An Cosantóir

34 Lt Paul Murphy has dedicated his life to the Army; it's where he sees his long-term future. But that doesn't mean this All-Ireland medal winner has forgotten about his other love: hurling. The former Kilkenny All-Star player has retired from the county team after a glittering career which brought him four All-Ireland medals and four All-Star awards, as part of Brian Cody's all conquering squad. "When the Championship starts and I see Kilkenny line out, then I expect I'll think about being there and how things would go etc," Paul (32) says as he speculates about how the Cats will do in 2021. In the meantime, however, he is enjoying what he calls his newfound "freedom". "I did notice all the free time I have, the freedom to make decisions about how I can use my time. I don't have to set aside a load of time for training, I can think about other things". Apart from planning for a December wedding to Eadain, Paul is concentrating on Army life and his work with the 3rd Infantry Battalion in James Stephens's Barracks in Kilkenny. LT PAUL MURPHY, 3 INF BN By Tony O'Brien Photos by Lt Paul Murphy "Like all young fellahs at age 17/18 I was thinking about what I would like to do," he recalls, "I felt I wanted to do something in what we will call public service, with the Guards uppermost in my mind." But chatting with a friend led Paul to look at the Army, and what he heard he liked, even though there was no history of military involvement in his family. "I decided that the Army was for me." The Danesfort, Co Kilkenny, man adds: "I joined as a recruit in 2008 and gradually moved up the ranks. I took a Potential Officer Court in 2018 and was commissioned in 2019." Three overseas postings later, Paul remains enthusiastic about Army life. "I'm looking forward to the future and my Army career. The Army has been great for me, I have really enjoyed all of the different experiences." Recalling his last time in the Lebanon – when COVID restrictions hit and the scheduled return home was postponed – Paul says: "On a normal day we would be out patrolling in towns, engaging with local leaders and mayors. Now this was something we didn't want to bring in to their communities so we had to take a huge step back and stop our meetings with them." He added: "It was a big concern for us that it would change v Lt Paul Murphy hurling with Kilkenny v Lt Paul Murphy (then Pte) front right, Chad 2009

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