Ernie MacKay
{{short description|Irish footballer}}
{{morefootnotes|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Irish English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| image =
| name = Ernie MacKay
| fullname = Ernest Arthur MacKay
| height =
| birth_date = {{birth date |1896|10|7}}
| birth_place = Templemore, County Tipperary, Ireland
| death_date = 1996 (aged 99)
| death_place = Colchester
| currentclub =
| clubnumber =
| position = Defender
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 =
| clubs1 = St James's Gate
| nationalyears1 = 1924
| nationalteam1 = Republic of Ireland
| nationalcaps1 = 2
| nationalgoals1 =
}}
Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/25896 |title=Ernie MacKay |work=Olympedia |access-date=19 August 2021}}
Personal life
MacKay was born in County 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament=512/edition=197020/matches/match=32300/report.html |title=Match report: Bulgaria - Republic of Ireland |work=Olympic Football Tournament Paris 1924 |publisher=FIFA |accessdate=16 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614224928/http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament%3D512/edition%3D197020/matches/match%3D32300/report.html |archivedate=14 June 2010 }} 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.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Ireland football squad 1924 Summer Olympics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Ernest}}
Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers
Category:Olympic association footballers for Ireland
Category:League of Ireland XI players
Category:Association footballers from County Tipperary
Category:Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Category:St James's Gate F.C. players
Category:Men's association football players not categorized by position
{{Ireland-footy-bio-stub}}