‘Some of the girls in Westmeath would think my family are a bit mad. My parents have actually been to a lot of the matches recently. It has worked out that Kerry have been playing on Saturdays and we’ve been playing on the Sundays, so they’ve been travelling the length and breadth of the country getting to both matches’
BY DAIRE WALSH
TOMORROW is set to be a hectic day for the Murphys of Rathmore in Kerry with two members of the family expected to see action in venues that are just under 90 minutes apart — for two different counties.
A two-time Sam Maguire Cup winner, Paul Murphy will have a crucial role to play as the Kerry men’s team take on defending champions Armagh at the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland senior football championship at 4.00pm in Croke Park.
At the earlier time of 2.00pm in Kingspan Breffni, Murphy’s sister Sarah is looking to help her adopted county of Westmeath get past the challenge of Cavan in the last-eight of the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship.
These games being on the same day makes it difficult for their parents to see both of them in the flesh, but this has been possible for much of the summer to date.
After watching Paul line out for the Kingdom in their All-Ireland SFC group stage clash against Meath at Glenisk O’Connor Park in Tullamore on June 14, the Murphys made sure they were in Stewartstown the following day to see Sarah’s Westmeath take on Tyrone in a group phase encounter of their own.
“Some of the girls in Westmeath would think my family are a bit mad. My parents have actually been to a lot of the matches recently. It has worked out that Kerry have been playing on Saturdays and we’ve been playing on the Sundays, so they’ve been travelling the length and breadth of the country getting to both matches,” Sarah explained.
“It worked out very well two weekends ago. Kerry were playing in Tullamore and then they drove on up. They stayed in Monaghan and they went up to the Tyrone match then on Sunday. I feel like they’re definitely delighted that I’m staying involved and trying something new here playing with Westmeath.”
When her brother first broke onto the Kerry senior panel in 2014, Sarah was an underage player with aspirations of donning the green and gold jersey at adult level herself. This is something she managed to achieve as she was a regular presence on the Kerry senior ladies panel from 2017 to 2021.
Murphy eventually stepped away from the set-up after she took a decision to go travelling (she had a stint playing with the St Kevin’s club in Australia) and upon her return to Irish soil, the secondary school teacher relocated to Westmeath.
Although she represented Rathmore for a couple more years in the Kerry club championship, the commute up and down from the Lake County was beginning to take its toll. This led to her officially transferring to Moate in January and she went on to make her debut for Westmeath in the same month against Cork in the opening round of their Lidl National Football League Division 2 campaign.
“Coming in, I knew no one. I hadn’t played club games. I know the girls from my club, but none of them were in with Westmeath at the time either. It was a bit daunting going into a brand new situation, but then Ayesha Roche is actually a Kerry native as well. I had played with her, I think it was back in 2018 with Kerry,” Murphy acknowledged.
“When she came in, it was just a bit of a relief to have someone else to know. I got in and built up relationships with the girls and the management. It’s actually fine now and it’s very similar to Kerry. It’s the same amount of commitment, the same amount of time. Just a different county.”
Sarah Murphy receives the Player of the Match award from Arthur Corrigan, Leinster LGFA President, after the TG4 Leinster LGFA Intermediate Championship final between Laois and Westmeath
Murphy has certainly settled nicely into the Westmeath squad this year as she has started all 11 games the county have played thus far in 2025 across the NFL, the TG4 Leinster intermediate football championship and the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship.
In their provincial final win over Laois at TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar on May 18, Murphy delivered a player of the match performance from full-back.
There was disappointment in Stewartstown when Westmeath suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Tyrone, but an earlier triumph at home to Down was enough to earn them a spot at the quarter-final phase of the All-Ireland intermediate championship.
This has led to the Midlanders being on the road this weekend, but with their opponents Cavan having lost out to arch rivals Monaghan in their own group, this year’s Mary Quinn Memorial Cup is proving to be unpredictable.
“Cavan’s group, each of them actually came away with a win. Then for it just to be down to points difference, it really is a very, very close championship. You couldn’t really call who is going to be in the final, not to mind who is going to win it.
“Obviously we went up to Tyrone and we were hoping to get a win because you get the home advantage if you got the win. It’s not the end of the world to have to play an away game in your quarter-final. We’re still in the quarter-final, which is where we want to be.”
Since her departure from their panel, Kerry have enjoyed a remarkable resurgence. In addition to winning a brace of Lidl NFL Division 1 titles and a Division 2 league crown, the Kingdom eventually claimed the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship in 2024 after losing finals in the two previous years.
While she wasn’t able to make it to Croke Park on the day, Murphy was thrilled that a number of her former team-mates were able to get over the line against Galway in last August’s Brendan Martin Cup showpiece.
“I was absolutely delighted. I played with a good load of them and Danielle O’Leary as well would be from my club, so I was absolutely over the moon for her as well. She has been such a massive part of the Rathmore club since she joined us. She was 16 or 17 when she started playing with us first with the seniors,” Murphy added.
“I actually wasn’t up at the final myself, but I wish I had just to see the whole thing. Playing in Croke Park, seeing them going out and winning in Croke Park. It was just an unbelievable achievement for all of them.”
Sarah Murphy in action against Ciara Burke of Laois
