Michael Darragh MacAuley

This article is about the Dublin Gaelic footballer sometimes referred to by MDMA when the use of these letters is desired for the sake of brevity. For the empathogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine classes of drugs widely known as ecstasy in its street pill form, see MDMA.

Michael Darragh MacAuley^[2] is a Gaelic footballer who plays club football for Ballyboden St Enda's and inter-county for Dublin county team from 2010 until 2020. He plays his club football with Ballyboden St Enda's, with whom he won the 2016 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. He also won the 2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, 2015 Dublin Senior Football Championship and 2015 Leinster Senior Football Club championship. MacAuley was the 2013 GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year.^[3]

Michael Darragh MacAuley

Personal information
Irish name	Micheál Darragh Mac Amhalghaidh
Sport	Gaelic Football
Position	Midfield
Born	(1986-08-21) 21 August 1986 (age 37) Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)^[1]
Nickname	MDMA, Mick
Occupation	Primary School Teacher
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Ballyboden St Enda's
Club titles
Dublin titles	3
Leinster titles	2
All-Ireland Titles	1
Colleges(s)
Years	College
	Froebel College of Education Maynooth University
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2010–2021	Dublin	27 (2-06)
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	10
All-Irelands	8
NFL	5
All Stars	1
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 21 January 2021.

Playing career

Club

MacAuley plays his club football with Ballyboden St Enda's, with whom he won the Dublin Senior Football Championship in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Inter-county

MacAuley made his senior football debut for Dublin against Wexford in the first round of the O'Byrne Cup; he scored a point on his debut.^[4] McAuley made his debut in the league against the 2009 All-Ireland Champions Kerry. He scored a decisive point in the game which assured the win for Dublin against Kerry.^[5]

MacAuley made his Championship debut as a substitute against Wexford in the 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship.^[6] He made his second appearance against Meath in the semi-final of the Leinster football championship, a game in which Dublin were easily beaten by the Royals.^[7] MacAuley had his first start for Dublin against Tipperary in a second round qualifier for the All-Ireland Championship. He scored his first Championship goal and point in a game in which he finished with 1-01 of the final score of 1-21 to 1-13 at Croke Park.^[8] MacAuley scored a point in Dublin's eventual exit from that season's All-Ireland Championship at the semi-final stage.^[9]

MacAuley won his first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in September 2011, when Dublin beat Kerry at Croke Park.^[10] He wasn't surprised by the comeback nature of the game, saying: "We had been down before in matches. It wasn't the first time we were down. We actually had a training game the week before when the As played the Bs and it was a very similar situation".^[11] His second All-Ireland title came against Mayo in 2013, as did the GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year, when he succeeded Karl Lacey to the title.^[2][3]

On 21 January 2021, MacAuley announced his retirement form inter-county football.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Personal life

After retiring from playing inter county football he visited Hikkaduwa - a surfing town on the south coast of Sri Lanka.^[16] During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war he and David Hickey formed a group called Dublin Footballers Support Palestine to advocate for Palestinians and to put pressure on the Irish Government to take a stronger stance against Israeli human rights abuses.^[17]

Honours

Team

Dublin

• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (8): 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• Leinster Senior Football Championship (10): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• National Football League (5): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
• O'Byrne Cup (1): 2015

Ballyboden St Enda's

• All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship (1): 2016
• Leinster Senior Club Football Championship (2): 2015, 2019
• Dublin Senior Football Championship (3): 2009, 2015, 2019

Individual

• All Star Awards (2): 2011, 2013
• The Sunday Game Player of the Year (1): 2013
• GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year (1): 2013

References

1. . Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
2. "MDMA and Tony Kelly scoop top gongs at GAA GPA All Star Awards". 8 November 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
3. . 8 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
4. "Dublin ease past Wexford to spark new hope". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 18 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
5. . RTÉ Sport. 7 February 2010. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
6. . RTÉ Sport. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
7. "Royals rout Dubs in Leinster semi". Hill16.ie. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
8. "Dubs book place in next round of football qualifiers". Hill16.ie. 11 July 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
9. "Dublin 1-14 1-15 Cork". BBC News. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
10. "News".
11. "MacAuley was never in doubt". 23 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
12. "Michael Darragh Macauley brings curtain down on superb Dublin career". The 42. 21 January 202. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
13. "Eight-time All-Ireland winner Michael Darragh Macauley hangs up his inter county boots". Irish Independent. 21 January 202. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
14. "Eight-time All-Ireland winner Macauley announces inter-county retirement". RTE Sport. 21 January 202. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
15. "Conal Keaney: Michael Darragh Macauley was one of the greatest midfielders". Irish Examiner. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
16. O'Kane, Karl (19 January 2022). "Michael Darragh Macauley on his career and people's conflicting view of him". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
17. https://www.dublinlive.ie/sport/gaa/dublin-gaa-heroes-calling-sport-28216647