Martin Morrissey (born 28 October 1958) is an Irish sports commentator and television presenter. He is the

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

correspondent for

RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative ...

and regularly presents high-profile sports events for

RTÉ Sport RTÉ Sport is a department of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. The department provides sporting coverage through a number of platforms including RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Player, RTÉ Player Sport and RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Mobile. RTÉ h ...

, such as the

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for ...

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Early life

Morrissey was born in

Mallow, County Cork Mallow (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland, approximately thirty-five kilometres north of Cork (city), Cork City. Mallow is in a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name, in the Fermoy (barony), barony of Fermoy. ...

(where his mother was from), and spent his early childhood in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where his parents worked. When he was 10 years old, the family returned to Ireland to his father's native home of

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

. They settled in Mullagh. Morrissey went on to study at

St Flannan's College Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. It was formerly an all-boys boarding school; however, the first girl ...

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

, and then

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

(UCC) in Cork, where he studied medicine for three years before switching to microbiology and physics. He then did a master's in education at NUI Galway to become a teacher.Kilmurry-Ibrickane Millenium magazine 2000, compiled by David Dillon. p. 158-159 While still a student in UCC, he had coached teams of the Kilmurry Ibrickane club to Clare under-16 and

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

football titles. This took the attention of Sr Cecilia, principal of St Joseph's Secondary School, who needed a coach for their boys football team. Morrissey agreed, and made his entry at the school. He took charge of the senior football team in a period when the relationship between the neighbouring clubs of Kilmurry Ibrickane and

Milltown Malbay Milltown Malbay (), also Miltown Malbay, is a town in the west of County Clare, Ireland, near Spanish Point, County Clare, Spanish Point. The population was 921 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. Name There is a townland on the souther ...

was at an all-time low and their rivalry at an all-time high. By forming a school team consisting of players out of the parishes Kilmurry Ibrickane,

, Doonbeg and Cree–Cooraclare, Morrissey defused most of the tensions. He managed the team to the Munster title in 1983. Due to his involvement in the team, Morrissey was asked to teach PE for a month. It turned into a four-year stint, in which he taught, amongst others, Mathematics, Geography, Commerce and Religion.

Sports

Morrisey was a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

, playing as

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and corner forward in

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

. He played his hurling with the Ballyea club, and, later, the Clonbony club. Morrisey played his football with

Kilmurry Ibrickane GAA Kilmurry-Ibrickane GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Clare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The club only plays gaelic football, and were Clare Senior Football Championship, Clare Senior Football Champions last in 2020 Clare Se ...

(runner up in the 1976 Munster Final),

and

Clare GAA The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Clare GAA is one of the 32 County board (Gaelic games), county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. Clare plays its home games at ...

. With Clare GAA he played three years in the

team and acted as substitute in the senior team. He played both codes at minor level for Clare.

Broadcasting career

Morrissey entered the world of broadcasting in 1988 on joining the (since defunct) local TV channel "Cork Multi-Channel". Shortly after that, he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to work for WH Smith's Lifestyle Channel. In 1989, he joined the new

Clare FM Clare FM is an Irish radio station which broadcasts to County Clare and the surrounding areas. The station has won many Irish radio awards. Clare FM broadcasts on frequencies 95 – 96FM including 95.2, 95.5, 95.9, 96.4 & 96.6. In the past, it ...

local radio station as News Editor. In 1990, he returned to Cork to work on RTÉ's (also since defunct) local radio service in Cork. He left Cork in 1994, to join RTÉ's TV Sports Department. Morrissey has commentated on many sporting events, but his bailiwick is

. He presents ''Saturday Sport'' on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

. He was a ring announcer and interviewer on ''Pro Box Live''. His catchphrase is "Are you ready to rock". In May 2011, he started presenting new

RTÉ2 RTÉ2 (formerly branded as RTÉ 2 from 1978–88, Network 2 from 1988–97, N2 from 1997–2004 and RTÉ Two from 2004–14) is an Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched on 2 Novemb ...

sports programme ''The Committee Room'' for the summer championship season. This was replaced with '' Championship Matters'' for the following summer season. In 2013, Morrissey became the

correspondent for

. In December 2022, in pre-recorded sequences, he played the

Magic Mirror Magic mirror or The Magic Mirror may refer to: Art * ''Magic Mirror'' (M. C. Escher), a 1946 lithograph by M. C. Escher Escher * '' In the Magic Mirror'', a 1934 painting by Paul Klee Literature * ''Magic Mirror'' (book), a 1999 book by Orson Sc ...

in Panto.ie's production of

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

. In July 2023, amid the

RTÉ secret payment scandal The RTÉ secret payment scandal relates to events from late June 2023 onwards when Ireland's main Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster RTÉ first disclosed previously unknown arrangements concerning a leading presenter's pay, and in s ...

, Morrissey apologised for an "error of judgement" after he revealed himself as the RTÉ staff member who had a loan of a car from Renault for five years.

Presenting style

Morrissey has gained some notoriety for his colloquial turns of phrase while commentating on sports events, such as "the far over side of the pitch" and "leaving the ball into the square". While in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, he came across supermodel

Cindy Crawford Cynthia Ann Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was among the most popular supermodels and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers and runways, as well as fashion campaigns. She subsequently ...

and, in his own words, "took off with speed in pursuit of one of the most beautiful women in the world. I shouted as you do in these situations, 'Marty Morrissey RTÉ Sport Ireland'. (You just got to mention the Irish angle every time over here) 'What do you think of the Olympics?' She smiled but before the poor girl could answer she was whisked away by an army of bodyguards." He recounted his brief interview with Crawford on an RTÉ blog. While in

for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, his colourful commentary on the women's beach volleyball drew attention of journalist Pat Stacey as he "gurgled and burbled away over close-up shots of shapely bums in tiny bikini bottoms". Morrissey was named as the ''Clare Person of The Year'' in 2014.

Personal life

Morrissey's father died in December 2004. Morrissey mentioned his closeness to his mother, Peggy (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Twomey), in public. He is an only child. Peggy Morrissey died in a road traffic collision at

Annagh Annagh or Anagh may refer to: Places Republic of Ireland * Annagh, County Cavan, townland * Annagh, townland in Kilkenny West civil parish, barony of Kilkenny West, County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland Note: Nearly 30 other townlands in the R ...

near

, in December 2021. Morrissey has been in a relationship with his girlfriend since 1995.

References

External links

On "a lengthy profile of Marty Morrissey by Dermot Crowe"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrissey, Marty 1958 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Boxing commentators Broadcasters from County Clare Broadcasters from County Cork Gaelic games players from County Clare Gaelic games players from County Cork Dual players Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic games commentators Irish schoolteachers Irish sports broadcasters People educated at St Flannan's College People from Mallow, County Cork RTÉ Radio 1 presenters 20th-century Irish sportsmen