Biography
Irish centre back and defensive midfielder Cathal McCarthy joined Hull City in February 2025 from League of Ireland First Division side University College Dublin, aka UCD, and was immediately loaned back to UCD until June 2025. He was still 18 years old when he made his City debut in August 2025, amidst a centre half injury crisis.
Cathal McCarthy was born in Caragh, a County Kildare village three miles west of Naas and 25 miles south west of Irish capital Dublin. He joined the academy at UCD as a teenager and made his first team debut in May 2024 against Athlone Town, having already twice sat unused on the bench earlier in the month. In his fourth and final appearance of the 2024 season McCarthy was sent off for accruing two yellow cards in the first half of a match against Wexford FC. Following his move to Hull City and immediate loan back, Cathal was a first team regular in the first half of the 2025 season, earning the second red card of his combative career in April 2025 against Wexford… again. His final game for UCD came in June 2025 against Dundalk, which took his tally for the club to 20 senior appearances.
McCarthy made his first appearance for Ireland’s Under-19 side in September 2024 against Kazakhstan, he scored against Greece Under-19s a month later and by March 2025 he had made 4 appearances at Under-19 level. In September 2025, shortly after his City debut, Cathal made his first appearance for Ireland Under-21 against Andorra the added a second Under-21 cap against Slovakia in October 2025.
Details
Nationality: Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 31 August 2006, Caragh
Hull City First Game: 23 August 2025, Blackburn Rovers H (Championship), 18 years, 357 days old
Hull City Final Game: [current player]
Clubs
University College Dublin (2024-2025), Hull City (2025-current), University College Dublin (2025, loan)
Hull City Record
Career: 2 apps, 0 goals
Cathal McCarthy| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 1 (1) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |