Michael Murphy (28 April 1934 – 10 September 2015) was an Irish

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. He won the

Rás Tailteann Rás Tailteann (; "Tailteann Race"), often shortened to the Rás, is an annual international cycling stage race, held in Ireland. Traditionally held in May, the race returned after a hiatus in 2022 as 5 day event held in June. By naming the rac ...

in 1958.

Early life

Murphy was a native of Cahirsiveen. He left school at 11 and worked variously as a farm labourer, a quarryman and a turf-cutter.

Career

Murphy was nicknamed the Iron Man. In 1958 he won the

, winning seven of the eight stages. He won two stages in 1959 and was third in 1960. Murphy was known for his eccentricity, and was the subject of several works: an RTÉ

radio documentary A radio documentary is a spoken word radio format devoted to non-fiction narrative. It is broadcast on radio as well as distributed through media such as tape, CD, and podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital ...

, ''A Convict of the Road''; a

documentary short A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill Ni ...

made for the Killorglin Archive Society called ''The Marvels of Mick Murphy''; a play based on his life by Roddy McDevitt, and a character based on him in

Jane Urquhart Jane Urquhart, LL.D (born June 21, 1949) is a Canadian novelist and poet. She is the internationally acclaimed author of seven award-winning novels, three books of poetry and numerous short stories. As a novelist, Urquhart is well known for her e ...

's novel ''The Night Stages''. He trained by sleeping in hay barns, eating

raw meat Raw meat generally refers to any type of uncooked muscle tissue of an animal used for food. In the meat production industry, the term "meat" refers specifically to mammalian flesh, while the words "poultry" and "seafood" are used to differentiate ...

and drinking cow's blood, doing the last in imitation of the

Maasai Maasai may refer to: *Maasai people *Maasai language *Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) Masai may refer to: *Masai, Johor, a town in Malaysia * Masai Plateau, a plateau in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India *Maasai peopl ...

. He could also walk long distances uphill on his hands.

Personal and later life

During his life, he was a cyclist, wrestler, boxer, runner, farmer, circus performer,

fire eater Fire eating is the act of putting a flaming object into the mouth and extinguishing it. A fire eater can be an entertainer, a street performer, part of a sideshow or a circus act but has also been part of spiritual tradition in India. Physi ...

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

and bricklayer. He lived in England in the 1960s, competing as a wrestler. He later worked as a builder in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before a fall from scaffolding left him injured. Murphy came home to Cahirsiveen, living a frugal life on his parents' farm, without running water or windows. Murphy never married and had no children. He was robbed in his home in 2012. He died in 2015.

References

Irish male cyclists 1934 births 2015 deaths Rás Tailteann winners Sportspeople from County Kerry 20th-century Irish sportsmen {{Ireland-cycling-bio-stub