James Desmond O'Grady (1952 – 8 January 2025) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played as a left wing-back at senior level for the Cork county team.

Career

Born in Togher,

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, O'Grady first played competitive football during his youth. He made his senior debut during the 1977 championship. O'Grady was a regular member of the team for just one season. He was a

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

runner-up on one occasion. At club level O'Grady is a one-time

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medallist with St Finbarr's. In addition to this he also won two

medals and three

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 sys ...

medals. His brother, Dónal, was an

medallist as a player and as a manager with the

Cork senior hurling team The Cork county hurling team represents Cork in hurling and is governed by Cork GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions: the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Cha ...

Political career

In 2014, O'Grady was elected to

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

(Blarney–Macroom area) as a

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

party member.

Death

O'Grady died at

Cork University Hospital Cork University Hospital () is a large university teaching hospital in Wilton, Cork in Ireland. Its academic partner is University College Cork and serves as one of two major trauma centers for Ireland: the other is Mater Misericordiae University ...

on 8 January 2025, at the age of 72.

Honours

;North Monastery *

Dr Croke Cup The All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Croke Cup, is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is the highest inter-schools hurling competition in Ireland, and has been contested every year, excep ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

Dr Harty Cup The Dr. Harty Cup is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster PPS GAA division of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It has been contested every year, except on three occasions, since 1918. As the pin ...

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Cuala of D ...

(1):

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Munster Senior Club Football Championship The Munster Senior Club Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition for the champion clubs of each county. It has been organised by the ...

(2):

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Cork Senior Football Championship The Cork Premier Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier Senior Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSFC) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by t ...

(3):

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OGrady, Des 1952 births 2025 deaths Dual players St Finbarr's Gaelic footballers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Irish schoolteachers Irish sportsperson-politicians Members of Cork County Council Sinn Féin politicians