THE wife of the late Iggy Murphy, who passed away last Thursday, described her husband as someone who always put the needs of others first.

Even as he battled cancer and illness, Iggy – well-known in football and music communities – was determined to not be slowed down or stopped, fighting right to the very end.

The 44-year-old was diagnosed with oesophageal and stomach cancer in 2018, and had surgery on Christmas Eve of that year.

However, two diaphragmatic hernias followed, before he received news that he was terminally ill this January – the same month that he turned 44.

“He was just a very caring person, and kind, and always put everybody else’s thoughts and feelings before his own,” said his wife, Edele, who was with Iggy for 17 years, and married for nine of them.

“When he was diagnosed and started to get really poorly, he was more worried about how everyone else was coping with his illness than himself.”

Even towards the end, he would be up answering the door to the District Nurse, and asking if they wanted a cup of tea. No complaints to be heard.

Edele said: “If you told him he couldn’t do something, he would do it twice as hard, and twice as good!

“Not once did he ever complain. Even at the very end, he didn’t want to throw in the towel, or was downhearted or downtrodden.”

Edele recalled how after Iggy’s surgery on Christmas Eve, 2018, his expected recovery time was meant to be around eight weeks in hospital.

However: “He was in four nights, and home on the fifth day. This was a man who was on life support for three of those days. If that doesn’t tell you something about his character, I don’t know what does.”

Iggy was a valued member of Coa O’Dwyer’s and a well-known face on the music scene, playing at Rock the Lough and around local venues.

On top of this, he was also involved with fundraising events with Cavanacarragh Players and Coa.

Last year, he raised more than £1,400 during Movember, and finished it all off with a 1970s-style photoshoot, proudly showing off the handlebar moustache he had grown.

Edele summed up perfectly the love Iggy had for Coa, and vice versa, saying: “He was a Coa die-hard, and that was it. Coa have been fantastic – they really have. Especially in our small community, there’s not only one willing hand, it’s everybody.”

While he took pride and joy with Coa and his music, his children – Dervla, Aoibhinn and Isaac – were his real pride and joy.

“The kids idolised him. He would have done anything for them. I would say, ‘Iggy, why are you even bothering saying no, because you know it is only a prolonged yes! Just cut to the chase and say yes’,” said Edele.

“That was him – he would have done anything for them, and went anywhere for them.”

Edele thanked the local communities of Coa and Tempo for all their support in recent days, and took comfort from the amount of people who lined the roads on the journey to St. Joseph’s Church, Cradien on Monday.

“It was unreal. Even on the car journey, there lots of cars parked up along the side of our road, leaving the house.

“The kids were kind of in a way, ‘What’s going on here?’ I said, ‘It’s people showing respect for daddy’, and that shows how much he was loved and liked within the community and further afield.

“It took us a good 25 minutes to get there, and it’s only three minutes down the road. It was nice and good of people to show up, and show their respects for him,” she added.

The late Iggy Murphy, 44, was the loved and cherished husband of Edele; much-loved father of Dervla, Aoibhinn and Isaac; beloved son of the late Pat and Kathleen Murphy; a dear brother of Ciaran (Karen), Sean (Mary), Claire, Mairead (Andy), Catherine (Martin) and the late Baby Maureen; and step-brother to the Cox family, Noel (Susan), Donal (Eithne), Sean (Brenda) and Martin (Sheena).

Funeral arrangements were by John McKeegan Undertakers.