Christy hoping to call Donegal's tune again soon

Donegal’s best known bagpiper Christy Murray has also been missing from the stands and the terraces for the last 15 months or so, locked out by the Covid-19 lockdown.

“The Monaghan game in Ballyshannon was the last one," says Christy, who has been entertaining the throngs in the stands and on the terraces up and down and across the country for the best part of the last three and a half decades. "That was March 1, 2020, and it was my last outing.

“The lockdown came shortly after that and I have not been out since. And of course I do miss it and the atmosphere, the craic, the fun and the comadre at games among supporters and opposing supporters.

"I’ve been all over the country to Kerry, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Mayo, Clones, Armagh, Omagh, Derry and Belfast. You name it, anywhere Donegal have played since 1987 I have been to it and the reception is always the same. I have always been well received. It has been great fun and hopefully it will be all back soon again. Fingers crossed!"

Christy is a music teacher by profession - he teaches the tin whistle in primary schools around the county. Unfortunately, that halted too with the closure of the schools back in March last year. And while the schools have been back for a number of months the music lessons have not and are still not allowed.

Necessity is the mother of intention and in the last month or so Christy has been giving piping lessons outdoors two sessions a week.

“I had to get back to playing again to keep up my fitness," he adds. "The bagpipes need a lot of wind so you have to be fit lungs to blow them. I was in a marching band years ago, that is my background so I reinvented myself, started outdoor tin whistle lessons and holding marching band lessons twice a week, here in Raphoe. Marching bands is my background."

Always a great community man, Christy has been delivering perscriptions and medicine to old people in the area during the pandemic - his wife Margaret is a pharmacist in Raphoe. He has also kept himself busy tidying up his local area and picking up litter.

“At the start of the lockdown I took to tidying the roads in and around the town. It gets me out and about and meeting people and it keeps me busy and fit,” says Christy, who turned 59 this year. "I have been going out five to six days a week and in the last 15 months, I have collected 2,000 bags of rubbish.

“I estimate that comes to 50 tons which is a big pile of rubbish. It obviously tidies up the area and it is good for my fitness too.”

With the return of football and small numbers of spectators and the start of the championship this Sunday as Donegal take on Down in Newry, Christy’s thoughts are of returning too.

“There isn’t much point until the crowds get a bit bigger as it is at the moment the attendances are so limited I think it would be unfair of me to use up a ticket ahead of someone more deserving," he says.

“I was thinking of maybe returning for the quarter-final in Ballybofey and playing outside MacCumhaill Park - that of course depends on how Donegal fare against Down."

What about this Sunday in Newry, Christy, any chance? “Not at the minute but you never know," he concludes. "I’m a very spontaneous person, I could very well decide on Sunday morning to go!”