We Made It, Kid

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A01=Jackie McCarthy O'Brien
adoption
attempted suicide
Author_Jackie McCarthy O'Brien
autobiography
belonging
black
black and irish
Category=DNBS
Category=DNC
Category=JBFK1
childhood
coach
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
father
illegitimate
industrial school
Irish
Jamaican
lesbian
LGBT
Limerick
memoir
priest
rugby
sexual identity
soccer
sports
team
whiteness

Product details

  • ISBN 9781804441848
  • Weight: 302g
  • Dimensions: 152 x 234mm
  • Publication Date: 02 Oct 2025
  • Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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'Compelling, heartfelt and inspiring. I found this book so real. so honest. It has taught me about drive, ambition, persistence and love. And what it means to be really Irish! A triumphant story of achievement in a world made for men!' - Katriona O'Sullivan, author of Poor

Jackie McCarthy O'Brien has led a truly remarkable life, from being born in 1961 to an Irish mother and Jamaican father (whom she never met) in Birmingham to growing up in Limerick. She was put in an industrial school as a baby by a priest for being an "illegitimate" black child and not recovered by her mother until she was five.

As a teen she excelled at sport and played for Ireland in soccer, but when she was sexually harassed by a coach she changed to Irish rugby team. She got married at 21 before accepting her sexual feelings for women, and leaving the marriage with her three young children.
Always a hilarious raconteur, this memoir tells her extraordinary story up until becoming a TikTok star and LGBTQ+ icon in her sixties.

Jacqueline "Jackie" McCarthy O'Brien is a former Irish International and rugby player. She played forward for Republic of Ireland women's national football team. McCarthy O'Brien represented Ireland 13 times each in soccer (1981-1993) and rugby (1994-1998). She was the country's first mixed-race player in both games. A vocal advocate against racism, in 2021, she appeared on the Claire Byrne show speaking on the subject. She is openly gay and has participated in Limerick Pride events. Her daughter Sam McCarthy is also a football player.

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