Weddings are all the rage around Rathmore just lately.
Paul Murphy tied the knot in late 2021 and missed Rathmore's AIB Munster club final win last month as a result of his delayed honeymoon.
That day, when they beat Na Piarsaigh of Limerick in the provincial decider, Murphy was watching on a laptop in New Zealand. From the back of a camper van. At 4.30am.
He watched Derry native Chrissy Spiers kick a dozen points for Rathmore. Spiers's haul included 10 points from frees and he finished the game with a 100 per cent record from placed balls.
Two days earlier, Spiers himself got married, though the Magherafelt man was available to report for duty, and demolition, for his adopted club.
"He's been brilliant, a real bonus for us," said former Kerry captain and All-Star Murphy. "Rathmore is a small, rural town. City teams, or the teams in the bigger towns, would be more used to situations like this where people relocate and they might pick up a few players as a result.
"But for a team like Rathmore it is pretty rare and unusual, but he is turning into a huge player for us and he has really fitted into the club and the team and you would swear he has lived there all his life.
"He is a very popular guy around the club and his wife Joanne and his little girl, they are at all the matches and they have really integrated well. On the pitch, he's been great for us in this campaign and over the last number of years.
"He's a beautiful kicker of the ball, kicks frees and does really well from play for us as well. A huge signing for us to have made, if you can call it that."
It's only 20 miles or so from Spiers's Magherafelt to the Galbally Pearse's club, though it's more likely that if any of the Rathmore management were searching for tips ahead of Sunday's AIB All-Ireland club intermediate final at Croke Park, they'd go to Murphy. That's because the experienced defender, 31, and two-time All-Ireland winner with Kerry, who came on in last July's All-Ireland final defeat of Galway, works with Paddy Tally in the Kingdom set-up. The much travelled Tally, of course, is a Galbally man.
"I wouldn't even ask!" smiled Murphy. "To be fair, if someone asked me for information on Rathmore, I wouldn't be giving it out so I assume Paddy is the same.
To be honest, I haven't been hugely involved with the Kerry set-up as Rathmore is still going so I haven't met or been talking to him in the last few weeks but, look, if they are exposed to Paddy at all, and I'm not sure what, if any, his involvement is, but he is a fantastic coach and any hand he lends to Galbally would be a big bonus for them I think."
Tally would have plenty of information to impart on Rathmore's Shane Ryan, the All-Ireland winning Kerry goalkeeper, though it mightn't be of much use as he plays outfield with his club.
"I think Niall Morgan does the same," said Murphy. "I was looking at the match report for Galbally's county final and Morgan was corner-forward for Edendork in that county final, so it's unusual but not unique."
Murphy's former Kerry colleague, forty-something Aidan O'Mahony, is still part of the Rathmore squad. Renowned for his peak physical conditioning, he is doing a good job of making time stand still.
"I think he turned 42 last year," said Murphy. "He is still a fantastic trainer, he is in fantastic physical condition, very fit all the time and you just have to admire his attitude to the whole thing, his approach, his hunger to be still involved and to be training so hard.
"At 42 years of age, he doesn't need to be doing it. He doesn't need to prove anything to anyone in Rathmore or anywhere else but he is just a driven competitor. It's incredible to see and it's a brilliant influence."
