Hurling legend Justin McCarthy and son honoured at Cork Person of the Month awards

CORK hurling legend Justin McCarthy has been honoured for his contribution to sport.

The Rochestown native, who also hurled for Passage and Shamrocks as a player-manager for a season, excelled as a stylish midfielder in Rebel red and a highly influential coach on Leeside and beyond

McCarthy was recognised in a joint award as the Cork Person of the Month along with his son, RTÉ broadcaster Justin junior.

Justin was a standout at underage level and delivered at every level for Cork, making his senior debut in 1964, before being selected as Hurler of the Year for helping Cork to U21 and senior All-Ireland glory two years later. 

He added two more Munster titles and injury in a motorbike accident before the 1969 All-Ireland final saw him miss that loss to Kilkenny and the 1970 campaign when the Rebels secured Liam McCarthy and the league.

A stylist with a flinty edge on the field, McCarthy was drawn to coaching, assisting Antrim in the early '70s, guiding Clare to two leagues at the end of that decade, and a high-profile stint in Waterford in the noughties and also over Limerick. He was also the coach of his native county in the mid-70s and again in the mid-80s, capturing Munster and All-Ireland titles, including the famous centenary clash with Offaly at Semple Stadium. 

His positive approach to hurling and belief in flowing, attacking hurling was intoxicating in Waterford, where he got the best out of Déise legends like Paul Flynn, John Mullane and Dan Shanahan. 

His son, Justin McCarthy is a broadcaster and journalist, best known for presenting This Week on RTÉ Radio One, Ireland’s longest-running radio news programme.

Justin Jr cut his teeth in the local radio space. He began his career working as a journalist with both of Cork’s most prominent radio stations 96FM and Red FM. He made the transition to national radio when he became Political Correspondent for Today FM. In this role, he was based in Leinster House and covered prominent political and economic stories across a 10-year period. 

In 2013, he moved to RTÉ to take up a role as a Multimedia Journalist, part of which involved acting as a reporter for Morning Ireland. He acted as a member of RTÉ political staff for two years before moving to his current role as presenter of This Week in September 2018. 

The McCarthys are truly one of Cork’s most famed families. 

"Across sport and the media, both Justin Sr and Jr. have provided the people of Cork with decades of entertainment, commitment, stimulation and inspiration. It is my hope that this Cork Persons of the Month Award goes some small way towards showing the city’s and county’s thanks for the immense service they provide to sporting and civic life. 

"In the future, we hope to occasionally highlight Cork families in our awards scheme and the McCarthys are the first that our judges have chosen,’' said awards organiser Manus O’Callaghan.