Patrick McBrearty (born 5 August 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is usually selected in the full-forward line for his county, often flanking

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer ...

with

Colm McFadden Colm Anthony McFadden ( ga, Colm Antóin Mac Pháidín; born 1982/3) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays at full forward for St Michael's and, from 2002 to 2016, for the Donegal county team. McFadden is Donegal's most-capped Championship ...

(before McFadden's retirement). In 2015, Pat Spillane included McBrearty in his top 40 footballers in the game today. Among other accolades, he has one

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

(

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 ...

), five

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 ...

s ( 2011,

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

) and two

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 ...

(

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 ...

, 2015). With this early success, McBrearty is believed to be "the most decorated player of his age ever to represent Donegal." He is also part of an exclusive club to have played minor and senior matches for their county on the same day. Indeed, he was the first Ulster footballer since Benny Coulter of Down to play both grades on the one afternoon — Benny is still waiting on that All-Ireland medal after Cork 2010. A major contributor to Donegal teams since his emergence at the start of the successful

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is an association football coach and former Gaelic footballer, coach and manager, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as both player and manager with the Donegal county team. Having gu ...

managerial era, McBrearty is considered one of the finest young footballers to have arrived on the Donegal scene since Murphy. Opponents have highlighted his "ace" attacking abilities and regard him as a considerable threat. Like Murphy, McBrearty has been a live target for Australian Football League recruitment. He turns down such offers as he wishes to further his education in Ireland and to spend time with his family. A 2015 survey — conducted among U.S. women with little or no knowledge of Gaelic games — ranked McBrearty as the seventh sexiest GAA player, second in Ulster and top in Donegal.

Early life

McBrearty is a graduate of the Phoenix Elite Academy. McBrearty was born in

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 ...

. His father, Seamus, a former centre-forward, who won three Donegal Under-21 Football Championships and was a panel member with the 1985 Donegal Senior Football Champions. His mother, Carol, is a cousin of Tommy Conroy. His brother,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, has been a teammate for club and county.

Playing career

Underage

McBrearty used to play association football with St Catherine's — also the hometown club of Everton's

Séamus Coleman Séamus Coleman (; born 11 October 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a right-back and captains both Premier League club Everton and the Republic of Ireland national team. Originally a Gaelic footballer, Coleman started ...

— and is a close friend of Irish association footballer

Carl McHugh Carl Gerard McHugh (born 5 February 1993) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for Indian Super League club ATK Mohun Bagan. Primarily a central defender, McHugh can also play as a left-back, and even as a defensive midfielder. Club ca ...

, with whom he played for Ireland and went on trial at Celtic. At Celtic he trained alongside the likes of Bobo Baldé and

Thomas Gravesen Thomas Gravesen (; born 11 March 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Gravesen played as a professional in Denmark, Germany, England, Spain and Scotland for Vejle Boldklub, Hamburger SV, Everton, Real M ...

. He has also played soccer for

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

at underage level. He also played underage for his local club Kilcar and has won many titles alongside his brother

. He also played in the under-21 teams that lost to Cavan in the 2013 and 2014 Ulster finals.

Inter-county

2011 season

McBrearty was drafted into the senior panel by manager

in May 2011 ahead of Donegal's opening

game against Antrim. He made his senior debut against Antrim as a substitute. He had earlier played for Donegal in the Minor Championship, also against Antrim. He made his first senior start for Donegal against Cavan at 17 years of age and scored 1–3. His 20th-minute goal was fired first time along the ground into the Cavan net after a pass from Mark McHugh. McGuinness named McBrearty as a late replacement for his clubmate

Michael Hegarty Michael Hegarty is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He made 50 championship appearances, a team record when set in 2011 and not exceeded until Colm McFadden made his 51st championshi ...

in the starting lineup in that game against Cavan. McBrearty's performances during his debut season at senior inter-county level drew widespread praise, both from local and national media.

2012 season

By the age of 18 he had firmly established himself as a member of the Donegal senior football team. After his second Ulster medal in 2012,

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

and

Rory Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", ...

reckoned he had trained only about 25 times with the senior team. In the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final 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 ...

at Croke Park on 5 August 2012, Anthony Thompson knocked McBrearty out of the game with his head, causing him concussion. McBrearty played in the

2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2012 All-Ireland Football Final, the 125th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park, Dublin, on 23 September 2012. Donegal and Mayo, widely considered "one of the mo ...

against

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 ...

, making a notable contribution in the build-up to Donegal's second goal of the game. His attempt at scoring a point came crashing off the Mayo post after eleven minutes of the match and Mayo's Kevin Keane fumbled, dropping the ball into the path of

who promptly slotted it into the back of the net.

Dublin biting incident

Against

in the final game of the 2013 National Football League McBrearty sustained a laceration to the shoulder, reported to have been caused by a bite from a Dublin player. The Donegal management team took photographs of the wound, photographs of a wound which appeared to suggest had been caused by the teeth marks of a Dublin opponent. McBrearty was hospitalised after the game to have the wound examined. Accompanied by his parents, he underwent blood tests and was put on a course of antibiotics by concerned medics. The incident overshadowed the entire game and rocked Dublin's football team, according to media there. Commentators described it as "shameful". However, Dublin County Board chairman Andy Kettle reacted with indifference, rejecting the need for an investigation and complaining instead of "a hard pitch". The GAA launched a probe into the behaviour of the Dublin players. On 17 April 2013, the Central Competitions Controls Committee (CCCC) cited Kevin O'Brien, the 2012 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship-winning captain, for the biting of McBrearty. However, most sources did not immediately name the player. The offence fell under Category III and a three-match ban was proposed, enough to end the player's year if Dublin were to exit the Championship at an early stage.

2013 season

Stalked by "bitegate" (see above) since the end of the National League, McBrearty put in a man of the match performance against Tyrone in Donegal's opening game of the Ulster SFC. He played a crucial role in both of Donegal's goals.

Colm Cooper Colm "the Gooch" Cooper (born 3 June 1983) is an Irish Gaelic footballer whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen years from 2002 to 2017. Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Cooper was born ...

collected his award for him from ''

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 ...

''. His quieter performance in the following game, an Ulster SFC semi-final against Down, was put down to toothache.

2014 season

McBrearty received a personal message from US actress Sarah Jessica Parker ahead of the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final: "My body is in NYC but my heart is in Donegal. Let's take the All Ireland and Paddy, bring it home to Kilcar. From Sarah Jessica and her son James."

2015 season

Under the management of

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

, McBrearty started the opening fixture of the 2015 National Football League against Derry and scored 0–5 (two of which were frees) in what was his 46th appearance at the age of 21. He scored 0–4 (including one free) against Dublin in the next game, at Croke Park. He started the third fixture against Cork in

Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. Location B ...

and contributed 0–3 (including one free) to the team's one-point victory. He started the fourth fixture against Monaghan and scored a point from a free. He started the fifth fixture against Kerry at

Austin Stack Park Austin Stack Park is a GAA stadium in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is one of the stadiums used by Kerry GAA's Gaelic football team and the stadium of the hurling team. The ground was named after Austin Stack, an Irish revolutionary a ...

and contributed 0–4. He started the sixth fixture against Tyrone and scored 0–1 (from a free). He started the seventh fixture against Mayo and scored 1–3 (including one free). Donegal qualified for the NFL semi-final. McBrearty started and scored 0–4. McBrearty started the

2015 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2015 Ulster Senior Football Championship is the 127th instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of Ulster GAA. It was one of the four provincial competitions of the 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football ...

final, scoring 0–6 (four of which were frees). He had previously started the preliminary round against Tyrone (scoring 0–2), the quarter-final against Armagh (scoring 1–1) and the semi-final against Derry (scoring 0–2, one of which was a free). McBrearty scored 1–1 in the

2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 128th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football since its establishment in 1887. 33 teams took part − 31 counties of Ireland (excluding Kilkenny), London and New York. ...

qualifier defeat of Galway at Croke Park and started the next game against Mayo at the same venue.

2016 season

McBrearty started the opening fixture of the 2016 National Football League away to Down and scored 1–3 (two of which were frees). He started the second fixture against Cork, a ten-point win in Ballyshannon, contributing 0–4 (including two frees) to the team's victory. He started the third fixture against Mayo and scored 0–4 (three of which were frees). He started the fourth fixture, away to Kerry at

, and scored 0–3 (all of which were frees). He started the fifth fixture against Roscommon and scored 0–6 (all frees). He started the sixth fixture away to Dublin at Croke Park and scored 0–3 (including one free). He started the seventh fixture away to Monaghan in

Castleblayney Castleblayney (; ) is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,607 as of the 2016 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Let ...

and scored 0–2 (including one free). Donegal qualified for the NFL semi-final. McBrearty also started this game, scoring 0–8 (five of which were frees). McBrearty started the

2016 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2016 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 128th instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of the Ulster GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2016 All-Ireland Senior Footba ...

final, scoring 0–3 (two of which were frees). He had previously started the quarter-final against Fermanagh (scoring 0–3, including one free), the semi-final against Monaghan (scoring 0–5 (three of which were frees) and the semi-final replay against the same opposition (scoring 0–4). McBrearty scored eleven points in Donegal's 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship victory over Cork at Croke Park. McBrearty's eleven-point tally went down as the highest total of individual scores recorded by a Donegal player in the same game; Michael McLoone (1966) and

Seamus Bonner Seamus Bonner (6 November 1948 – 11 October 2012) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for various clubs, as well as for the Donegal county team. Bonner played 129 games for his county between 1972 and 1985, initially in midfield and la ...

(1974) jointly hold the record for highest ''score'' in the same match. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' described McBrearty's display as "stunning" and noted that he had helped Donegal become the first Ulster team to reach six consecutive All-Ireland quarter-finals, a record previously only reached by Kerry, Dublin and Cork. He scored 0–3 (two of which were frees) in that quarter-final.

2017 season

McBrearty started the opening fixture of the 2017 National Football League against Kerry and scored 0–4 (three of which were frees). He started the second fixture away to Roscommon, contributing 0–2 (one of which was a free) to the team's victory. He made a second-half substitute appearance against Monaghan in the sixth fixture and scored 0–2. He made another substitute appearance in the seventh fixture against Mayo. McBrearty made a second-half substitute appearance in the

2017 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2017 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 129th instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship organised by the Ulster GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championsh ...

quarter-final victory against Antrim and scored 1–2 (both points were frees). He started the semi-final loss to Tyrone and scored 0–6 (including four frees). He started the

2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 130th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887. Thirty-three teams took part – thirty-one of the thirty-two Counties of Ire ...

qualifier defeat of Meath at

Páirc Tailteann Páirc Tailteann () is a GAA stadium in Navan, County Meath, Ireland. It is the home of the Meath Gaelic football and Hurling teams. The ground has had a capacity of between 30,000 and 33,000, but following a safety audit in 2011 the GAA redu ...

and scored 0-7 (three of which were frees). He then started the qualifier loss to Galway at

Markievicz Park Markievicz Park ( ga, Páirc Marcievicz) is the principal GAA stadium in County Sligo, Ireland, home to the Sligo Gaelic football and hurling teams. Built in 1955 in Sligo town (due mostly to Seán Forde who single-handedly gathered the fund ...

and scored 0–6 (two of which were frees). McBrearty captained his club to the

2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship The 2017 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 95th official edition of Donegal GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in County Donegal. Sixteen teams compete with the winner representing Donegal in the Ulster S ...

, scoring three points in the final. It was the first time his club had won the title in 24 years, having been defeated by Glenswilly at the same stage the previous year.

2018 season

Under the management of

Declan Bonner Declan Bonner (born 11 August 1965) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and manager. He played at senior level for the Donegal county team, winning an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1992. He later managed the Donegal county team for ...

, McBrearty started the opening fixture of the 2018 National Football League against

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

, scoring 0–10 (eight of which were frees). He scored 0–9 (including six frees) in the next game against

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 ...

. He scored 0–7 (four of which were frees) against

. He scored 0–4 (including one free) against

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

. He missed the matches against Tyrone and

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 then started against

and scored 0–4 (two of which were frees). In the

2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 130th instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship organised by Ulster GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. ...

, McBrearty scored eight points (six from play) as Donegal overcame Derry in their quarter-final encounter. He then scored six points in the semi-final victory over Down. In the final against Fermanagh, McBrearty was substituted in the 38th minute; it later emerged that he had suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the first half and this injury caused him to miss the rest of the season. He still managed to score a point for his team in the final match.

2019 season

McBrearty did not play a minute of the 2019 National Football League. This included missing Donegal's victory over Meath in the Division 2 final. In the

2019 Ulster Senior Football Championship The 2019 Ulster Senior Football Championship is the 131st instalment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship organised by Ulster GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. ...

, McBrearty scored five points (two from play) as Donegal overcame

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...

in their quarter-final encounter. He scored three points (two from play) in the semi-final victory over Tyrone. In the final against Cavan, McBrearty scored five points (four from play) as Donegal claimed that season's provincial championship. McBrearty made his 100th appearance for Donegal against Meath in the

2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 132nd edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887. Thirty-three teams took part – thirty-one of the thirty-two Counties of ...

quarter-final. He scored 1–6.

2020 season

Post-COVID disruption, play resumed behind closed doors on 18 October, McBrearty sustained an injury during a challenge match against Roscommon which left him unable to play in the remaining league games against Tyrone and Kerry in October 2020. Sub versus Armagh in Ulster SFC semi and scored a point.

International rules

McBrearty was called up for

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 ...

ahead of the

2015 International Rules Series The 2015 International Rules Series (officially the 2015 EirGrid International Rules Test) was contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. The 19th series of International rules football since ...

against Australia. He started the first Test at

Breffni Park Breffni Park, known for sponsorship reasons as Kingspan Breffni, is a GAA stadium in Cavan, Ireland. It is the home of Cavan GAA. The ground has an overall capacity of about 25,030 with a 5,030 seated capacity. Breffni is the historic name ...

, then came on in the second Test at Croke Park to smash home the goal of that game, as Ireland romped to a record-breaking victory.

Personal life

McBrearty is a former employee of construction recruitment firm, 3D Personnel.

Career Statistics

: ''As of match played 12 June 2022''

Honours

;Donegal *

: 2011,

;College * Ulster Vocational Schools: 2011, 2012 * All-Ireland Vocational Schools: 2011 ;Country *

, 2015 ;Club *

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been known ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

;Individual * All Star: 0 ** Nominated (4) 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 *

All Stars Young Footballer of the Year The GAA & GPA All Stars Young Footballer of the Year (often called the All Stars Young Footballer of the Year, or simply Young Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given at the end of the Championship season to a young footballer aged 21 ...

: 0 ** Nominated (2) : 2012, 2014 * Ulster Young Footballer of the Year Awards: 2011, 2012 * Ulster GAA Writers Association (UGAAWA)

Cormac McAnallen Cormac McAnallen ( ga, Cormac Mac An Ailín; 11 February 1980 – 2 March 2004) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Eglish St Patrick's club and the Tyrone county team. With Tyrone, McAnallen won the All-Ireland Senior Footbal ...

Young Achiever: 2011, 2012 * Donegal Footballer of the Year: 2017

References

External links

Profile
at C.L.G. Chíll Chartha * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcbrearty, Patrick 1993 births Living people Association footballers not categorized by position Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Finn Harps F.C. players Gaelic football forwards Gaelic footballers who switched code Irish international rules football players Kilcar Gaelic footballers People from Kilcar St Catherine's F.C. players Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)