Legendary Irish sports commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh will be laid to rest in his native Dingle in Co Kerry on Saturday morning, June 29.
Ó Muircheartaigh, who died peacefully in Dublin's Mater Hospital at the age of 93 on Tuesday, June 25, will repose at O’Connor’s Funeral Home in Dingle from 11 am until 8 pm on Friday before a funeral mass at St. Mary's Church in the town at 11 am on Saturday.
The funeral service, which will be live-streamed, will be followed by a burial service in Milltown Cemetery.
Ó Muircheartaigh's family has asked for flowers from family members only. Anyone wishing to make a donation is asked to support The Mater Hospital Foundation.
Born in Dún Síon just outside Dingle, Co Kerry in August 1930, Ó Muircheartaigh's first language was Irish which he used in his compelling commentaries throughout his career.
Indeed, his first assignment for RTÉ was to provide an all-Irish commentary on the 1949 Railway Cup Final on St. Patrick’s Day.
He began broadcasting commentaries in English on RTÉ Radio in 1956, and also covered All-Ireland Minor Semi-Finals and Finals in both hurling and football in the Irish language on RTÉ for over 25 years from the inception of television coverage in 1962.
A qualified teacher, Ó Muircheartaigh taught economics in primary and secondary schools in Dublin up until the 1980s when he became a full-time broadcaster with RTÉ. Upon Mícheál O’Hehir's retirement from broadcasting in the mid-1980s, he took over as RTÉ’s premier commentator.
His career in RTÉ went on to span over 60 years and even landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 as having had "longest career as a live match commentator." The record still stands today.
Ó Muircheartaigh provided commentary on his last All-Ireland Final on Sunday, September 19, 2010, when Cork faced Down in the football final at Croke Park. He fully retired from broadcasting later that year, but remained a fixture in the world of Gaelic games.
In a statement, the GAA extended its sympathies and those of its wider membership to Ó Muircheartaigh's family.
"The legendary broadcaster and proud West Kerry man had a profound impact on Cumann Lúthchleas Gael in a variety of ways over many decades as a trainer, educator, and of course as the man who had a presence in every household where Gaelic games were followed through his commentaries and analysis," the GAA said.
Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: "It was with great sadness that I learnt of the terrible news of the passing of a giant of Irish broadcasting and the gentleman that was Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh.
"He was for so long an iconic figure across the GAA landscape and indeed Irish life as a whole, with an incomparable voice and an almost poetic ability, in not one, but two languages.
"His voice and literary skills provided the backdrop to some of the greatest days in Irish sport and his empathy and understanding of our games and Irish life was second to none.
"I offer my condolences and those of our members to his wife Helena and their eight children, his wider family and his wide circle of friends and admirers."
Comments