{JJ Hurley}
The late Dominic Murphy has left a unique legacy to both his home club of Valley Rovers and his adopted club of Bishopstown that is synonymous with his family’s commitment to the GAA.
Born within a short distance of the first ambush site of the legendary West Cork Flying Column at Tooreen, Ballinhassig , Dominic’s mother was a sister to Sean McCarthy, Upton, a leading light in both the Cork GAA scene and the War of Independence.
A towering figure in the association, he rose to the highest office, when he was elected as President of the GAA, and was later followed by his nephew, Con, who also was elected to the esteemed role.
It was indeed an honour not just for the family but also for the Valley Rover’s Club to boast two Presidents of the association.
It was possibly the McCarthy’s influence from Upton that had seen the Murphy’s line out for Valley Rovers, rather than Ballinhassig, but as Ballinhassig had struggled to remain in existence, it wasn’t surprising that Dominic would line out for the ‘Rovers’.
In his playing career, he made his debut with the U14s in 1951, where he lined out with his life-long friend Diarmuid O’Brien, a brother to the legendary Canon O’Brien.
A county final beckoned that year but it wasn’t to be a winner’s medal.
While Dominic played for Valley Rovers for 15 years, with brothers Con and Timmy, but it was 1965, before he picked up his first SE League title.
With neighbours Ballinhassig having won the County Junior A Hurling title in 1965, Dominic finally got his coveted SE Junior A title and eventually lost out to Carrigtwohill in the County Junior A Final of that year.
Diarmuid O’ Brien, whose term as President of Carrigdhoun Division recently came to an end, described Dominic as a unique individual, who had a great love for the association.
‘Dominic was a great man to play hurling,’ he said
In addition, Diarmuid reflected on a man who had a great faith, describing him as an ‘extraordinary individual.’
‘His family absolutely adored him, he was a very gentle man and he was very proud of them,’ Diarmuid remarked.
‘There wasn’t a bad thought in Dominic’s mind.’
Having moved to Bishopstown, where he settled with his wife, Maureen, and his family, he soon became involved in the activities of the local GAA club.
In 1971, he lost out with Bishopstown to the ‘Rockies’ in a Junior Hurling League final.
In the same year, the Evening Echo recorded his success as a selector, with Tom Walsh and John Healy, in overseeing the club’s success in the divisional city championship.
Despite moving upstairs, when he became chairman of the underage club in the 70’s, where he played an important role in the club’s central committee, he was also a selector with the intermediate hurlers in 1979.
Both Dominic and his, wife, Maureen, were very much involved in the development of the club as it grew during the period, a point not lost on Bishopstown stalwart, Jim Ryng.
‘He was a man who would put his shoulder to the wheel as he would have said himself,’ Jim remarked
‘He did his bit and kept the flag flying.
‘He did a lot of work as chairperson, with the development of the fields.’
Indeed, as chairperson of the club in 1984, the club not only purchased an additional four acres but the Irish Examiner also reported that significant works had taken place at the pavilion.
The same year the club had held a very successful week-long festival, with the former Taoiseach Jack Lynch opening the festivities, which had included an intermediate hurling tournament featuring Bishopstown, Eire Óg, Ballinhassig and St Vincents.
The foundations that Dominic helped to put in place 40 years ago continue as the club boasts some of the finest facilities in the county today.
While the club may be going through something of a barren patch, the recent U21 football success would point to the emergence of some important green shoots.
Of course, Dominic would never have sought a public notoriety for his work, only a self-satisfaction that he had continued the McCarthy and Murphy traditions of promoting the national games.
No doubt all the GAA community would express their condolences to the extended Murphy family, including Virginia (Ring), Caroline (O’Sullivan), Niall, Mark and Sinead. Dear brother of the late Con, Timmy, Donal, Mairead, May and Una., Sons-in-law, Tony and Mark, daughters-in-law Valerie and Louise, grandchildren Haley, Ciara, Luke, Scott, Jessica, Blake, Nicole, Stefan and Darragh, great-grandchildren, brother-in-law John, sisters-in-law Kitty, Joan and Theresa.
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