Pádraig features in Guinness hurling ad

July 1998

Watch out for Pádraig Murphy of Castlebridge on the new Guinness TV advert promoting the All-Ireland hurling championships.

25-year-old Pádraig, a bodybuilder and fitness instructor with Westwood Leisure Centre in Leopardstown, plays the demon character in the advertisement which was developed by Index Creative Communications.

The ad features a hurling hero who is psyching himself up in the tunnel before a game. The camera moves back to reveal another figure, who is the demon within.

This dark character cracks the base of his hurley off the floor, and a crack appears and travels down the tunnel. It is white hot and molten, spitting and bubbling.

With a fluid movement, the demon takes up a scorching ball of molten material, and fires it down with awesome power to the hero facing him.

The hurler holds his ground, tenses himself in anticipation, and starts to spring up the tunnel. He fields the ball with a snap of his wrist, and it turns into a regular sliothar.

He looks up the tunnel, and the other figure is gone. He is psyched.

Pádraig was chosen by the ad agency for the part, which will soon see him also appearing on huge billboards around the country.

He spent one long day working on it, going from 7 a.m. until 3 a.m. the following day. It took six hours of make-up to transform him into the demon.

A son of former Castlebridge publican Barney Murphy, Pádraig is studying physical therapy as well as holding down the day job.