James Murphy (30 May 1923 – 1 December 2021), better known as Jas Murphy, was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er. He played at club level with Garda and at inter-county level with the

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Kerry senior football team The Kerry county football team represents Kerry in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Kerry GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland ...

s. He captained Kerry to the 1953 All-Ireland Championship.

Career

Murphy first played Gaelic football with the

Kerins O'Rahilly's Kerins O'Rahilly's are a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. They are based in the Strand Road area of the town. They are in Division 1 of the county league which they won in 2006, and compete in the County Cham ...

club in

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

. He later lined out with the Garda club in

and was part of their 1950 County Championship-winning team. Murphy first appeared on the inter-county scene after declaring for the

Cork senior football team The Cork county football team represents Cork in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Cork GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland ...

. After two seasons with his adopted team, he subsequently joined the

in 1949. Murphy won the first of two

Munster Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurlin ...

titles in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

and assumed the team captaincy for the 1953 All-Ireland final after

Paudie Sheehy Paudie Sheehy (1932–1967) was an Irish sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with John Mitchels and the Kerry county team from 1953 to 1962. He captained Kerry on two occasions. Early life Sheehy was the son of footballer John Joe and a ...

was dropped from the team. He ended the game with a winners' medal and lifted the

Sam Maguire Cup The Sam Maguire Cup ( ga, Chorn Sam Mhic Uidhir), often referred to as Sam or The Sam , is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the main competiti ...

after the defeat of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

. Murphy himself was dropped from the team before the 1954 Munster final.

Personal life

Born in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Murphy was the son of RIC

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

Jim Murphy. After joining the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

, he eventually reached the rank of Detective Garda and was based in Union Quay in

from 1943 until his retirement in 1985. Murphy died on 1 December 2021, at the age of 98.

Honours

;Garda *

Cork Senior Football Championship The Cork Premier Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bon Secours Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PSFC) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by the Cork Count ...

;Kerry *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It i ...

(c)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Jas 1923 births 2021 deaths All-Ireland-winning captains (football) Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Garda (Cork) Gaelic footballers Garda Síochána officers Kerins O'Rahilly's Gaelic footballers Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Sportspeople from Tralee St Nicholas' Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football) Police officers from County Kerry