Pole vaulting from the back garden into the Irish record books

As a young man, our father, T. P. "Tom" Murphy, of Limerick, Ireland, enjoyed playing team sports and was a member of CBS Limerick Senior Schools rugby team of 1932 and 1933. He rowed successfully with Limerick Boat Club.

He later switched to track and field and was Munster Decathlon Champion on a number of occasions. His greatest talent was in the Pole Vault, where he harbored ambitions to repr…