'Iconic voice' of Ó Muircheartaigh will never be repeated

Let me state this from the beginning. I loved Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. He was my Hero.

In the world I live in I had three heroes. Mícheal O'Hehir, Gay Byrne and Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

I never really got to know Mícheal O’Hehir but I was honoured and privileged to become friends with the latter two and to work closely beside the great Kerry man in commentary boxes from Co Cork to Co Donegal and beyond.

It was a friendship that initially was simply an admiration from a long distance, like any other listener to the wireless, that ultimately evolved into a close relationship as colleagues working beside each in RTÉ.

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage PreferencesMícheál was the master. I was the pupil. But it never felt like that, ever. Mícheál always treated me as an equal, but I was always in awe of him.

Back in 1984, I was commentating on the back of tractors and trailers in Co Clare, trying to follow a dream of becoming a broadcaster.

My first match was an Under-21 football final between my own club Kilmurry-Ibrickane and Miltown Malbay and I did the worst impersonation of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh that you have ever heard in your life.

But he was the benchmark, he was the role model even back then.

Subsequently, I teamed up with the cameraman Paschal Brooks and we produced two documentaries on two clubs: Ennistymon and Cooraclare.

We entered them for prestigious MacNamee awards presented annually by the GAA’s communications department in Croke Park for outstanding work across a wide range of platforms.

The judge was