Documentary On One: 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 that morning, 100 years ago, to travel the 100 miles to Croke Park in Dublin 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 Murphy’s in 1920. Tragically, Michael was the only player to die in what some have dubbed, 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.
Vincent discovers unknown parts of the Bloody Sunday story, unearthing a recording of a vivid first hand account of Bloody Sunday from the Tipperary goalkeeper on the day – a recording that has never been heard before.