There were heart-rending scenes yesterday in Cratloe, Co Clare, as over 1,000 people mourned 18-year-old Clare hurler Michael Murphy, who died during a match last Saturday.
Mourners crammed into St John's church to hear Michael's mother, Eileen, pay tribute to the Ballyea hurler who was involved in an accidental clash with her son before he suffered a brain haemorrhage.
She described the Ballyea hurler as a "ray of light", because Michael died as he would have wished. Mr Murphy collapsed during an under-21 tie between Cratloe and Ballyea at Newmarket-on-Fergus after an accidental blow to the neck.
