Murphy pictured in his home recently; spot the photo of him in his pomp on the wall behind him
By Brian Canty
Well known former Kerry cyclist ‘Iron Man’ Mick Murphy has been robbed of a substantial sum of money by a conman who befriended him at his home in Caherciveen.
The case has received a lot of national media attention, being documented in newspaper reports today and also featuring prominently on RTE Radio 1’s flagship current affairs programme ‘Morning Ireland’. It has also prompted Gardai to issue a warning to old people and their neighbours to be vigilant.
The 78-year-old Murphy, who won the 1958 Rás Tailteann and holds a special place in the folklore of the sport, met a man who befriended him during Easter. On Easter Sunday the man called to Murphy’s house and requested €100 as loan, saying he needed to carry out repairs to his van.
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When Murphy went into another room in the house to get the money, it is believed the conman spotted where he kept his cash and without Murphy realising it took a large sum. He then left the house. He promised to call back to repay the €100 he borrowed, but never did.
It was only when the caller did not return to the house to repay the money that Murphy checked on the rest of the cash he had in the house a realised a large sum was gone.
In a second incident to hit the pensioner, last weekend another man called to his house trying to pass himself off as a Garda, though nothing was taken on that occasion. Gardai believe this may have been another effort to con him.
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Murphy has always lived in poor conditions and continues to do so, surviving with no heating or running water.
His eventful life story has been the subject of a radio documentary and exhibition at Siamsa Tire Tralee called ‘Blood, Seat and Gears’.
Nicknamed “Iron Man”, because of his incredulous feats during his short career, Murphy was recovering at his home yesterday, telling reporters: “I won’t let the thugs win”.
Murphy is famous in Irish cycling circles for riding several stages in the 1959 Rás with what was reportedly a broken collarbone. He has also gone down in the history of the sport for his unusual race preparations and the colourful life he led away from cycling.
He trained with weights made of stone and lived in a wooded lair near Banteer in North Cork. He also reportedly drank cow’s blood and made his income working as a labourer and circus performer.
When he had a mechanical in the 1959 Rás he borrowed a bike from a local farmer, chasing the group ahead him of him and getting back on. He rode for four days with a broken collar bone after a crash.
In the 1958 Rás he won the second stage from Wexford to Kilkenny – 192km. That put him into the yellow jersey, which he kept to the finish. In 1959 he won two stages, despite sleeping rough in Dublin the night before the start. The following year he was third on GC and won the climbers’ classification.
Having worked in the construction trade and as a wrestler, boxer and circus act, he was forced to emigrate to England in 1960 thus bringing his cycling career to an end.
He appears to have been the victim of a pretty spineless crime. We wish him well and hope he has not been too shaken by his experience.
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