Carrigaline coach Eddie Murphy is enjoying life in the hot seat
Carrigaline manager Eddie Murphy at their RedFM Hurling League Division 1 match against Blackrock at Church Road, Blackrock, Cork. Picture Dan Linehan
Former Bishopstown player and coach Eddie Murphy is now enjoying his second year at the helm of the Carrigaline hurlers despite having to make a 230 kilometer round trek three times a week.
When you speak with Eddie his love of hurling is very evident with his late father Willie 'Long Puck' Murphy, a winner of five All-Ireland medals with Cork, coupled with eight Railway Cups with Munster.
Indeed, Willie was also one of the founding members of Bishopstown and during Eddie’s playing career he also donned the jersey of UCC and Seandun.
Life on Leeside changed for Eddie in 1985 when he moved to live in Kerry with his wife Deirdre, but his love of the small ball never left his bones.
“It is not a sacrifice what I do because I love hurling as I got the driven streak from my father and I have been coaching for the last 36 years and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute of it,” Eddie Murphy said.
The first big coaching jobs for Murphy came in the shape of his own club Bishopstown and Ballymartle.
“I guided Bishopstown to win the Premier Intermediate title in 2006 as well as a couple of U21 Premier titles and these were special times especially being my own club,” added Murphy.
After a successful three years Murphy moved away from Bishopstown in 2008 and the following year he moved to be Ballymartle.
“I spent four great years with this club and despite losing the county final in 2009 but the following year we got our day in the sun after winning the Premier Intermediate hurling championship before going on to Munster and All Ireland glory.”
Newcestown, Blarney and Blackrock also tapped into the coaching knowledge of Murphy as well as guiding Patrickswell to the Limerick Senior hurling championship in 2006.
The hurling ground of Kilkenny didn’t escape the Murphy journey as he coached Bennetsbridge to win Junior and Intermediate titles before taking the club to Croke Park to secure All Ireland wins.
Murphy, a former teacher at Gaelscoil Chiarrai, but in his own words is a workaholic and his present job at Carrigaline that he took up in 2024 started well but now he finds himself under pressure as his side lost their opening Premier Intermediate championship game to Cloyne.
“Last year we got a great start as we got to the league final and defeated the Barrs but losing to Watergrasshill in the final wasn’t a disgrace as I felt they were a very good side.
“Overall looking back, it was a great year as we came from nowhere but that’s down to a fantastic group of players who were committed to the cause.”
This season began with a poor league campaign, but Eddie took a lot of positives from the campaign.
“We were in division one but barring the Glen, Sars and St Finbarr’s we were competitive in every game but we fielded depleted sides mainly through injuries and emigration.
“Looking back, it did test our strength in depth but in fairness it gave us a chance to blood some players and that’s key to any club going forward.”
Carrigaline were hotly fancied to go one better in this year's Premier Intermediate hurling championship but against all the odds lost to Cloyne in their opening game.
“We missed too many easy scoring opportunities in the first half and in reality those wides killed us but Cloyne to their credit are a great club and they were ravenous for victory.
“The reality is that we didn’t match the Cloyne hunger and we can have few excuses as we lost to a better side on the day that has now left us in a very difficult position.”
On Friday, Carrigaline have a do or die game against Eire Og and Murphy is under no illusion about the importance of this clash.
“We play Éire Óg who also lost their first game and as we all know they are a club with huge tradition in both hurling and football and this is a game that will test our credentials.
“The bottom line is that to stay in the championship a win is a must as both teams will be looking for the all-important result.
“To win we will have to bring our A game to the table, but I have great belief in this group of players, and I can only give one guarantee they will not go down without a fight.”
Life for Eddie Murphy has been the sport of hurling and he should be commended in the manner he has given many clubs his extraordinary knowledge and passion over four decades.
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