An Irish sporting hero's decision to "out" himself as gay in a new book was hailed as a landmark on Thursday by one the country's leading gay support groups.

Donal Og Cusack, 32, a triple all-Ireland medallist and goalkeeper with the Gaelic Athletic Association's hurling team in the southern county of Cork, reveals his sexual orientation in a new autobiography, Come What May.

"I get more out of men. Always have. I know I am different but just in this way. Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I've always been at peace with it," he says in the book, to be published on Friday.