Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh
Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2008Everyone in Ireland knows Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, a national treasure, who for nearly 60 years has been commentating on Gaelic games.
But not all our readers abroad know Micheál, and maybe not all our Irish readers are familiar with his quirky sense of humour on air.
I did this before, but it was a long time ago when nobody read this site, so here again are some quotes from the great man.
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“… 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 ye wouldn’t have the Kerryman would ye?’ To which, the Egyptian behind the counter turned to me and he said ‘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 will be the last person to let you down - his people are undertakers”.
“I saw a few Sligo people at Mass in Gardiner Street this morning and the omens seem to be good for them, the priest was wearing the same colours as the Sligo jersey! 40 yards out on the Hogan stand side of the field Ciaran Whelan goes on a rampage, it’s a goal.
So much for religion”.
“1-5 to 0-8..well from Lapland to the Antarctic, that’s level scores in any man’s language”.
“Teddy looks at the ball, the ball looks at Teddy”.
“He grabs the sliotar, he’s on the 50……he’s on the 40……he’s on the 30……. he’s on the ground”.
“In the first half they played with the wind. In the second half they played with the ball”.
“He kicks the ball lán san aer, could’ve been a goal, could’ve been a point………….it went wide”.
“Stephen Byrne with the puck out for Offaly….Stephen, one of 12……all but one are here to-day, the one that’s missing is Mary, she’s at home minding the house…..and the ball is dropping i lár na bpáirce….”
“Pat Fox out to the forty and grabs the sliotar, 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”.
“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”.
“And that’s it for another All Ireland Day, never have such scenes been seen in Croke Park as the day Tyrone lifted the Sam Maguire, but credit must go to Armagh, cos lets face it, they’re going to need a lot of credit in the weeks and years to come.”
Stumble it!
August 3rd, 2008
You’re quite right. This should be on rotation if not every 12 months then certainly every two years. It’s refreshing to be able to treasure a legend while there’s still acres of ball left in him. And for the non-locals, it really would be the finishing touch if some enterprising ferret put the actual sound clips together. That voice counts for half of the joy of the man.
August 3rd, 2008
Ah but what your readers abroad also don’t know is what Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh sounds like and that when we read those magical words we also hear that wonderful voice.
Is there no collection around of handy little playable sound files?
August 4th, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/552g9l
August 4th, 2008
legend…….truly a legend……
August 4th, 2008
Hear the man once and you will never forget.
A very major part of our heritage.
August 4th, 2008
It’s great when I’m reading them, but it’s the GAA and he’s from Kerry.
August 4th, 2008
Beautiful.
August 5th, 2008
Very down to earth man - interviewed him a few times and he’s never anything but thoughtful, honest and frank. Very knowledgeable but never a know-it-all. A dying breed in sports journalism
August 5th, 2008
A national treasure.
Peter Donnelly of The O’Malley’s does a great impression of this favourite from commentary on a Munster Final of some years ago…
“…he’s not a big man….he’s on the sixty….he’s not a tall man but he’s not a small man….he’s on the fifty…he’s bearing down on the Tipp goal….he’s on the forty….ball on stick, ….he’s on the thirJESUS CHRIST!!!,… there’s a Wasp in the commentary box… I’m getting out the fuck out of here…….!”
August 9th, 2008
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September 11th, 2008
Just found this one :
“He’s like Lazarus; but Lazarus didn’t have such a sweet right boot” — Micheal O’Muircheartaigh on Colin Corkery.