Jimmy Barry-Murphy: Winning All-Ireland football title in 1973 with Cork is my most cherished memory

Cork GAA legend Jimmy Barry-Murphy says winning the All-Ireland SFC title with the Rebels in 1973 is his most cherished memory in a glittering playing career.

The St Finbarr’s clubman enjoyed a hugely successful career as a dual player for his club and county spanning two decades.

Wearing the Rebel geansaí, JBM won 10 Munster hurling medals, two Munster football medals, five All-Irelands in hurling while just the one with the footballers, two league medals in hurling and one in football, five All-Stars in hurling and two All-Stars with the footballers.

At club level with St Finbarr’s, he won six county senior hurling medals, five county senior football medals, three Munster hurling medals, two Munster football medals and two All-Ireland medals in both codes.

“At my age now, I don’t think too much about my success,” Barry-Murphy said on BBC’s The GAA Social podcast.

“I wish I was 40 years younger. I would be a lot prouder of what I achieved. I had a great run of success with the club and the county I was born in. There’s a bit of luck involved in that, let’s be honest. I have always said that.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy hits the ball to the net during the Cork v Galway All-Ireland football final at Croke Park in 1973.

“I was lucky with injuries also throughout my career, very lucky in that respect. You can be with a club or a county and win nothing. I am well aware of that.”

The footballers came out of the wilderness in 1973 to claim All-Ireland glory, a year the Cork GAA icon won’t forget in a hurry.

“Over the years you reflect on your career and I would say without a question, the All-Ireland football win in 1973 meant so much,” he says.

“It was very special. We won the minor All-Ireland in 1972, beat Tyrone in the final, and then I was brought into the senior squad. Out of everything I won in my career, honestly, I would say winning the football All-Ireland in 1973 against Galway is my most cherished memory.

“Cork hadn’t won the senior football All-Ireland since 1945. When I reflect back on it, we beat Kerry the year after the All-Ireland success in 1973, but they came back to dominate and also Dublin. There's a saying that what's rare is wonderful. The reaction in Cork was wonderful. It had been so long without a football All-Ireland.

The Cork team that won the All-Ireland SFC in 1973.

“Big goals count in big matches and I was lucky enough to get a goal at a vital stage in the final and that will stay with me until the day I die. There was a famous photograph the day after of Billy Morgan on his knees after I scored the goal and I said to Billy that I was the only man to put you on your knees.

“The players I played with that time were very special, particularly the people who looked after me when I came on the team first. The likes of Billy Morgan, who was always an idol of mine, Frank Cogan, Ray Cummins, legendary figures in Cork football.”

Barry-Murphy is currently in his second season as a selector with the St Finbarr’s Premier Senior football team. Like so many other people, he’s a big fan of the new football rules.

St Finbarr's selector Jimmy Barry-Murphy with manager Brian Roche. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

“Football had become a bit of a chore at times apart from the big games in Croke Park. A lot of the matches were boring, so the rule changes have been phenomenal. Watching from the sideline, it’s so exciting with the attacking dimensions of the game.

“I am looking forward to the summer and seeing how the football championship will evolve. The teams having to keep a number of players on either side of the field has to be positive. It had gone ridiculous, the amount of defending and hand passing over and back. You could go for a cup of tea and come back and the team would still have the ball.

“The two-pointer has been a huge addition. You could be coasting and all of a sudden, a team knows that they have to go for two-pointers to bring them back into the game. And by God, it does bring them back in. It’s a huge acid. From my own point of view, 99 percent of the new rules have been positive.”

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