William held Croker record as longest serving steward

On December 31, Collinstown native William (Bill) Murtagh passed away, in his 97th year, at St Camillus Nursing Home, Killucan. A lifelong GAA fanatic, Bill volunteered as a steward at Croke Park for more than six decades. In August 2017, Rodney Farry spoke to then 90-year-old Bill about his memories of stewarding at the home of the GAA and how Gaelic Games had evolved over the years.

The Westmeath Examiner would like to offer its sincere condolences to Bill’s brothers Peter and John, sister Mary Brady, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, all his Croke park colleagues, relatives, neighbours and his many friends in Westmeath and Dublin.

Originally published in 2017

They say familiarity breeds contempt but Croke Park’s oldest steward, Collinstown native William Murtagh, still gets as excited about big games at the famous stadium as he did when he first took up the role in 1960.

Over the 57 years, William, who is an uncle of former Westmeath hurler Christo Murtagh, has stewarded at every hurling and football All-Ireland as well as countless other big games at the Jones’s Road venue.

In fact, with the exception of 1947 football final in New York, his unbroken attendance record at All-Ireland finals stretches back to 1946 when he first went to Dublin, as an 18-year-old, to work in the grocery trade.

Croke Park was literally a different stadium and the GAA a far different organisation when the affable William donned his steward’s bib for the first time after getting the role through his association with the Dublin Hurling Board.

While he has fond memories of those early days, he says most of the on and off the pitch changes of recent decades have been for the better.

“The game has changed dramatically. The great players [of the past] would not stay the hour, not a hope. The games have got so fast, it’s unbelievably different. When you see footage from Reeling in the Years, the game was played at a snail’s pace in comparison.”

One other major change, which the retired grocery store manager believes has been a hugely positive development for the GAA, is the large numbers of women playing and attending matches today.

“I remember when I first came to Dublin in 1946, if you saw a woman in Croke Park you would say to the person next to you ‘What the heck is she doing here?’. That was the way it was looked on then but by golly they are going now in their thousands.”

William is lucky enough to have witnessed the modern giants of hurling and football up close, and there are certain teams and players that stand out.

“DJ Carey, in the hurling – I’d rate him as number one, but in football there are so many candidates. Peter Canavan from Tyrone and Ciarán McDonald from Mayo – you couldn’t see enough of them two, they really were geniuses.

“The Offaly hurling teams that came up in the early ’80s, my God they turned out such super teams, they were one of the highlights, while the Down football teams brought such excitement and colour in 1960 and ’61.”

Despite having lived in Dublin for more than 70 years, where he is involved in his parish, in Drimnagh, and all of the memorable matches that he’s seen during that time, bachelor William says that nothing beats seeing his native county play in Croke Park.

“The savage loves his native shore,” he said. “Any time that Westmeath would play in Dublin, you would hear your heart beat that little bit faster. We all love where we come from.”

Although a self confessed “failure” as a player, William has contributed in a variety of roles during his membership of the GAA, including a lengthy career as a hurling and football referee, so lengthy in fact, that he only hung up his whistle two years ago at the age of 88 after “thousands” of matches, ranging from a Dublin Senior Hurling Final in Croke Park to Cumann na mBunscol.

Asked about his style of refereeing, he says that he preferred the carrot to the stick when it came to keeping players in line.

“I would talk to lads to keep them in good form – that’s the way I did it. I always said to lads that I didn’t want to be putting them off. I worked very well to keep lads on the pitch.”

William puts his longevity down to “a healthy life and a healthy background”, and the fact he “wasn’t reared with a silver spoon”.

“I have led a very organised life, no smoking and I don’t drink. I also cycled and kept myself in reasonably good shape.”

With the football and hurling season reaching what all Gaels hope will be dramatic conclusions, this sprightly nonagenarian is gearing himself up for a busy couple of weekends.

At the time of writing, the Mayo Kerry semi-final replay in the football championship was a few days away and William was looking forward to another epic battle and playing his part in making the day run smoothly.

He says that he still derives as much pleasure from stewarding at Croke Park as he did when he first took up the role almost 60 years ago and has no intention of stepping down.

“The GAA has contributed a lot to my life. Without it I’d say that I would be a different person really. The friendship, the excitement and carry on are great.”