Marty Morrissey on his childhood: 'My father always said no son of his would fight for America'

Marty Morrissey's childhood in New York instilled in him the American attitude he could be whatever he wanted to be, but it was his parents' steadfast support and his community in West Clare that set him on the path to fame

Marty Morrissey spent four years ringing RTÉ from a public phone box before they gave him. Picture: Moya Nolan

Sports commentator and television presenter Marty Morrissey may have spent his first 10 years of life in America, but his mother, Peggy, flew from New York while pregnant so he could be born in her home county of Cork.

That was 1958, and a few weeks later, she brought him back to the Bronx. Morrissey’s earliest memories are of life there, “swearing allegiance to the American flag every school day, playing ball with friends in Van Courtland Park on Saturdays, and football and hurling in Gaelic Park on Sundays”.