From hero to zero -- The plummeting reputation of GAA legend Carey

Extra.ie​

a day ago

The plummeting reputation of once-revered hurler DJ Carey finally hit rock bottom yesterday morning. The GAA star, who won five All-Irelands and nine All-Stars in a storied career on the pitch, stood up and pleaded guilty to 10 charges of deception.
He will be sentenced at the end of October. Long before he was arrested and charged with 21 counts of fraud and forgery in September 2023, rumours had swirled about his actions, initially in his native Kilkenny, before making their way nationwide.
Could it be true? Could a GAA legend have conned people into thinking he had cancer so he could extract money from them?
Some rubbished the idea. But yesterday, as he faced the prospect of a trial before his peers, Carey, 54, admitted to a host of criminal charges, including one in which he pleaded guilty to defrauding billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien. DJ Carey. Pic: © INPHO/Patrick Bolger
Those gathered in court expected the trial to officially begin. Instead, as he was formally arraigned and Carey, dressed in a dark suit, pleaded guilty, there was to be no interrogation of the facts and no delving into exactly what he had done.
Carey walked out of court but when he returns on October 29, he is facing the very real possibility of a custodial sentence. Where once he rubbed shoulders with other giants of the game along with the rich and famous, all of whom admired him, he now faces the stark reality that his new neighbours may comprise violent, sadistic and deeply troubled people.
The court heard yesterday of Carey's 'significant mental and physical health problems' but he did not have cancer, despite telling over a dozen people he did and that he needed money for treatment. The rumour mill had been in overdrive for years, with one photo in particular revving up those claims. DJ Carey outside the CCJ. 02/07/2025. Pic:: ©Fran Veale
The picture, its veracity never having been proven, showed Carey lying in bed with an iPhone cable up his nose, in what seemed to be an effort to make it appear he was connected to a medical device. Whether this was a joke or otherwise is not known.
From there, the chorus of confusion from his community grew louder, the notion that he could have really committed these crimes grew in credibility, all borne from a widely shared WhatsApp photograph. Carey's life has been marked by extreme highs and tragic lows.
One of nine children, he lost two of his brothers, John and Thomas, in separate incidents. One died as a result of sudden infant death syndrome, while the other died after a horrific farm accident. DJ Carey. Pic: Collins Courts
Recalling that incident, DJ previously said: 'I was about three or four years of age, a brother of mine got killed on a PTO [power take-off] shaft between a tractor and manure spreader.
'My father was cleaning out the machine, and he went climbing up to get to him and got caught in a PTO. I had an older brother who died, I think, in a cot death, maybe a couple of years previous to that, so I'm sure my parents – that would never have left them to be honest.'
After a hugely successful career on the pitch, Carey's battles with debt became well known, though he appeared to be dealing with them. He has been quoted giving after-dinner speeches at events and GAA discussion panels. DJ Carey. Pic: Collins Courts
During these talks, he mentioned suffering heart scares and changing his lifestyle to improve his health. Even the man he ended up defrauding, Mr O'Brien, made him an ambassador for the fuel company Topaz, now Circle K.
But while things appeared to be getting better for the Kilkenny legend, away from the attention of the media and his community, Carey remained in deep financial trouble. In 2023, it emerged 83 customers each had over €1million wiped from what they owed AIB, which was then the majority Stateowned bank.
The 83 had the large amounts, all valued at over 90% of what they owed, wiped between 2015 and 2022. It emerged that Carey was one of the 83 who had the debt written off. In his case, he had to pay less than 1% of the original amount he owed to the bank.
His debt was written down to just €60,000 from €9.5million in 2017 as thousands of mortgage-holders struggled with a series of interest rate hikes. His mounting debts were even a talking point as far back as 2015, with some rather prescient comments being made on RTÉ radio.
He had previously pledged publicly to repay as much of his debt as possible. Speaking on the Ray D'Arcy radio show, Carey said: 'I am not one of those who would say 'I don't care' about repaying debt.
'You borrow money, it should be paid back,' he said, adding that 'to whatever extent that can be, I would still be conscious it has to be done.' It appears Carey's fall from grace is now complete