On 8 May 2025, Trinity Global Business graduate and former Trinity Sport scholar Joe McCarthy was selected alongside fellow former Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) player Dan Sheehan by Andy Farrell as part of fifteen Irish players selected for the 38-man British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia.
McCarthy’s rugby career with DUFC began in 2021 after missing nearly two years of rugby due to a combination of the pandemic and a serious hamstring injury. McCarthy played a sensational game against Lansdowne and later Young Munster at College Park before being selected for Leinster by Leo Cullen for the 2021-2022 season. McCarthy made his debut for Leinster against Cardiff in January 2022 and went on to play over a dozen games for Leinster over the course of that season.
McCarthy was an unused player in Andy Farrell’s squad for the 2022 summer tour to New Zealand before featuring in Emerging Ireland’s tour to South Africa in September and October of the same year.
A month later in November 2022, McCarthy made his senior international debut off the bench for Ireland in the Test match against Australia at the Aviva Stadium. McCarthy’s international career continued with strong performances at the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Six Nations, where McCarthy won the ‘Player of the Match’ award in his first ever Six Nations match against France where Ireland beat France 38-17 in Marseille.
Joe McCarthy with Sport Person of the Year award at 2024 Trinity Sport Awards.
McCarthy has made over 28 appearances for Leinster across his career and was part of the squad who beat Northampton Saints at Croke Park to reach the Champions Cup Final, where they suffered a narrow defeat after extra time to Toulouse. Joe McCarthy was winner of the highly coveted ‘Sport Person of the Year Award’ at the 2024 Trinity Sport Awards.
McCarthy and his Lions teammates will face up against Argentina in Dublin on Friday 20 June before departing for Australia. The three Lions Test matches against the Wallabies will take place in Brisbane on 19 July, Melbourne on 26 July, and Sydney on 2 August.
Trinity College extends our sincere congratulations to former DUFC players Joe McCarthy and Dan Sheehan with for their selection for the British and Irish Lions squad with Provost Dr Linda Doyle saying, "This is a fantastic honour for Joe and Dan and we’re very proud of them. Wishing them very best of luck on the tour. We have a lot more to do for sport in Trinity and having role models like Joe and Dan gives us extra inspiration."
Michelle Tanner, Director of Sport and Physical Activity, Trinity College, added, “Joe and Dan's places on the British and Irish Lions squad are a recognition of their exceptional commitment and resilience, from their early days at DUFC through to their Irish senior international appearances. We wish Joe and Dan every success as they represent the Lions on the upcoming tour and look forward to following their continued progression on the international stage.”
Joe McCarthy being awarded a Trinity Sport Scholarship
Throughout his time at Trinity, McCarthy was supported by a Trinity Sport scholarship, benefitting from Trinity’s commitment to nurturing sporting and academic excellence for performance athletes. McCarthy was supported through the College’s continually evolving high-performance structure, designed to champion the development of both emerging and internationally recognised talent and in line with Trinity Sport’s ‘Realising Potential: A Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity at Trinity 2022 – 2026’ sport strategy.