Ernie MacKay explained

Ernie MacKay
Fullname:Ernest Arthur MacKay
Birth Date:7 October 1896
Birth Place:Templemore, County Tipperary, Ireland
Death Date:1996 (aged 99)
Position:Defender
Clubs1:St James's Gate
Nationalyears1:1924
Nationalcaps1:2

Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924.[1]

Personal life

MacKay was born in Tipperary as the second son and fifth child of John and Mary Elizabeth MacKay. As a child, he lived at the Curragh Camp in County Kildare in Ireland before moving to Oxmantown Road in Dublin.

When the 1916 Easter Uprising broke out, MacKay remained in Ireland where he was employed as a telegram boy for the General Post Office in Dublin. He began playing football and joined the St James's Gate FC, where he was part of the team that won the League of Ireland in 1921 and 1922.

MacKay was also a member of the Irish Free State football team that competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[2] They beat Bulgaria 1–0 in Round 2 but lost out to the Netherlands in extra time in the Quarterfinals. The team finished fifth out of twelve teams.

MacKay left Ireland with his wife Bea to live in Colchester near to their daughter Elizabeth in the 1960s after he had retired as a superintendent with the General Post Office. He died there in September 1996 aged 99.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ernie MacKay . Olympedia . 19 August 2021.
  2. Web site: Match report: Bulgaria - Republic of Ireland . Olympic Football Tournament Paris 1924 . . 16 March 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100614224928/http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament%3D512/edition%3D197020/matches/match%3D32300/report.html . 14 June 2010 .