Irish hurler Donal Og Cosack, one of the most goalkeepers in the history of the sport, has declared that he is gay in his new autobiography, Come What May. From the book:
I tried to go out with women to make sure, to see what kind of feeling it gave me…. I went out with nice women and good women, but sure, I still knew. I wanted something else. I get more out of men. I just do. Always have. I know I am different but just in this way. Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I’ve always been at peace with it.
An observation that’s always stuck with me is Blanche Devereaux’s priceless line about the difference between having sex with a man or a woman: “A man has so much more to offer.”
He also chronicles his father’s reaction to his coming out, in particular. It wasn’t good: Warnings of a rough life, chastisement and a hope that his son would get “fixed.” Yikes.
One of the interesting tidbits to come from his declaration is this reaction from the Belfast Telegraph:
Yet in what may shock the sporting establishment, he admits to sleeping with both women and men before accepting his sexuality as a gay man….
Unless I’m reading this wrong, the Telegraph isn’t shocked that he’s gay, but that he slept with both men and women! Or maybe the shock comes from the fact that he actually slept with women and preferred sex with men. Having experienced both, I’m not shocked at all.
Check out the Wikipedia entry on hurling.
Hat tip to Towleroad.
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Check out the newspaper story and then the comments. No shortage of phobes in Ireland either. Cool sport. I am sure they hack each other just as much as lacross palyers do so no check doesn’t mean much.
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Once again, you and this site suck, although you are the only game in town. A grammatical error and a quote from the Golden Girls…don’t ever call yourself a journalist or complain when someone fails to give you a press pass.
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 10:23 PM
what a brave guy!! but he is nuts for coming out in such a heavily Catholic country!!
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 7:06 AM
This is a major moment in Irish sport and for the Irish gay community. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is the biggest sporting organisation in Ireland and there are 2 major sports gaelic football and hurling. It’s the latter that Donal Og plays. He has been a controversial figure in the GAA and rumours about his sexuality have circulated for a few years, but for him to come out while still playing is a huge event. He is the first elite Irish sportsman to come out. On the issue of Ireland being heavily Catholic, it’ is not so much anymore. Very few young people are religious these days. In fact there has been huge support for him from both players and fans. Having said that I wouldn’t expect an avalanche of players coming out as those of us who attend sporting occasions know there is still a huge amount of homophobia out there among the players and fans . And just finally thank you to outsports for covering this story I was curious as to whether you would give a sport like Hurling a mention
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 7:23 AM
Very interesting story , thanks for posting . BTW if anyone is interested there is also an updated story about him coming out to his teammates , who seem , for the most part to have been supportive .
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/gaa-star-donal-og-cusack-teammates-helped-me-through-ordeal-of-revealing-i-am-gay-14536491.html
@dw – if you dont like this site there is absolutely no reason why you cant start up one of your own … but I guess if you got up off your butt and did that then you would no longer be able to complain that this is ‘the only game in town’ .
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 8:25 AM
For anyone wondering about the names “Donal Og” and “Sean Og” – Og (there should be an accent over the O) is Irish for young. So it is the equivalent of Donal Junior.
It’s been fairly well known for some time in Ireland that Donal Og was gay. I don’t know if this is true but I heard that a few of his Cork team mates, including team captain Sean Og O’hAilpin, accompanied him to a gay night club in Cork to show their support.
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 1:50 PM
[...] Come What May, Donal Og Cosack, gay athletes, gay sports, hurling, Ireland, LGBT Outsports: Irish hurler Donal Og Cosack, one of the most goalkeepers in the history of the sport, has [...]
on Oct 26th, 2009 at 5:39 PM
Dónal Óg’s recent interview on RTÉ TV:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3