Goodbye to the voice of a nation – there will be no other like O Muircheartaigh

“THE stopwatch has stopped. It’s up to God and the referee now. The referee is Pat Horan. God is God.” 

It was hard to know where to start, but September 2006 is as good as any. 

2

2

The Kirwan theatre at NUI Galway was in complete silence as the voice of the GAA spoke to the masses.

Mícheál was chairing a debate on professionalism in the GAA, but there was only one side of the fence for him. This wasn’t who we are. 

Interviewing him as a 20-year-old student for the college newspaper was an honour.

The nerves were long gone after 30 seconds in his company. “Always call it as you see it,” he said.

“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!”

We spoke about everything from the debate that had just finished to 1992, and how a few men from my fishing town of Killybegs helped land the biggest catch in football. 

He gladly gave his time to anyone who wanted it, and the warm smile never left him. 

He’d have a yarn for everyone that wanted to shake his hand. He held that lecture hall in the palm of his hand like no teacher ever did. 

Mícheál and the great Michael O’Hehir brought the championship to the nation before a telly even existed in most Irish houses. 

They illuminated every sight and sound from the biggest days of all and beamed their captivated audiences from their kitchens and cars to the best seats in the house. 

ICONIC COMMENTARY

The memorable Ó Muircheartaigh quotes are endless, from his first start in 1949 until he called his last All-Ireland final when Cork lifted Sam in 2010. 

The videos of him online vary from all the classics over the years to simply making ham sandwiches – the necessity for the boot of every car going to Killarney, Clones or Thurles.  

His dramatic reading of the lyrics from Camila Cabello’s 2019 hit ‘Havana’ on Virgin Media’s Six O’Clock show is more than worth your time.  

He was just so much more than a commentator – he made people happy. 

“Seán Óg Ó hAilpín: his father’s from Fermanagh, his mother’s from Fiji. Neither a hurling stronghold.”

When the news broke yesterday of his sad passing at 93, the tributes poured in from everywhere. 

Donegal legend Michael Murphy was on a media call with Boylesports and was only just digesting the news himself when he beautifully paid homage to a giant on the spot. 

He said: “If somebody asked me who’s the voice of GAA, you would have pictured him and hearing him. 

“The best communicators, you can hear them but you’re also able to feel them. And he had a way of doing that.

“A phenomenal story teller and just a really engaging communicator who could awaken all your senses. 

“Some of the legendary lines he had for describing places and people, he was something else.”

Life was different when the young fella from Dún Síon just outside Dingle attended his first All-Ireland final between Mayo and Cavan in 1948. 

The place has changed dramatically since Micheál first strolled down Jones’ road, but I had the pleasure of sitting next to him at one around 70 years later, as he took his honorary seat in the Croke Park press box. 

He’d have his tea and sandwich and do the rounds greeting people before throw-in. Once the match started, he was fixated. 

I often wondered what he’d come out with if the mic was in front of him on those days when Dublin won the five in a row or Limerick started to dominate the hurling landscape. 

The stopwatch has stopped. The mic is off, but his voice will live on forever.