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Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh

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Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh (pronounced Murahurtig) (born August 29, 1930) is an Irish Gaelic games commentator for Radio Telifís Éireann. He is the natural successor of Michael O'Hehir as the "Voice of Gaelic games."

Early life

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh was born in Dún Síon just outside An Daingean, County Kerry, in 1930. He was christened Mícheál Moriarty and was the fourth child in a family of eight. Like many homes in Ireland at the time Ó Muircheartaigh's house contained no radio. His earliest memory of listening to a match commentary was at a neighbour's house in 1939. From that point on he was fascinated by the radio and the voice of Micheál O'Hehir in particular. Ó Muircheartaigh grew up on the family farm and was educated locally in Dingle. In September 1945 he began studying at Coláiste Íosagáin in Baile Bhúirne in the County Cork Gaeltacht where he was in training to be a teacher. It was at this all-Irish school that his name changed from Mícheál Moriarty to Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. In September 1948 he began the final year of his teacher training at St. Patrick's College in Dublin.

Broadcasting career

In early March 1949 Ó Muircheartaigh, along with ten other students from the college, and several from other colleges, did a test commentary on a hurling game at Croke Park. Each student had to commentate for five minutes in Irish and the most successful would be selected for further commentary work. Ó Muircheartaigh had never seeing a game of hurling before in his life. But he knew that those adjudicators judging his commentary were not able to see the game:

Ó Muircheartaigh was the one selected and his first assignment was to provide an all-Irish commentary on the 1949 Railway Cup final on St. Patrick's Day.

He graduated from St. Patrick's College a little later and also completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Dublin. He taught economics, accountancy and Irish in both primary and secondary schools throughout Dublin, the majority of which were run by the Christian Brothers. He continued teaching up until the 1980s, when he became a full-time broadcaster with Radio Telefís Éireann.

For the early part of his broadcasting career Ó Muircheartaigh commentated on Minor GAA matches, in the Irish language. He also replaced the legendary Micheál O'Hehir when he was not available to commentate. Eventually when O'Hehir was forced to retire in the mid-1980s Ó Muircheartaigh took over as the station's premier radio commentator. He developed his own inimitable style of commentary and his accent is unmistakably that of a native Irish speaker. He is a true lover of Gaelic Athletic Association and it is reflected in the enthusiasm he brings to matches. His unusual turn of phrase has made him a much loved broadcaster and often imitated character. He has become legendary in Ireland for his unusual gaffe-like turns of phrase in the heat of the moment while commentating. Today he commentates on RTÉ Radio 1. In 2004 he published his autobiography, 'From Dún Sion to Croke Park'. He is also the main commentator in the Gaelic games: Football game for PS2.

Ó Muircheartaigh's commentaries for RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport show won him a Jacob's Award in 1992. He was also the Parade Grand Marshal for the 2007 St. Patrick’s Festival - having been given the honour by the chairman of the Festival in recognition and appreciation of his unique contribution to Irish culture.

Quotations

Ó Muircheartaigh has become legendary in Ireland for his unique turns of phrase in the heat of the moment while commentating.

  • "1-5 to 0-8...well from Lapland to the Antarctic, that's level scores in any man's language".
  • "Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now ... but here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail ...... I've seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around Croke Park!"

  • "He grabs the sliotar, he's on the 50......he's on the 40......he's on the 30....... he's on the ground".

  • "Seán Óg Ó hAilpín.... his father's from Fermanagh, his mother's from Fiji, neither a hurling stronghold".

  • "Teddy McCarthy to John McCarthy, no relation, John McCarthy back to Teddy McCarthy, still no relation".

  • "Colin Corkery on the 45 lets go with the right boot. Its over the bar. This man shouldn't be playing football. He's made an almost Lazarus-like recovery from a heart condition. Lazarus was a great man but he couldn't kick points like Colin Corkery".

  • "In the first half they played with the wind. In the second half they played with the ball."

  • "Setanta Ó hAilpín....the original Setanta from the old Gaelic stories was ten foot tall, had ten fingers on each hand and ten toes on each foot but even he couldn't be playing better hurling than his namesake here today"

  • "... and Brian Dooher is down injured. And while he is, I'll tell ye a little story. I was in Times Square in New York last week, and I was missing the Championship back home. So I approached a newsstand and I said 'I suppose you wouldn't have the Kerryman would you?' To which the Egyptian man behind the counter replied 'do you want the North Kerry edition or the South Kerry edition?'. He had both, so I bought both. And Dooher is back on his feet..."

  • "Anthony Lynch, the Cork corner-back, would be the last person to let you down - his people are undertakers"

  • "Teddy looks at the ball, the ball looks at Teddy"

  • " Dublin have scored two points, one from the hand and one from the land"

  • "Pat Fox out to the forty and grabs the sliothar. I bought a dog from his father last week. Fox turns and sprints for goal. The dog ran a great race last Tuesday in Limerick. Fox to the 21 fires a shot, it goes to the left and wide… And the dog lost as well."

Bibliography

  • From Dún Síon to Croke Park - The Autobiography Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh ISBN 9781844880454

References



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Last updated on Friday March 07, 2008 at 07:03:11 PST (GMT -0800)
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