West Cork man was first sports commentator in Europe

Saturday marks the centenary of Europe’s first live commentary of any field sport, and what was then a groundbreaking feat of broadcasting was delivered by a Cork man.

The broadcast covered the 1926 All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Galway and Kilkenny. The match was played on August 29, 1926, in Croke Park, and aired on the fledgling station 2RN, or Radio Éireann — which would later become RTÉ.

A most ambitious undertaking for its time, it was not only Ireland’s first broadcast sports commentary, it was also Europe’s, beating the BBC’s first effort by six months.

The commentary was delivered by Ardfield, Clonakilty native Paddy Mehigan — a sportswriter who, from 1912 onward, wrote as “Carbery” in the Cork Weekly Examiner.

In the Examiner, he wrote mainly about Gaelic games, but he also covered coursing, boxing, nature, and Irish history, as well as writing short stories and poetry.

In 1899, he began work with the Department of Customs and Excise, moving to Dublin, where he became involved with the Gaelic League and the GAA.

A sportsman himself, he had played hurling with Robert Emmets GAA in Dublin, and with the London senior intercounty team in the 1900s.

That team suffered an ignominious 3-13 to no score defeat at the hands of Cork in the 1902 All-Ireland final, which was played in September 1904.

In 1905, his work brought him home to Cork, where he joined the Blackrock hurling team and was selected to play as corner-forward for Cork in the 1905 All-Ireland final replay — played in June 1907. Kilkenny won, 7-7 to Cork’s 2-9.

According to Paddy Mehigan’s entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, the West Cork man was a “talented all-round athlete, he also competed in a variety of athletic events and in 1908 was Irish champion in the hop, skip, and jump”.

After his history-making first broadcast, he went on to commentate on more than 100 games, becoming a household name for his breathtaking descriptions and in-depth knowledge, while creating the template for all who followed him.

In 1932, he retired from the civil service to take up writing full time and, as ‘Paddy O’, became the first ever Gaelic Games correspondent with The Irish Times.

The GAA will mark the centenary of Paddy Mehigan’s groundbreaking first broadcast, with Jarlath Burns, uachtarán of Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, unveiling a commemorative plaque in the Croke Park media centre.