Nicholas Murphy (born 23 April 1978 in

Carrigaline Carrigaline () is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork city, and with a population of 15,770 people, it is one of the largest commuter towns of the city. The R611 regiona ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

sportsperson. He plays

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 ...

with his local club

and was a member of 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 ...

senior inter-county team between 1998 and 2012.

Playing career

Club

Murphy plays his club

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and football with his local club in

and has enjoyed some success. He first came to prominence with the club in the early 1990s as part of the minor football team that qualified for back-to-back county finals in 1995 and 1996. Murphy ended up on the losing side on both occasions. He ended up on the losing side in a number of county intermediate football finals also in the early 2000s, before winning the

Cork Intermediate A Football Championship The Cork Intermediate A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Bon Secours Cork County Intermediate A Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAFC) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Cork GAA, Co ...

title in 2009. In 2015, he helped the club to win the

Cork Premier Intermediate Football Championship The Cork Premier Intermediate Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Bon Secours Cork County Premier Intermediate Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork PIFC) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the ...

after a win over St Michael's. In 2008, Murphy was part of the Carrigaline hurling squad that defeated Bandon to take the

Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship The Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork GAA, Cork Coun ...

title.

Inter-county

Murphy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

football team at underage levels. He made his debut with the senior football team in 1998 in a Munster semi-final game against Kerry, a game which Cork lost. The following year, Murphy began the season by capturing a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

winners' medal following a 0-12 to 1-7 victory over

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Shortly after this victory, he lined out with the Cork senior footballers in the Munster football decider against Kerry. In poor weather conditions, Cork won by 2-10 to 2-4. It was Murphy's first

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 ...

winners' medal. In September he lined out for the Cork footballers in the All-Ireland final against Meath. Ultimately Cork's hopes of doing the double were dashed as Meath won by 1-11 to 1-8. Cork lost their provincial crown for the next few seasons, however, in 2002 Murphy's side tasted success once again.

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

surprisingly provided the opposition in the provincial final, however, the game ended in a draw. After a thrilling draw Cork trounced Tipp by 1-23 to 0-7 in the subsequent replay. It was Murphy's second Munster winners' medal. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final pitted Cork against Kerry. It was the first time these rivals had met in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. Cork were beaten on a score line of 3-19 to 2-7. The year ended with the Cork hurling team going on strike. In turn, the football team joined in a sympathy strike. The players, who had been seeking better conditions, refused to play or train with the county again until the dispute with the county board was resolved. Following the strike, the fortunes of the Cork football team took a turn for the worse. A series of defeats in 2003 and 2004 saw the Cork football team reach an all-time low. In 2005, Cork narrowly lost the Munster final but qualified for the All-Ireland semi-final where Kerry defeated them by 1-19 to 1-9. In 2006, Cork won their first Munster title in four years following a defeat of Kerry. The two sides met again in the All-Ireland semi-final, however, in a similar pattern Kerry were victorious. In 2007, Cork lost their Munster crown to Kerry, however, they made use of the qualifiers and found themselves in the All-Ireland final. Kerry, the old rivals, provided the opposition in the first all-Munster All-Ireland final. Kerry captured the title with a 3-13 to 1-9 victory. It was one of Cork's most humiliating defeats. In 2008, Cork won the Munster title, beating Kerry in the final. It was Murphy's fourth Munster winners' medal. Kerry, however, again defeated Cork in a replay in the All-Ireland semi-final. In November 2012, he announced he would retire from inter-county football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Nicholas 1978 births Living people Carrigaline Gaelic footballers Carrigaline hurlers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Dual players Irish international rules football players Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)