Vincent Murphy pays tribute to his grand uncle Gus McCarthy and all those involved in Bloody Sunday 1920 with a 100 mile cycle from Tipperary to Dublin.
100 years, 100 miles tells the story of Bloody Sunday through Vincent (Jasper) Murphy who pays tribute to all those involved, one of whom was his grand uncle Gus McCarthy .
Gus played football for Tipperary and was playing in Croke Park on November 21st 1920, when 14 people were killed. Gus and his Tipperary team mates had left Fethard, Co. Tipperary to travel the 100 miles to Croke Park to play a challenge match against Dublin.
Like his grand-nephew Vincent, Gus was a keen cyclist. And like many people at the time, Gus travelled long distances to GAA games by bicycle. When Vincent was given a photograph of grand-Uncle Gus on a Hercules racing bike, it set off a chain of events that led to Vincent locating and overseeing the restoration of a bike of the same age and model.
With the Hercules bike fully restored, in 2020 Vincent and a group of friends set out on that 100 mile journey - from McCarthy's Bar in Fethard, county Tipperary to Croke Park, Dublin. 100 years after the devastating events of Bloody Sunday 1920, Vincent was keen to learn about what really happened that day.
Michael Hogan was a Tipperary team mate of Gus McCarthy's in 1920. Tragically, Michael was the only player to die in what has been called the Croke Park Massacre. Michael Hogan's grandniece and family members of another victim, Joe Traynor from Dublin were at Croke Park to greet Vincent and the Tipperary cyclists - as together, they looked back on Bloody Sunday.
In finding out more about his Grand Uncle Gus, Vincent also discovers unknown parts of the Bloody Sunday story and unearths a recording of a vivid first hand account of Bloody Sunday from the Tipperary goalkeeper on the day - a recording that has never been broadcast before.
Narrated by Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh
Produced by Jasper Vincent Murphy and Tim Desmond.
Sound Supervision by Liam O'Brien
An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries