Mack, Gordon Sylvester Bradshaw (‘Curly’) (c.1899–1949), badminton and tennis player, was born in Dublin, one of at least five surviving children of the Rev. Alfred William Bradshaw Mack, Church of Ireland clergyman from Dublin, and Alice Elizabeth Mack (née Digges) from Merrion, Dublin. In 1911 the family were living in Mountpleasant Square, Ranelagh. His father was chaplain to the Rotunda Hospital from 1919 until his death in 1944. Mack was a gifted and brilliant student, graduating with a double first from TCD (1922), and also found time to win the TCD singles tennis championship (1920, 1921). He was a successful and accomplished tennis player, who played twice for Ireland in the Davis Cup in 1930 against Monaco and Australia, and on an Irish team that defeated England 8–7 at the Fitzwilliam club in 1925, when he played outstandingly to defeat W. A. Ingram. He also won the men's doubles title at the Irish championships in 1929, when he partnered Davis Cup player Edward ‘Ned’ McGuire (qv).
Mack's primary claim to fame, however, lies in his brilliant badminton career, particularly in his doubles partnership with fellow Dubliner Frank Devlin (qv), Ireland's greatest-ever badminton player. They burst on the scene as the losing finalists at the All-England Championships in 1921 – effectively the world championships of the time – but they went on to win the doubles championship on six occasions (1923, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931), dominating world badminton in the 1920s. Mack won the All-England mixed doubles title in 1923, Devlin won the All-England singles title on six occasions, and Mack won the singles title himself in 1924, beating the great Sir George Thomas, the winner of twenty-one All-English titles, and after whom the Thomas Cup, the world men's team championship, is named. Mack also won six Irish badminton titles, including three National Singles titles (1920, 1922, 1925) and two Open Singles (1923, 1925). He won twenty-one caps for Ireland in badminton in the period 1919–32. For a while he was ranked as number two in the world behind Devlin in singles play.
In terms of playing style he was generally regarded as a player of tremendous natural ability, with a graceful and elegant style and beautiful all-round play. It was said that he modelled his playing style on George Thomas, who was an occasional doubles partner. He may even have had more natural ability than Devlin, but without the same mental strength to win as regularly as Devlin was able to do, and he never seemed to take the game too seriously. This may indeed be a clue to the reason behind his early and tragic death. After leaving TCD he joined Sandford Park School in Ranelagh as a teacher, eventually becoming headmaster in 1925. In the 1930s Mack left Ireland to become a professional badminton coach and schoolmaster in Canada. He was a mercurial personality; although he was described by Frank Devlin as a charming and delightful man, the tennis player Louis Meldon (qv) described him as cranky and difficult at times, and prone to antagonising those around him. Mack committed suicide by cutting his own throat in Montreal in 1949.