By JOHN FALLON

The death has occurred of the ‘godfather of Galway hurling’ Phelim Murphy, the Turloughmore clubman who spent almost half a century setting up the underage structures in the 1960s and then carrying through the fruit of that work to make the Tribesmen a major force.

Murphy ran Galway hurling in his role as hurling board secretary from 1982 to 2004, but also gave distinguished service to club, county, province and nationally for decades either side of that stint.

He was a selector when Galway won the All-Ireland senior title in 1987 and ’88 and also served as president of the Connacht Council.

The 91-year old passed away on Friday afternoon at his home in Turloughmore after suffering ill-health in recent years and is survived by his wife Nellie and 15 children.

A native of Waterview in Turloughmore where he farmed, he moved from his playing career into administration and became chairman of the Turloughmore club when he was just 29 in 1960.

It heralded a glorious period for the club as they became the only side with win six Galway SHC titles in a row, but while he rejoiced in the success, Murphy knew that the future lay in developing the underage game in the county and he was a key figure in the establishment of Coiste Iomana na nOg in 1965, with his own club winning the U-14 title that year.

Seven years later Murphy was a selector as a Galway team captained by Iggy Clarke, and which also included future GAA President Joe McDonagh, beat Dublin to win the county’s first All-Ireland U-21 title in 1972.

Three years later in 1975, with the likes of PJ Molloy, Frank Burke and Marty Barrett have come off that U-21 team as well, Galway won the league for the first time in 34 years and reached the All-Ireland for the first time since 1958, and the county has continued to grow since.

They captured their first senior All-Ireland in 57 years when they defeated Limerick in 1980, by which stage Murphy had progressed through the administration to take over as assistant secretary the following year and then in 1982 began a 23-year stint as secretary when he became the voice of Galway hurling off the pitch and was never afraid to fight his corner.

Cyril Farrell, having guided Galway to victory in 1980, appointed Murphy as a selector along with treasurer Bernie O’Connor when he took charge for a second spell in 1984 and it heralded the greatest ever period for the county.

A first minor All-Ireland in 1983 was followed by another U-21 in ’86 and Galway appeared in four senior finals in a row, recovering from successive defeats to win in ’87 against Kilkenny and ’88 against Tipperary.

Murphy, never afraid to speak his mind but never one to let a row fester, led the charge when Tony Keady was banned in 1989 for playing in America and it remained a huge regret with Murphy that their hopes of a three-in-a-row were dashed by that controversy.

He continued as Galway secretary until 2004. During his time in charge Galway won 18 All-Ireland titles at various levels, six league crowns and eight Railway Cups, while Galway clubs won seven All-Ireland titles in that time.

Murphy also served on the Connacht Council for 14 years. One of the highlights was in 1997 when Joe McDonagh became the first Galway man in over a century to be elected GAA President after a campaign where Murphy was a key figure. Murphy was then elected President of the Connacht Council and got to share many stages with McDonagh.

He continued to be an active supporter of Galway GAA before ill-health intervened and Murphy, whose education didn’t go beyond national school as he had to take over the family farm after the death of his father at a young age, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws at NUIG in 2018.