Ireland

‘His gesture of sympathy touched me greatly’: Readers pay tribute to Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh

From hiding in the commentary box at Croke Park to a GAA game in Hanoi, readers recall the radio veteran who died on Tuesday

We asked Irish Times readers to share their favourite memories of Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh. Photograph: Alan Betson

Cian O'Connell
Wed Jun 26 2024 - 19:56

GAA commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, who died on Tuesday, was the voice of the GAA for more than six decades, embodying for many the relationship between sport and Irish radio. In the stories that have been recounted since, the broadcaster’s wit and lyricism shine through, but so too does his generosity with his time.

We asked Irish Times readers to share their favourite memories of Ó Muircheartaigh. Here is a selection of the submissions we received.

Filming With Micheál – Maurice Sweeney

In 2006, Ballybrack native Maurice Sweeney made a documentary on Ó Muircheartaigh called The Sound of Sunday. They travelled the country together through the championship season.

A good time after filming, Ó Muircheartaigh learned that Sweeney had twins and sent a set of books to them. He continued to post out a Christmas card every year.

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“From the first throw in of the championship in Casement Park through the following months, I got to know and love this man. He was a legend in every sense of the word. When it came to the football final, we couldn’t get permission to film in Croke Park. But sure enough, Micheál sneaked me in with my camera and I hid under his legs in the commentary box filming for the duration of the final. It made for great footage.”

‘Micheál was the summer to me’ – Liam O’Toole

Ó Muircheartaigh was an advertisement for the lengths that radio broadcasts could travel. Cabinteely native Liam O’Toole remembers his voice landing on a Wexford beach.

“I recall being on Curracloe beach on a burning hot summer’s day and Micheál’s voice drifting across the dunes from the various radios dotted around the area. Micheál was the summer to me and everything that’s great about the GAA, may he rest in peace.”

Commentating on the Viet Celts – Colm Ross

Colm Ross, originally from Ardee, remembers Ó Muircheartaigh taking an interest in Asian GAA events on account of his son Cormac’s move to Singapore.

He attended a game featuring the then-fledgling Hanoi outfit Viet Celts and fell into commentary mode to describe their new free taker – also called Viet.

“Viet, a talented soccer player, took a 45 off the ground and sent it over the bar with his right foot. Five minutes later we got another 45 and Viet sent it over again but this time with his left foot.

“Micheál went into full swing in his commentary: ‘And here comes Viet, the young Hanoi soccer player, to take another 45 off the ground for the Viet Celts. He sends it over again but this time with his left foot. I wonder if he is related to a Kerryman called Maurice Fitzgerald’.”

The Joy of Radio – Fiachra Ó Ceilleachair

Like many others, Waterford native Fiachra Ó Ceilleachair would mute the television for GAA games in favour of Ó Muircheartaigh’s radio commentary. He had been a neighbour of Ó Ceilleachair’s late father in Dingle.

“When asked once why he preferred to stay with radio commentary rather than do so for television, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh responded with: ‘The thing about the radio, you see, is that your listener can be doing something else as well.’ Whatever we were doing or wherever we were, go raibh maith agat for being that evocative voice. Suaimhneas Síoraí Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh.”

‘Our legacy is not always to be found in grandeur and public acclaim’ – Sattie Sharkey

“I met Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh some years ago when he and I were guests at the tenth anniversary of TILDA, the longitudinal study of ageing organised by Trinity College Dublin. At the time I was recovering from brain surgery and in making my presentation, encouraging the audience to support and participate in the study, inevitably my emotions showed through.

“On returning to my seat, Micheál congratulated me on my remarks and sensing my high degree of emotion, gently squeezed my hand in sympathy and reassurance. This gesture of sympathy and support touched me greatly. Our legacy is not always to be found in grandeur and public acclaim. Thank you Micheál for a life well lived.”

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