‘Iron Man’ Mick targeted by trickster thieves

A Kerryman whose battle to win one of the country’s most gruelling cycle races in the 1950s became the stuff of legend has been the victim of an apparent burglary.

Mick Murphy, 78, who lives in very basic conditions, had a substantial sum of money stolen from him on Easter Sunday.

Nicknamed “Iron Man”, his feats of valour in the 1958 Rás Tailteann etched his name into cycling folklore.

He trained with weights made of stone to build up his leg strength, lived in a wooded lair outside Banteer in North Cork surviving on a diet of cow’s blood, and to supplement his income as a labourer he worked as a circus performer.

When he broke his racing bicycle during the 1959 Rás he borrowed an ordinary bike from a local farmer and chased down the leading pack. He rode for four days with a broken collar bone after he crashed heavily. After a stage, he’d ride up to 40 miles to cool down. He was indestructible.

The 1958 Rás was the highlight of his career. He won the second stage from Wexford to Kilkenny after over six hours in the saddle and 192km, to put him into the yellow jersey position which he kept all the way back to Dublin.

The following year he won two stages, despite sleeping rough in Dublin the night before the start, while in 1960 he took third overall as well as the King of the Mountains classification.

He worked variously as a builder, road maker, a carnival act, boxer and a wrestler, in a circus and in a quarry.

Now living in Caherciveen, Mr Murphy had a substantial sum of money stolen from him on Easter Sunday by a man who tricked his way into his home after befriending him earlier in the week.

In a second incident last weekend, a man posing as a garda arrived at Mr Murphy’s house, where he lives alone.

Nothing was stolen in the second incident, but gardaí in Caherciveen are investigating both events and have warned locals to be vigilant, and to look out for older neighbours.