Dinny Barry-Murphy

Dinny Barry-Murphy

Personal information
Irish name	Donnacha de Barra-Murchu
Sport	Hurling
Position	Corner-back
Born	Cloughduv, County Cork
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nickname	Dinny
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Éire Óg
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1926-1935	Cork
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	5
All Irelands	4
NHL	2

Dinny Barry-Murphy (1904–1973) was a famous Irish sportsperson. He played hurling at various times with his local clubs Cloughduv, Éire Óg and St. Finbarr’s. Barry-Murphy was also a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1926 until 1935. He captained Cork to the All-Ireland title in 1929.

Biography

Dinny Barry-Murphy was born in Cloughduv, County Cork in 1904. He grew up on the family farm and was educated at the local national school. Barry-Murphy later attended St Finbarr's College, Farranferris, a famed hurling nursery in Cork city. Here he played on all the top college teams and enjoyed much success. Barry-Murphy later worked as an employer and director with the Cork Farmers Union – a meat processing company.^[1]

Dinny Barry-Murphy died in 1973.

Playing career

Club

Barry-Murphy began his hurling career in 1922 as a membe rof his local Cloughduv team. Cloughduv and the Bride Valley Club merged in 1928 to form the Éire Óg club. That year Barry-Murphy won his sole senior county title. By 1932 he had moved clubs again, this time becoming a member of the famous St. Finbarr’s. He remained here until 1935 but had little success. Barry-Murphy finished off his club hurling career with his native Cloughduv club once again. He won county junior and intermediate titles with the club in 1940 and 1941 respectively.

Inter-county

Barry-Murphy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork junior hurling team in the early 1920s. In 1923 he won a Munster title in this grade following a victory over Tipperary. He later lined out in the All-Ireland final, however, Offaly were victorious on that occasion.

Two years later in 1925 Barry-Murphy won a second Munster title following a victory over Clare. He later took part in his second All-Ireland final. Dublin provided the opposition on that occasion, however, Cork won by 5-6 to 1-0. It was Barry-Murphy’s first All-Ireland medal.

Barry-Murphy’s performances for the Cork junior team brought him to the attention of the senior selectors. In the winter and spring of 1925-1926 the inaugural National Hurling League was played with Barry-Murphy making his debut. Cork reached the final of that competition and defeated Dublin, giving him his first major victory at senior level. Cork later proved themselves by reaching the Munster final. Tipperary were the opponents on that occasion and took a 1-2 to 0-0 lead. At that point the game was abandoned and a replay was ordered. The second game was a much tighter affair with both sides finishing level on a score line of 4-1 to 3-4. The third game was also a close affair, however, Cork pulled through to win by 3-6 to 2-4, giving Barry-Murphy his first senior Munster title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Cork against Kilkenny at a snow-covered Croke Park in October of that year. Barry-Murphy’s side took the lead at half-time and held on to win by 4-6 to 2-0. It was Cork’s first championship title since 1919 and Barry-Murphy’s first senior All-Ireland medal.^[2]

Cork retained their Munster title in 1927 with a 5-3 to 3-4 victory over Clare. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Cork take on Dublin once again. Cork fell behind by 2-3 to 0-1 at half-time; however, they fought back in the second-half. In a team made up of nine members of An Garda Síochána ‘the Dubs’ claimed the victory by 4-8 to 1-3.^[3]

In 1928 Cork faced Clare in the Munster final for the second year in-a-row. That game ended in a draw, however, in the replay Cork triumphed with Coughlan collecting his third consecutive Munster title. Cork later defeated Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final before lining out against Galway in the championship decider. Galway got a bye into the final without picking up a hurley, however, the game turned into a rout. A score line of 6-12 to 1-0 gave Cork the victory and gave Barry-Murphy a second All-Ireland medal.^[4]

In 1929 Barry-Murphy was appointed captain as Cork retained their provincial dominance for a fourth consecutive year. A 4-6 to 2-3 defeat of Waterford gave him his fourth Munster title in four years. The subsequent All-Ireland final was a replay of the previous year’s game as Cork played Galway once again. Mick Ahern scored a goal for Cork after just 25 seconds to start another rout. Cork won the day by 4-9 to 1-3 giving Barry-Murphy his third All-Ireland title and the honour of collecting the Liam McCarthy Cup.^[5]

In 1930 Barry-Murphy won a second National League title, however, Cork surrendered their provincial crown later that summer. The team bounced back in 1931 with Barry-Murphy collecting a fifth Munster winners’ medal. Once again it took a replay for Cork and Waterford to be separated. The All-Ireland final saw Cork take on Kilkenny for the first time since 1926. After a close game both sides finished level – 1-6 apiece. Eudie Coughlan played a captain’s role in that game as he scored a point from his knees to level the scores. The replay of the final took place four weeks later and is regarded as a classic. Cork took the lead at half-time, however, Kilkenny fought back. Once again both sides finished level – 2-5 apiece. After this game officials pressed for extra time, however, this idea was rejected this. It was also suggested at a meeting of the GAA’s Central Council that both counties be declared joint champions and that half an All-Ireland medal by given to each player. This motion was later defeated.^[6] The first week of November saw the second replay of the All-Ireland final take place. At the third attempt Cork triumphed by 5-8 to 3-4 giving Barry-Murphy his fourth All-Ireland medal.^[7]

In 1932 Cork surrendered their Munster title to Clare in the provincial decider. 1932 also saw Barry-Murphy lining out with the Irish Hurling Team in the Tailteann Games, Ireland’s answer to the Olympic Games.^[8] He continued playing with Cork until his retirement in 1935.

Provincial

Barry-Murphy also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in the inaugural year of the Railway Cup competition in 1927, however, Leinster were the victors on that occasion. It was the first of nine consecutive appearances for Munster in the competition. He won five Railway Cup medals in all in 1928, 1929, 1930 (as captain), 1931 and 1934.^[9]

Honours

Cork

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (4): 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931
  • Runner-up (1): 1927
• Munster Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (5): 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931
  • Runner-up (1): 1932
• National Hurling League:
  • Winner (2): 1925-1926, 1929–1930
  • Runner-up (1): 1928-1929

Munster

• Railway Cup:
  • Winner (5): 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934
  • Runner-up (4): 1927, 1932, 1933, 1935

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Fullam, Brendan, Captains of the Ash (Wolfhound Press, 2002).

References

1. ^ Fullam, Brendan (2002). Captains of the Ash. Wolfhound Press. pp. 148. 
2. ^ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 344. 
3. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 344
4. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 345
5. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 345
6. ^ Captains of the Ash p. 143
7. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 346
8. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 274
9. ^ "Munster Railway Cup Hurling Teams". Munster GAA. Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20080719201124/http://munster.gaa.ie/teams/railwaycuphurling.html. Retrieved 2008-10-23. 

Sporting positions
Preceded by Seán Óg Murphy	Cork Senior Hurling Captain 1929	Succeeded by Eudie Coughlan
Achievements
Preceded by Seán Óg Murphy (Cork)	All-Ireland Senior Hurling winning captain 1929	Succeeded by John Joe Callinan (Tipperary)
Preceded by Seán Óg Murphy (Munster)	Interprovincial Hurling Final winning captain 1930	Succeeded by Phil Purcell (Munster)

Teams

Persondata
Name	Barry-Murphy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1904
Place of birth	Cloughduv
Date of death	1973
Place of death