Mick 'The Ironman' Murphy was one of the true legends of Irish cycling. The Kerryman has passed away suddenly today.
By Brian Canty
One of the legends of Irish cycling, Mick Murphy, has died suddenly at the age of 82 years at his home outside Caherciveen in Co Kerry.
Known as ‘Ironman Mick’ for his incredible feats on the bike, Murphy won the 1958 Rás Tailteann, just a year after taking up the sport.
What made him so well-known was not the fact that he won, but the manner in which he conditioned himself to as well as his eccentric working life away from the bike.
He was known to drink cow’s blood, live and train in a woodland lair in north Cork prior to big races and lift concrete blocks to develop strength in his legs.
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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.
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Mick Murphy receives the Rás yellow Jersey from Dr Eamonn O'Sullivan in Tralee 1958 (Photo with thanks to Eddie Dawson)
He made his income working as a labourer, a circus performer and even as a professional wrestler.
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 general classification 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.
We have no details of his funeral arrangements yet but we’ll bring them to you soon as we get them.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
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