The finest hurler of his generation and perhaps the greatest of all time, DJ Carey is widely regarded as the first modern GAA superstar. Slight in stature but lightning fast, Carey’s skill with the small ball could literally take one’s breath away, his almost supernatural talent augmented by countless hours with hurl in hand, banging the sliotar off the gable end of his Gowran home, as well as almost as long spent in the ball alley – Carey was a prodigious handballer too.
DJ’s legacy should be his five All-Ireland medals, 10 Leinster titles and four National League medals, along with memories of genuine sporting greatness. Instead, he is more likely to be remembered for a Luciferian fall from grace, as he spends the next 5½ years behind bars, guilty of defrauding 22 people out of a total of almost €400,000 by claiming he had cancer and needed to travel abroad for treatment.
[ Podcast: the whole story of DJ Carey’s rise and fallOpens in new window ]
In this well-researched page-turner, journalist Eimear Ní Bhraonáin interviews plenty of those taken in by the hurler’s lies, many of whom want to remain anonymous and were not part of the court case. Indeed, the author estimates that when it comes to the actual sum DJ has taken from people, it is a lot more than detailed in court.
Ní Bhraonáin delves into DJ’s childhood, his extraordinary career and on to the business failures, failed relationships, family feuds and the lies that eventually caught up with him. Along the way, she forensically describes a litany of unusual events in the life of the “Walter Mitty type”, including conflicting reports on injuries and illnesses, differing accounts of his collapse in a Kilkenny Garda station in 2012, and eventually the stories he told to convince people to give him money.
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Many of those he lied to speak on the record, such as Clare hurler Tony Griffin or Kilkenny superfan Tommy Butler, who handed over about €17,000 and actually asked Gardaí for proof that his hurling idol never had cancer when they contacted him.
Perhaps more surprising is the fact that many of those affected by DJ’s lies refused to engage with either the author or the Garda investigation, still showing loyalty to the hurling legend. “This reluctance to turn on Carey,” she argues, “is why his crimes went unreported for so long” as he took advantage of those who had adored him.
