C. J. Molloy

C. J. Molloy

Personal information
Irish name	C. J. Ó Maolmhuaidh[1]
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Forward
Born	1988 or 1989 (age 35–36)[2]
Nickname	Big Ceej[3]
Occupation	Legal executive[2]
Club(s)
Years	Club
200?–2014 2014–	Donegal New York Ard an Rátha
Colleges(s)
Years	College
2007–2011 2012–2014	Union College Iona College
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
2008–2013 2014–2015	New York Donegal
Inter-county titles
All-Irelands	has one all Ireland with New York beating Kilkenny by one point and kicking a free over the bar

C. J. Molloy (born 1989) is an American sportsperson. As a Gaelic footballer he has played for New York in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

Early life and education

Son of Connie Molloy, a manager of and former player with the New York team,[3][4] he is a native of Hawthorne, which is about thirty miles north of Manhattan. He is the nephew of Anthony Molloy, the 1992 All-Ireland winning captain.[5] As a boy he spent summers in Donegal, Galway and Tralee.[6]

Molloy received a basketball scholarship from Union College located three and a half hours away. However, he returned to the Bronx three times each week for football training. He ultimately gave up basketball after a few months to concentrate on his football.[7]

He studied at Union College between 2007 and 2011, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Government. He completed a Master of Business Administration in Management at Iona College between 2012 and 2014.[8]

Playing career

Molloy played for New York teams in the All-Ireland Feile Under-14 competitions in 2002 in Carlow and in 2003 in Galway.[6]

Molloy made his New York senior debut in 2008 in a game against Leitrim.[7][4][9] He was sent off in 2013 as New York exited the Championship against Leitrim, who were returning to the Bronx for the first time since then.[10]

He played in the 2012 All Stars match and scored a goal.[7] He met Donegal manager Jim McGuinness, there with the team; McGuinness invited Molloy to Donegal.[11]

Molloy flew to Donegal. He participated with the Donegal county team from his arrival in mid-February 2014, but parted from them in 2015 struggling with injuries.

When Molloy moved to Ireland, he went to play for his uncle's club, Ard an Rátha.[12] He had never played for them until this time.[6] He has been club captain.[13]

In 2016, Molloy appeared in a Street Gaelic football video — Peil Star 2 — with Dublin players Shane Carthy and Diarmuid Connolly. In the video, Connolly kicks a football across the River Liffey in Dublin.[3]

He scored a contender for goal of the season against reigning Senior Football Champions Glenswilly in 2017, though his team lost the match.[14] Directly from the second-half throw-in, he soloed through the Glenswilly defence and kicked the ball into the net from a distance of around 25 yards.[15]

He was at McCann Fitzgerald between April 2016 and February 2018 when he moved to the Sanne group.[8] He spent the period between September 2015 and March 2016 at Maples and Calder in Dublin, having before that been at Wilson Esler between 2011 and 2013.[8]

He has sustained a cruciate injury.[16]

References

1. Ferry, Ryan (5 May 2022). "Naomh Conaill land senior title". Donegal News. p. 62. [Tomas] Ó Baoill replied with a free for Ard an Rátha and they then had a goal chance but CJ Ó Maolmhuaidh was denied by a brilliant block from Jason Mac Cathmaoil.
2. Walsh, Harry (13 December 2017). "Five minutes with… CJ Molloy". Donegal News. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
3. "New York GAA star shows his mad Gaelic football streets skills in Dublin: CJ Molloy joined by Dublin GAA players for short-film and full kick across the River Liffey". 24 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016. Known as 'Big Ceej', Molloy has represented New York at all levels in Gaelic football… his father, Connie was a New York GAA player and manager.
4. McMahon, James (3 May 2013). "Leitrim poised for winning start Stateside". RTÉ Sport. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013.
5. "Molloy looks to second generation to shock Sligo". Hogan Stand. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
6. "An American dream: Ardara's CJ Molloy aims to make a big impact". Donegal News. 17 October 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022.
7. "A day in the life: New York's CJ Molloy". Hogan Stand. 2 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015.
8. "CJ Molloy". LinkedIn. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
9. "Blue Blood CJ Molloy in a New York State of Mind". 3 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 May 2013.
10. "New York 0–07 Leitrim 4–19". RTÉ Sport. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2013. New York's woes were compounded late on when CJ Molloy was dismissed for a second yellow card.
11. Donoghue, Eamon (2 May 2019). "GAA Statistics: New York not doing enough to promote their own". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
12. "McGrath returns as Ardara win". Donegal Democrat. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014. Ardara had moved into a 1–10 to 1–4 lead before C J Molloy and Thomas Boyle found the Termon net twice in a matter of minutes to stretch their team's lead out to 12 points with 20 minutes still on the clock.
13. Campbell, Peter (28 May 2017). "Ardara net first home win of the season against Termon". www.donegallive.ie. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
14. Culhane, Darragh (8 May 2017). "Former New York player scores wonder goal in Donegal championship". JOE.ie. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
15. "CJ Molloy scores a cracking goal in Donegal SFC". Hogan Stand. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
16. Bonner, Declan (23 August 2019). "No Bones About It". Donegal News.

External links

• Interview with Wallace Media