Kerry GAA pay tribute while Mícheál Ó Sé hails Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh as 'best known man in the land'

In a lengthy statement on their website, the Kingdom described the An Ghaeltacht man as “a national treasure without question” in relation to his illustrious career as a commentator.

BEST KNOWN MAN IN THE LAND: Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh waves to the crowd after a reading during the Laochra entertainment performance after the Allianz Football League Final at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

An emotional Mícheál Ó Sé has paid tribute to his great friend Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh as “the best known man in the land” with “magic in his voice” upon his passing at the age of 93 earlier today.

Often working at the same games, the former Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcaster Ó Sé travelled with his fellow West Kerry man Ó Muircheartaigh to games across the country as well as places like Cheltenham and Australia.

Hailing the legendary RTÉ Gaelic games commentator, Ó Sé said: “He was everybody’s friend. He was the best known man in the land. There was magic in his voice and you could never have a great friend than Mícheál. So friendly, so gentle, so understanding of everybody.

“People who had no interest at all in GAA tuned in for his lovely sayings and the way he was able to put a spell on words. He’d make your day if you met him.”

Ó Sé was fortunate to spend some time with Ó Muircheartaigh in Kerry earlier this month. They regaled stories and exchanged news in Benners Hotel in Dingle where they ran into Munster GAA PRO Dermot “Weeshie” Lynch and reminisced about their mutual friend, the late Páidí Ó Sé.

It was Mícheál Ó Sé who informed Ó Muircheartaigh about Ó Sé’s death in December 2012 with the famous line – “Ta an ard-rí imithe (the king is gone)”.

Ó Sé recalled of their meeting: “We had a get-together a couple of weeks ago, met ‘Weeshie’ and that was the last time I saw Mícheál until I got the call from (Ó Muirtcheartaigh’s son) Aonghus this morning.

"He had a bad turn a couple of days ago, we were praying for him and he was in hospital.”

Ó Sé said there was never any question about the allegiances of Ó Muircheartaigh, who trained Kerry’s Dublin-based players such as Jack O’Shea during Mick O’Dwyer’s golden period of management. 

But in his professional life, his impartiality was indisputable and was underlined by the respect he was shown.

“He was a Kerryman and there was no doubt about that but in his commentary he was well able to hide it. You never knew which side he was on when commentating.

"Every player was treated the same. You would get a better picture from Mícheál than you would from television.

“That was how descriptive he was of the players and what was going on in the game. The man in possession, you would be told everything about him. His greyhound might have raced against Mícheál’s the night before and then he’d be telling you about the ball landing inside in the square.

“He knew everybody’s background, their uncles, grand-uncles their height, and what they scored. He did his research well and then he’d appear in Croke Park and he’d have four or five coloured crayons or pencils for the helmets and then he had his statistician and Aonghus always by his side. A great family man, a terrific family man.

“Then afterwards the crowds would gather around him and they’d be talking about the controversial things. Some fella might mention the referee and Mícheál would never have a bad word for a referee or anybody.

"He might have said to the agitated fella, ‘Ah, he (the referee) might have had one eye closed when that happened.’ He had a great way about him.”

The bigger the game, the better it was for Ó Muircheartaigh, said Ó Sé.

“The big crowds energised him. He loved nothing better than the big occasion and that came from his youth in Dún Síon hearing about them.

“He had a great interest in greyhounds also and won The Laurels with Razldazl Rioga (in 2011). Any occasion where there were people gathered gave Mícheál such a lift and the crowds loved him. They loved him.”

Kerry GAA have expressed their “great sadness” upon learning of the death of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh early on Monday.

In a lengthy statement on their website, they described the An Ghaeltacht man as “a national treasure without question” in relation to his illustrious career as a commentator.

They also acknowledged the extensive contribution he made to the advances of Kerry football. “Mícheál was a huge supporter of Kerry GAA all of his life from the stands, behind the microphone and even from the middle of the pitch!

"Mícheál was even involved in training Kerry teams throughout the 1970s when he was teaching in Dublin and trained many intercounty players who were based in Dublin through work. He was heavily involved in training the players during the time in which Kerry won eight All-Ireland titles.”

The press release continued: “When Kerry GAA decided that they were going to establish a Centre of Excellence in Currans, Mícheál was eager to support. He travelled to New York with a group of former players and was the MC for the largest Kerry GAA event to be held abroad.

“Mícheál covered every inch of the country covering sports, and would always paint a player in the most positive light that he could. He could very beautifully make a point about a player’s performance but with the utmost respect and support for the individual.

“It meant as much to the GAA great as it did to every player and supporter across the county. Over the years he was always welcomed into many dressing rooms as he made it his business to get to know the players, and congratulated the team on their win. In fact when Kerry won the All-Ireland in 2022 Micheál came into the dressing room and shared in the jubilation.”

The Kerry County Board noted the magnetism of Ó Muircheartaigh among supporters and the public in general.

“Crowds flocked to Micheál after games that he commentated on and he always had time for everyone. His favourite phrase was “Cé a bhuathaigh Sam i mbliana?” and of course whilst his first love was Kerry – he was always impartial and gave every county their due.

“He always had a great love for the Irish language and tried to include Irish and make it so accessible to every listener and every GAA fan around the country. He certainly made being an Irish speaker something to be proud of and encouraged many others to use their language.

“Mícheál had a deep grá for West Kerry, Kerry GAA, Ireland and everything about being Irish. We were so lucky that he hailed from the Kingdom and represented our county with unrivalled pride.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Helena, sons Éamonn, Cormac and Aonghus and his daughters: Niamh, Doireann, Éadaoin, Neasa and Nuala and all of his family and very many friends.

“Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.”