Ciarán Murphy: National anthems often the catalyst to enable athletes excel ‘We stand for the anthem, buoyant and tribal, heart beating with heart, our colours brave, our faces turned towards the uncertain sun’Thu Aug 08 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Oisín McConville’s quiet conviction undermines my Zen-like calmCiarán Murphy: All week I’ve had a firm belief about Galway’s chances of All-Ireland glory but a trip to Crossmaglen provided an unsettling doubt or twoThu Jul 25 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Mass hysteria in store even if Clare don’t drink Cork’s milkshake The All-Ireland finals feel pleasingly fresh even if the teams are familiar to each otherThu Jul 18 2024 - 06:00
Donaghy and Armagh benefit from blurring GAA’s unwritten rules; and they’re not the only onesThe unreasonable men involved in this weekend’s All-Ireland semi-finals welcome external helpThu Jul 11 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Reluctant Rebels pay a heavy price for their timidity Ciarán Murphy: Cautious Cork refused to even place a bet when all the chips were on the table and Louth duly scooped the potThu Jun 27 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Rory McIlroy’s US Open failure a stark reminder of sport’s unforgiving nature ‘I felt bad for him when he lost the Open to Cameron Smith at St Andrews … He played solid golf, the other guy played brilliant golf, and he lost’Thu Jun 20 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: The GAA doesn’t need bigger stadiums – it needs better onesGAA president Jarlath Burns pessimistic about prospects for Euro 2028 in Belfast but already imagining a new future for Casement ParkWed Jun 12 2024 - 18:35
Ciarán Murphy: It may be time to start taking Cork seriously again There’s an event that offers the sort of weekend every GAA person should try to experience at least once in their livesThu Jun 06 2024 - 06:00
Copying Limerick hurlers could be worth a shot for some football teamsIt would be foolish to expect Dublin, Kerry, Galway or Donegal to change now, but other counties should consider itThu May 30 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: A golden age dawns for that GAA permutation-lover in your life‘Life is frustratingly short on clarity and so too are league tables where three teams out of four … can qualify’Thu May 23 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: We need more games on GAAGo – not fewerThe GAA now have more championship games that matter than they’ve ever had and via GAAGO more people can see more of these games than ever beforeThu May 16 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: FA Cup could provide a model for provincial GAA championships to prosperPlay the four championships throughout the season, like the FA Cup in England, sprinkled into the fixture list every couple of weeksThu May 09 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Of course the Connacht final is worth winning - just to beat the other showerFor the simple joy of beating that other shower, Sunday is a game these old rivals would dearly love to winThu May 02 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Whether you’re from Waterford, Donegal or anywhere else, playing intercounty is a fairly noble ambitionWe’re often guilty of patronising the likes of Mickey Quinn and Eoin Cleary, asking what motivates them to keep going. It’s the same for any playerThu Apr 25 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Jeopardy makes the Munster hurling championship a force for goodSpectre of the dead rubber has stayed away, showing fans that group stages can have all the drama you can handleThu Apr 18 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Recalibration of GAA summer an improvement on times pastProvincial GAA championships may be losing their lustre but straw hat brigade and, more importantly, players can now enjoy more high-quality games in high summerThu Apr 04 2024 - 06:00
FAI better off hiring John O’Shea than an average journeyman manager from elsewhere Gus Poyet’s comments hardly suggest a man for whom being fiercely loyal is importantThu Mar 28 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Family occasion the highlight in Galway as dull leagues run their courseAbsence of a host of Galway’s big names diminishe the double-bill at Pearse Park but league has never looked more like a secondary competitionThu Mar 21 2024 - 06:00
Colour me sceptical as we reach the pinnacle for adult GAA jersey wearersThe success of a fine Tipperary number seems to have led to a questionable cottage-on-a-shirt industryThu Mar 14 2024 - 06:00
Pats and monsters: a GAA player might just step into the world of American footballCiarán Murphy: Three Gaelic footballers have a very long shot at a NFL kicking job. Don’t bet against them making itThu Mar 07 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Jim Gavin’s presence a sign of new football review committee’s serious intentThe job of charting a bright new future for Gaelic football is difficult but former Dublin boss Jim Gavin's presence on the review committee will ensure a thorough approachThu Feb 29 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: GAA grounds need to be shared - it is time to open up their facilities to everyoneRegardless of what the final cost of Casement Park will be, we can be assured that the GAA will not be footing the majority of the billThu Feb 22 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Time for Kildare leadership groups to face the music Kildare GAA county board, the women’s football board and the county’s camogie board share responsibility for the county’s baffling underachievement at senior levelThu Feb 15 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Damp squib as hurling league gets off to a slow startSurely there is no shortage of games in this toothless hurling league system that busy Fitzgibbon Cup colleges players cannot be rested forThu Feb 08 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Derry have faced down worse crises than an outsider in charge of their football teamWhen they talk about ‘a Derry job for Derry people’, it would help if so many of their previous managers weren’t from outside the countyThu Feb 01 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: If Gaelic football is dying, how come it can still make you feel so alive? There’s nothing quite like Gaelic football, no matter how it changesThu Jan 25 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Maybe the SuperValu Páirc furore is part of Cork GAA’s cunning plan, but I have my suspicionsThe handling of the mooted renaming of Páirc Uí Chaoimh has exposed a deep lack of leadershipThu Jan 18 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: GAA decide that the show must go on – despite the fogThe conditions in Newry for the game were bizarre but at least both Glen and Kilmacud’s managers accepted they it made no material difference to the outcomeThu Jan 11 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: The four types of players hitting the pitch for pre-season, from blushing debutants to eternal panellistsAt this time of year, managers’ team-sheet selections are only thing we’re going to learn about themThu Jan 04 2024 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: The great Johnny Flaherty earned a permanent place in the nightmares of Galway peopleFlaherty was the key man in the two most groundbreaking days in Offaly’s historyThu Dec 21 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Masters football just reward for dedicated club servants Players have paid their club debt and then some; getting a chance to wear a county jersey in the autumn of their career is a lovely final dividendThu Dec 14 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: John Conlon matches All Star intercounty efforts with drive for club developmentClare multi-winning All Star striving for his club to build on Senior B success at the highest levelThu Dec 07 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: The idea that you’re only playing Gaelic Games properly if you’re suffering is ridiculousGAA clubs who try to control players’ lives should be told who’s really in chargeThu Nov 30 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Rebuilding Casement Park could bring more wins than lossesIf the stadium is going to be redeveloped using public money, then it should be used by the public, and that could mean welcoming Coldplay as well as CushendallThu Nov 23 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: What the GAA can learn from the FAI Cup final It’s not in the GAA’s nature to create the sort of noise and chaos we saw in the Aviva on Sunday, and that’s a pityThu Nov 16 2023 - 06:00
Corofin had the freshest ideas in football for a spell and we might be learning from them againThe fact remains that there is a cohort for whom coaching itself is a vocation. We can’t all play forever and for many people, training teams is the next best thingThu Nov 09 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Shane Walsh, Andre Onana and Harry Maguire all see light at the end of the tunnelNo matter how much sportspeople say otherwise, criticism from outside takes its tollThu Oct 26 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Kilcoo’s outrageous behaviour demeans the club’s standing in the GAAWeak Down County Board should have faced down Kilcoo's successful bid to dictate who referees a county finalThu Oct 19 2023 - 06:00
John Kiely and Dessie Farrell going again proves how hard it is for GAA coaches to walk away Finishing on a high is far easier said than done, as top jobs prove hard to give upThu Oct 12 2023 - 06:00
Ciarán Murphy: Is there such a thing as having too many intercounty players on your club team?Despite their gifted personnel, Patrickswell will be fully aware there’s nothing easy in the modern Limerick senior hurling championshipThu Oct 05 2023 - 05:45
Shane Lowry’s Ryder Cup experience allows him a taste of the team sports he grew up withLowry’s commitment to team golf is taken as a fait accompli because this son of Offaly grew up playing team sportThu Sept 28 2023 - 06:00
People from good GAA families can have bad charactersThe GAA’s greatest asset is its members. But that doesn’t mean they all have great characters, To presume otherwise is pointless, and in fact dangerousThu Sept 21 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: This Is the Life - a book inspired by the everyday heroes of the GAASeán Brennan lost a hand in a catastrophic accident in 1964, but then went on to captain Milltown to their first county football titleSat Sept 16 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: Ballygunner a classic example of a club setting targets others can only dream ofDynastic club sides all over Ireland know that hard work alone is not enough if the biggest prize is to be wonThu Sept 14 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: Split season’s shortcomings leave GAA space to tend to local grassrootsLocal club fare fills the void for GAA fans as Premier League, international football and the Rugby World Cup claim most sports fans’ attentionThu Sept 07 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: Anyone who plays sports knows injury is a risk - but it still comes as a shock when it happensAs I join the line-up of people with sports injuries at the clinic on a Sunday afternoon, I’m feeling a little ashamed I’ve only got a bruised armThu Aug 31 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: Jim McGuinness’s return is exciting news – not just for DonegalGaelic football is stuck in a bit of a rut and Donegal’s new boss has shown before he is one of the most innovative coaches in the game’s historyThu Aug 24 2023 - 02:00
Ciarán Murphy: ‘The reality of what I’d volunteered for began to creep up on me. Senior football? At my age!’ ‘The unvarnished reality of what I’d volunteered for began to creep up on me. Senior football? At my age!’Thu Aug 17 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: Kerry’s attempt to end long wait will be well worth watchingKerry have not won the women’s All-Ireland final for 30 years, an anomaly they aim to correct when they face Dublin on SundayThu Aug 10 2023 - 05:00
Ciarán Murphy: The tightrope true inside forwards walk can prove tricky – even for David CliffordThe Kerry maestro had the chances to put Dublin away last Sunday and whatever post-game criticism he received is just indicative of his huge standing in the game’s firmamentThu Aug 03 2023 - 05:00
