'He had the wristwork that would equal Christy Ring' - Waterford legend Martin Óg Morrissey dies aged 90

"He was an amazing hurler," late GAA President and county board chairman of 1959 Pat Fanning once recalled. "He had the wristwork that would equal Christy Ring."

Morrissey also won three Munster senior medals, one National League title and one Oireachtas during his playing days. He collected four Railway Cups (1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961).

The 1962 Oireachtas Final win over Tipperary at Croke Park was his finest hour in a Waterford shirt. He gave an exhibition of ground hurling that afternoon. The mighty number six whipped ball after ball away from the danger zone with a delightful flick of the wrists.

"I was a hurling centre half back," Morrissey said in an interview for Waterford Game Of My Life in 2021. "We played fast, open hurling. We let the ball do the work. You didn’t hang onto it, you got rid of it. I enjoyed playing in Croke Park. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I had a bad match in Croke Park. I played well in them all."

He was never shy about describing his prowess on the hurling field. "Óg wouldn't be the most modest fella in the world," Fanning said. "But he has always spoken about himself and how good he was in a very affable way. He always had a very distinctive, charming way about him."

In a decorated club career, he accumulated fourteen county senior hurling medals with Mount Sion and captained the team in 1961. He also claimed three county senior football medals. In later years, he served as selector with Waterford minor, U21 and senior teams. He trained Glenmore and Shamrocks Ballyhale to Kilkenny senior hurling championships during the 1980s.

Óg captained Mount Sion to Harty Cup glory in 1953. They were the first Waterford school to win the competition. "That Harty Cup medal is my prize possession," he told Dermot Keyes in his autobiography Kings For One Day. "I think more about winning that trophy than anything else I won afterwards, even the All Ireland with Waterford in '59."

Morrissey was only five foot eight inches tall but outhurled much taller opponents. "I always tried to keep the ball out of their hands," he remarked. "My thing was to tap the ball out, then follow it and puck the ball down the field. That was my style of play. Nowadays, the focus is all about getting the ball into the hand. The players might be moving faster today but I still think the ball moved faster in my time than it does now."

1982 All Star and Mount Sion club mate Jim Greene grew up in awe of him. "He's an exceptional man by every measure I can think of. I love Martin Óg like I loved my own father."

Martin Óg Morrissey's funeral mass will be celebrated on Sunday, December 22 at Ballybricken Church at 1.30 followed by burial to St. Otteran’s Cemetery.