Irish broadcasting legend Micheal O’Muircheartaigh joined OTB AM this week for an in-depth interview about his career and his love of GAA.
The Kerryman has been the voice of Gaelic Athletics Association for nearly 60 years but told of his pride in hearing that the first ever live sports broadcast in Europe was from Ireland.
On the 29th August 1926, sports broadcasting history was made when the All-Ireland semi-final between Galway and Kilkenny was aired live on 2RN.
"It goes back to when the first radio station was set up in Ireland," he told Ger, "It went out on the 1st January 1926 and strangely enough, the first voice that went out, and it was Douglas Hyde - even though he wasn't to become really famous until he became the first president of Ireland in 1938.
"He was a well known Gaelic poet, Roscommon, Church of Ireland man - great man for the Irish language, he was the first (on-air).
"I think it went on-air for maybe, at most, three hours a day and then, silence for the rest. Until, somebody got an idea and always since hearing this story for the first time, I'm a great believer in listening to ideas.
"And, this man's idea - he was working in the station and there was not too many working there - and he decided himself, 'we have equipment that will make it possible on Sunday next to have a man in Croke Park that would talk about the hurling semi-final between Galway and Kilkenny'.
"He didn't consult anybody, went out, got his bicycle and cycled up to Croke Park, met whoever was there and told him his idea. And, the radio wasn't well-known at the time - it was only since January and this was August and they said 'sure, we'll give it a chance'.
"They didn't believe it would be a big success so on the following Sunday, the first sports broadcast went out by 2RN at the time.
"And the man chosen to do it was a man named Paddy Mehigan - he was the commentator and a journalist with The Irish Times. He had worked in London for a good few years. He was a good sportsman - he had played football over there and so on and he was asked to do it.
"And in his own words written years later - he had no box, no seat, he was among the spectators on the sideline. They all had planks on concrete blocks - he was among those. And when they got up - he had to get up and squish his head around them but he spoke about what was happening as best he could and he even said the start was 'an engineer hung a harness around my neck' he called it a harness and once the referee threw in the ball, he said 'Fire away' and he fired away!"
Catch the full interview with Micheal O’Muircheartaigh here:
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