Murphy keen to evoke UCC’s sporting spirit

HE may not have been much of a sportsman but noted historian John A Murphy has evoked many of memories of athletic prowess by bringing to life University College Cork’s sporting heritage in his latest book.

Published at the start of a year-long celebration of UCC’s acquisition of the Mardyke Athletic Grounds in December 1911, Emeritus Professor of Irish History and University Historian John A Murphy’s Where Finbarr Played: A Concise Illustrated History of Sport in University College Cork, 1911-2011 was launched by the author with the help of broadcaster Bill O’Herlihy.

“I was never all that interested in sport,” John A Murphy told the Irish Examiner.

“I’m a UCC historian, not a sports historian, but I remember many matches, particularly in The Quarry.

“What’s the phrase: a labour of love. There was labour and love, and there’s a point at which you say, this is going to be good, that’s a great turning point.”

The book was named as a nod to the UCC motto “Where Finbarr taught let Munster learn” and Professor Murphy said his work was not intended to chronicle particular matches but the spirit of sport at the college.

“It was hard because the time was brief, nine months, but then I knew what I was looking for, not so much the details of games, rather attitudes and esprit and ethos and so on. So I hope the book fulfils that sense of eliciting the essential spirit.”

The author was especially satisfied by the strong sense the book gives of the relationship between the college and the wider Cork sporting community.

“There’s a lot of ‘town and gown’ relations in the book, an awful lot; how vital was UCC in the provision of sports to the larger community and how the larger community reciprocated in many ways because UCC needed extra grounds and venues and so that has been a very happy relationship.

“So this is not just an internal account, it’s a Cork account and the Mardyke, some of the events there have been pitched beyond the students to the wider world.”

Welcoming the book’s publication, UCC president Dr Michael Murphy also outlined a series of events and capital developments that are planned for the year ahead to mark UCC Sport 1911-2011, including the official opening of the newly extended Mardyke Pavilion, a new running track, an international Olympic Conference and the announcement of elite Sports Scholarships at UCC.

The book also features a plethora of photographs from the archives of both UCC and the Irish Examiner, as well as the private collections of former students that commissioning editor Nancy Hawkes said: “maybe wouldn’t have seen the light of day had we not done the book.”