision of state-funded second-l ...

, joined Connacht in 2011. He had previously played for amateur club Clontarf and been part of the

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

youth set-up, from schools to under-19's and Leinster colleges. He made his debut in a home match against Welsh side the

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

on 26 November that year, coming off the bench in a 17–6 loss. Kearney made his first senior start for Connacht against his native province Leinster on 1 January 2012, playing at blindside flanker. At the end of his first season with Connacht, Kearney had made 11 Pro12 appearances for the team, 5 of them starts. He had also played 3 times in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, coming on as a replacement in both matches against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...

and the away match with

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

. Kearney played more often for Connacht in his second season, making 8 starts and 7 replacement appearances in the

2012–13 Pro12 The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with R ...

. He also played for the province in 4 of their 6 pool games in the

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17–19 ...

, starting all but one of his games. He scored his first try for the team in a Pro12 match away to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 12 April 2013, which Connacht won 32–24. In April 2015 it was announced that Kearney would return to his native province of

for the 2015–16 season. Kearney was released by Leinster at the end of the 2018–19 season, and joined Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

ahead of the 2019–20 season, where former Leinster teammate

Ian Nagle Ian William Nagle (born 17 October 1988) is a retired Irish rugby union player, who last played for Italian United Rugby Championship side Zebre. Nagle began his career with home province Munster, before stints abroad with English sides Newcast ...

had also moved to. On 30 May 2021 he left Zebre, and on 26 August he joined Ulster on a short-term contract. He left Ulster at the end of the 2021–22 season, announcing his retirement in May 2022.

International

Kearney has represented Ireland at under-age levels including playing for the Irish under-20 team. He was part of the squad that went to the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby' ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He started each of the group matches against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the second row, as well as the first game in the 5–8th place play-offs against South Africa. He was left as a replacement for the final game against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, however.

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Connacht ProfileLeinster Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Mick 1991 births Living people People educated at Mount Temple Comprehensive School Rugby union players from County Dublin Irish rugby union players Connacht Rugby players Leinster Rugby players Zebre Parma players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union locks Irish expatriate rugby union players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate rugby union players in Italy