The people of southwest Kerry are set to honour a unique sporting hero with the unveiling of a statue of the cyclist Mick Murphy. Known as the Iron Man and renowned for his unconventional training methods, Mr Murphy caused a sensation when he became the unlikely winner of the Rás Tailteann in 1958.
The Cahersiveen native was virtually unknown in the sport at the time of his dramatic win, having purchased his very first racing bike just two years previously. Coverage in the national newspapers about the mountain farmer’s heroic feats during the 1958 Rás captured the public’s imagination and secured his position as a legendary and enigmatic figure in Irish cycling history.
Mr Murphy won his Rás Tailteann title during a golden era for Irish cycling, which featured the likes of Gene Mangan, Sé O’Hanlon and Paudie Fitzgerald. His eccentric character and sudden arrival on the cycling scene added to the mystique of the Kerryman’s success.
The statue of Mick Murphy has been sculpted by Co Mayo-based artist Mark Rode
During that race, Mr Murphy fell victim to a number of falls, one leaving him concussed and another with a dislocated collarbone. His injuries required him to be strapped to his bike. Details of his epic journey to the prestigious title have become part of cycling folklore.
On the third stage, Mr Murphy almost lost the lead when he badly damaged his bike in a fall. Speaking to RTÉ News in 2008, he recalled the incident.
“I was coming down from Watergrasshill down into Glanmire and I had a heavy crash and broke my bike. I ran for about two miles and then I saw a farmer coming out of a field with cows and he was walking with a girl’s bike. I ran from behind and grabbed it jumped up on the girl’s bike and I was gone before the farmer knew it.”
“I rode for ten miles on the girl’s bike before I was given another. I lost twelve minutes, but I made it back before the stage finish in Clonakilty. I defended the jersey.”
Mick Murphy fell victim to a number of falls
Despite his falls and injuries, Mr Murphy remarkably managed to hold the lead from the second stage all the way to the finish line in Dublin six days later.
While he is widely remembered as a cyclist, Mr Murphy was also a competent runner, boxer and wrestler. He also spent time on the road with a travelling circus.
“I was a bit of a mongrel circus performer really,’ Mr Murphy told RTÉ News in 2011.
“Most of the performers could do all sorts of tricks. But I could only do two good tricks. I’d walk upside down on my hands all day long for you and I could balance a ladder on my chin. And by christ I have the chin for it!”
In 1958, Mr Muphy was working as a farm labourer in north Cork. In order to focus on his training and toughen his body for the race, he vacated his farm lodgings and set up a training camp in a wood, sleeping in the wild. Basing his training regime on that of a Russian boxer he had read of, Mr Murphy engaged in gruelling endurance tasks. He claimed to have trained in muddy fields while dragging a concrete block behind his bike. He slept rough in the trees, and he also adopted an unusual diet to gain an edge on his competitors.
“I used to eat every thing raw. Raw nettles and raw hawthorn. They are full of vitamin E. I used to drink the blood from the cow. I had a little razor blade filed down, like a small pen knife. I’d see the cow in the field and get off my bike. I’d tap the vein in the cow’s neck, and the blood would squirt in to my drinking bottle. I’d take about a whiskey glass full.”
Mick Murphy caused a sensation when he became the unlikely winner of the Rás Tailteann in 1958
Local cycling enthusiast Liam Lynch said Mr Murphy’s achievements were remarkable given his impoverished background and inexperience in the sport.
“He had no help from no one. He did it on his own terms. He was working by day with the big farmers of north Cork. It was hard physical work, and he had to train by night. It would be unheard of today. Can you imagine Kerry footballers having to work hard like that with pike and shovel during the day and train by night? It’s no wonder they called him the Iron Man.”
The statue of Mr Murphy has been sculpted by Co Mayo-based artist Mark Rode. His creation will be unveiled in Cahersiveen this coming Saturday by Rás Tailteann historian and former president of Cycling Ireland, Tom Daly. Mr Rode said it was a privilege to work with such a fascinating character as Mr Murphy.
“He was a very unusual, driven person. He was a bit of a maverick who wanted to go his own way. So, I wanted to show strength, energy, individuality, someone that’s not afraid to go his own path.”
The Cahersiveen native was virtually unknown in the sport at the time of his dramatic win
Mike Greaney of the local statue committee said most of the funding for the statue was raised by the cycling community out of admiration for Mr Murphy’s remarkable achievements.
“You grow up hearing the old stories of ancient Irish folklore. You hear about the likes of Cú Chulainn, Setanta, Fionn Mac Cumhaill and you wonder if they are real. Mick Murphy’s story is real, it’s local, it was only up the road. And if you are ever looking for inspiration, saying I can’t do something, just look at his story and say “Why couldn’t I?” Mick Murphy set his mind to doing something and he did it.”