Mick Clifford is an Irish journalist and author whose books include investigative nonfiction, collaborative memoirs, and writing about the Gaelic Athletic Association. A special correspondent with the Irish Examiner, he has worked across newspapers and broadcasting for more than thirty years. His reporting on police whistleblowing brought him the journalist-of-the-year honor on Tonight with Vincent Browne in 2014 and a National Newspapers of Ireland journalism award in 2016.
Clifford’s books examine institutions through the experiences of particular people. His account of Maurice McCabe follows the consequences of challenging misconduct within the police, while his collaboration with prison officer David McDonald describes working life inside Irish prisons. In There I Long to Be, he turns to amateur sport, drawing on a childhood in Kerry and years spent coaching in Dublin to consider the relationship between Gaelic games and community.
Mick Clifford Books
| Book | Year | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| There I Long to Be | 2026 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
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His nonfiction combines personal testimony with reporting about the systems surrounding the people involved. The GAA memoir extends that interest to a voluntary organization whose clubs connect families, parishes, and generations. Football grounds and coaching sessions become places to examine changes in Irish life, including the different pressures facing rural communities and expanding urban areas.
Gaelic Football Books
There I Long to Be: Life through a GAA Lens: Clifford follows a life shaped by Gaelic football, beginning in Kerry’s Iveragh peninsula and continuing through decades in Dublin. Childhood memories and the experience of coaching his son’s team accompany reporting on clubs and volunteers. The memoir examines how the GAA creates attachment to place, while asking how social change and urban development affect the communities that sustain it. Published in 2026.
The book moves between participation and observation. Clifford’s involvement as a parent and coach provides a view of the unpaid work behind a local team, while his reporting considers the wider organization. The contrast between the Iveragh of his childhood and the Dublin of his adult life gives the memoir two settings through which to explore belonging, continuity, and the practical demands of keeping a club active.
Other Books
A Force for Justice: The Maurice McCabe Story: Clifford reconstructs the experiences of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe, who raised concerns about policing in County Cavan. The account follows the response to his complaints, the efforts to discredit him, and the effects on his family. Interviews and reporting examine the personal costs of seeking accountability inside a powerful institution and the events that brought the controversy to national attention. Published in 2017.
Unlocked: An Irish Prison Officer's Story: Prison officer David McDonald, writing with Clifford, describes three decades inside Ireland’s prison system. Experiences at Mountjoy, Portlaoise, and the Midlands Prison reveal working conditions, relationships between officers and prisoners, and the circulation of drugs and other contraband. The memoir follows his growing concerns about violence and institutional failures, leading toward his decision to speak publicly about what he witnessed. Published in 2022.
Who Killed Una Lynskey?: A True Story of Murder, Vigilante Justice and the Garda Heavy Gang: Clifford reexamines the disappearance and murder of nineteen-year-old Una Lynskey in County Meath in 1971. Suspicion fell on local men, setting off police actions and retaliatory violence that compounded the original crime. Drawing on interviews and investigative material, the book follows the consequences for the people accused and their families, while considering failures of policing and the continuing absence of justice. Published in 2024.