![\"Marty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5030573_12_articleinlinemobile_Marty_Morrissey_with_his_mother_Peggy_and_father_Martin_in_New_York_2.jpeg\" "\\"Marty")
Marty Morrissey with his mother Peggy and father Martin in New York.<\/p>\nSports commentator and television presenter Marty Morrissey may have spent his first 10 years of life in America, but his mother, Peggy, flew from New York while pregnant so he could be born in her home county of Cork.<\/p>\n
That was 1958, and a few weeks later, she brought him back to the Bronx. Morrissey\u2019s earliest memories are of life there, \u201cswearing allegiance to the American flag every school day, playing ball with friends in Van Courtland Park on Saturdays, and football and hurling in Gaelic Park on Sundays\u201d.<\/p>\n
His parents were hard workers. Peggy worked in a Manhattan insurance company by day and as a receptionist at Fordham University at night, while Morrissey\u2019s father, Martin, ran his own travel agency.<\/p>\n
Morrissey would go to work with his father whenever he was off from school. In those days, travel agents accompanied clients to the airport, which meant young Morrissey spending a lot of time at JFK.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of my fondest memories are of being left upstairs with a hot dog,\u201d he says. \u201cThe planes used to park in front of the window, so I could see right into the cockpit. Dad would make me promise not to tell my mother, as she\u2019d have killed him for leaving me there alone, but I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marty Morrissey with his mother Peggy and father Martin in New York.<\/p>\n
As an only child of parents who were also only children, Morrissey had to make his own fun. However, he was never lonely and his interest in sport had a lot to do with that.<\/p>\n
He played basketball and baseball at school and with friends on the streets and says he developed \u201ca love of football and hurling at the weekends. My mother and I would holiday in Ireland for two weeks every summer, and I\u2019d play with lads there, too. We\u2019d use pitchforks as goalposts and pretend to be in Croke Park.\u201d<\/p>\n
Returning to Ireland was always on the cards, especially because the US still had compulsory conscription. \u201cEveryone had to do military service and my father always said no son of his would fight for America,\u201d says Morrissey. \u201cSo they aimed to save enough money to be able to come home before I started secondary school and when a pub came up for sale in Dad\u2019s local village, of Quilty in West Clare, they bought it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Marty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5030651_9_articleinlinemobile_Marty_in_pram_in_New_York_281_29.jpg\" "\\"Marty")
Marty as a baby in New York.<\/p>\n
Moving to Ireland was a big adjustment for 10-year-old Morrissey. His summer trips were a taster, but he struggled with \u201cthe dark of winter. Our fourth-floor apartment in the Bronx looked out onto other apartments, and there were always so many lights. Quilty had one shaky streetlight and the only other light was from the Aran Island lighthouse. It would shine every 13 seconds and I remember looking out across the Atlantic, counting those 13 seconds and wondering what in the name of god we were doing there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Settling in to St Flannan\u2019s Secondary School in Ennis wasn\u2019t easy. Morrissey was \u201ca young fella who knew no one in a school of 900 boys, as well as a Yank with an American accent\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sport came to the rescue. \u201cBeing able to play football and hurling meant being able to make friends. The friends I made through sport are friends to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Marty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5030564_17_articleinlinemobile_Marty_Morrissey_and_his_dad_Martin_281_29.jpg\" "\\"Marty")
Marty Morrissey and his dad Martin in the late 50s. <\/p>\n
His journey to becoming a sports commentator was roundabout. He played football at University College Cork, where he started studying medicine, before switching to microbiology and physics. He then taught the lessons he learned \u201cas the only Clare lad on a team of Cork and Kerry men\u201d to the youngsters he trained in his home club of Kilmurry and the football team of St Joseph\u2019s Secondary School in Spanish Point, where he spent four years working as a teacher.<\/p>\n
\n Then, one day, our postman, Patrick Galvin, talked me into recording a video commentary on the county final on the back of a tractor and trailer. The video was shown in our pub and people paid 50p to see it. I thought it was awful.\n <\/p>\n
Everyone else liked it and Morrissey commentated on other local sporting events. He eventually felt confident enough to approach RT\u00c9. \u201cI spent four years ringing them from a public phone box, before they gave me an opportunity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He had the steadfast support of his parents. The three were always close. His parents even moved to Cork with him during his university years. \u201cThere was a great bond between us, and, as a result, I didn\u2019t move out to live by myself until I was in my late 20s,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
![\"Marty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5030654_9_articleinlinemobile_Marty_cycling_on_University_Avenue_in_the_Bronx_New_York_281_29.jpg\" "\\"Marty")
Marty cycling on University Avenue in the Bronx, New York.<\/p>\n
He absorbed many of their personality traits and says his work ethic \u201cdefinitely came from them, as well as my honesty and loyalty. They valued kindness above all and always said I should lend a helping hand and never be a begrudger.\u201d<\/p>\n
His Bronx childhood left its mark on him, too. \u201cIt inspired me to never give up on my dreams,\u201d he says. \u201cKids in America are told they can grow up to be president. That rubbed off on me. I believed I could be whatever I wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledges the impact of the people of West Clare. Pulling pints and chatting to people in the pub \u201cwas better than any PhD. I learned that people are generally good and decent as long as you\u2019re sincere in your dealings with them. They can also be great craic and even convince you to hop on a tractor and trailer to commentate on a match, which could end up being your first step towards a career on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marty Morrissey is supporting Hidden Hearing for Noise Awareness Month to highlight the importance of healthy hearing in staying connected and present for the moments that matter with family and loved ones.<\/p>\n