We Made It, Kid

The autobiography of Jackie McCarthy O'Brien: Irish soccer and rugby star, LGBTQ+ icon, TikTok star and all round Limerick Legend.

Jackie McCarthy O'Brien has led a truly remarkable life, from being born in 1961 to an Irish mother and Jamaican father (whom she never met) in Birmingham to growing up in Limerick.

As a teen she excelled at sport and played for Ireland in soccer, but when she was sexually harrassed by a coach she changed to Irish rugby team.

Jackie McCarthy O'Brien has led a truly remarkable life, from being born in 1961 to an Irish mother and Jamaican father (whom she never met) in Birmingham to growing up in Limerick. She was put in an industrial school as a baby by a priest for being an "illegitimate" black child and not recovered by her mother until she was five.

As a teen she excelled at sport and played for Ireland in soccer, but when she was sexually harrassed by a coach she changed to Irish rugby team. She got married at 21 before accepting her sexual feelings for women, and leaving the marriage with her three young children. Always a hilarious raconteur, this memoir tells her extraordinary story up until becoming a TikTok star and LGBTQ+ icon in her sixties.