'The Voice of Gaelic games' - Micheal O Muircheartaigh is celebrating 60 years of broadcasting this year. An icon to many - his voice has not just been a beckon into peoples homes in Ireland but across the globe, describing the action not just in the major stadia such as Croke Park, but from the four corners of Ireland and beyond, writes Cóilín Duffy. Equally at home at a Comortas Peile na Gaeltachta Final or an All-Ireland final played before 82,500 in Croke Park the Dingle native has been commentating on GAA since 1949 - initially solely through the medium of Irish, but now as a bilingual broadcaster for both RTE Radio 1 and Raidio na Gaeltachta. Ireland was a different place as it reached the half-century mark in the 20th century. 1949 saw 26 counties leave the British Commonwealth, as the Republic of Ireland gained formal recognition, with the UK passing the 'Ireland Act'. 1949 also saw a young O Muircheartaigh make his broadcast debut - he takes up the story. "The first job I got as a commentator was to do matches 'as Gaeilge' and the custom then was that one of the Railway Cup finals - there was no television then at that time - I'm talking about 1949, was done that way. One of the Railway Cups was traditionally broadcast fully through the medium of Irish and then the Oireachtas was a good competition at the time - that was always in October and the final of that was broadcast 'as Gaeilge' as well and maybe an odd college game - so it was for those I was recruited for in 1949. "Sean O'Siochain broadcast what ever matches used to be done in Irish and he by then was assistant secretary of the GAA. There was no talk about Ard Stiurthoir at the time, so Sean felt then that he would opt out of those and he concentrated on other radio work like 'Ballad Makers Saturday night' and he was a very talented singer also. Sean was a good amateur actor as well so I think he felt he was busy enough without the broadcasting of a few games a year. That's how I got there." O Muircheartaigh's test broadcast wasn't on a Gaelic football match, but a game he had never seen before - hurling. "It was a hurling game, I think it was 10 or 11 days before I did my first broadcast. There were club games on in Croke Park and those interested or those that had sent their names in were asked to go for, I suppose it was an 'audition'. We all came to Croke Park that day - we were told where to go and so on. "Most people got a trial - there were two hurling matches on and people usually got five minutes each. It was new to me really, I'd never seen a hurling game before. There isn't much hurling in Kerry and what hurling games that are there, people didn't go to see them at the time. It was strange, but then the object was talking." And one man, whom O Muircheartaigh knew quite well, came in for special mention in his inaugural broadcast. "I knew the goalkeeper that UCD had, he was Ted Hurley who played for Dublin later as a goalkeeper. He may have even played for Leinster also. He played outfield on occasions but was generally a goalkeeper and a very good goalkeeper. He was, I won't say he was from Dingle but he grew up in Dingle. The son of a banker who was transferred there. I think they had spent time in Cork and Tipperary and that accounts for a Dingle man hurling in Croke Park. My trial featured him more prominently really than he was on the day. I knew enough about him to keep talking for hours. "Maybe that impressed the adjudicators," O Muircheartaigh joked. It's a trait he has carried through his broadcasts to this day, and O Muircheartaigh says that the fascination of the Irish with people has ensured he maintains a level of indepth knowledge and research. "I think that Irish people are anxious to know as much as they can about the players. It's not a big country and people down in Kerry would be familiar with Donegal and Tyrone and Armagh footballers and the reverse would be true as well. I think they like information on players as well as how the match is going, especially if it was a new team or a player that was having a very good day. Different little details about them." Michael O'Hehir provided one of the early broadcasting heroes for O Muircheartaigh who recalls the first RTE head of TV Sport as a legend and a friend. "I remember sitting in with him one day, I think it was Raidio Eireann that time - there was no television. It was just called Raidio Eireann. Somebody there arranged that I would sit in with him one day and I found him very friendly and very anxious to help. He'd assure you that once a game starts it was not a problem. It was great to hear that from somebody that was so well known and respected as Michael O'Hehir. I knew him and I would say that he was a friend of mine for the rest of his life really, until he passed away in the nineties. "For years Michael had his father with him. I knew him as well. His name was Jim and he was a very famous man. You know his fame - he trained the Clare team that won the All-Ireland in 1914. He trained Leitrim, not when they won Connacht in 1927, but for the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry. He was well known in Dublin club circles as well and he used to help a lot of them out. He was with Michael for a long time, and then he used to have a Mr O'Reilly with him. Then his own sons in time, Tony and Peter - they were all there." O Muircheartaigh has had many 'note-takers' with him in the box over the years, all family members with his daughter Doireann continuing that family tradition in the present day. "She is very interested in the sport and she knows an awful lot about it. She would be a fairly good judge of a player as well. She is a great help really. You need somebody like her - I think all commentators have somebody like that," he said. "You always feel that you have to do a report at the end of the game for the evening sports news and you'll need the details like who scored, who came on and went off and who was injured and all of these things. I usually have one member of the family with me - beginning with the eldest Eamon who came first, and maybe then he was playing matches later on and he wasn't always available. They took their turn and Doireann, who is with me for the past couple of years - she is the youngest of them so there is nobody to replace her at the moment." Micheal has also worked with legendary broadcaster Mick Dunne and he recalls a day in 1987 where Dublin beat Cork in a National Football league quarter-final, with just one team on the pitch as a Barney Rock goal helped Dublin book a semi-final place. "As soon as the game ended the Cork people began to leave the field, I thought that was strange. There was a Sgt. Hurley, he might have been a Supt Hurley at the time. He had a terrific interest and he used to be in Croke Park. One of his sons played for Dublin - Maurice. I saw him going in towards the referee, because the referee would normally wait on the field. It didn't transpire and Dublin got the famous goal from Barney Rock and then there was nobody there to kick out the ball - it was unusual. I think before he had it scored most of the Cork people were gone out of Croke Park. It was a mistake really, because they were disqualified then. Maybe they were hoping that they would get a replay out of it and be better prepared the following day. Dublin were a better team on the day." He added, "There was a lot of fallout afterwards and Cork were thrown out of the league. I'm sure they were fined as well, but the main thing was that it ended their interest in the league. Who knows what would happen if there had to be extra-time. I would say that on some grounds they were hoping to get a replay, but they didn't get it and that was that. I don't think it has happened since - any time that extra-time is supposed to be played ever since it has been played." Tweet

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