Matthew Murphy’s Eurovision Wall in Minor Row has been one of Millstreet’s most photographed features. Painted by Patty “Muds” Murphy, it features the flags of each country that participated in Eurovision 1993, arranged in random order with Ireland as the first flag on the top left.
The original painted version lasted over nineteen years, and in 2012 Millstreet Tidy Town replaced each flag with a new colourful and attractive panel securing its future. Matty Murphy, was caught by GMTV painting the original Eurovision Wall, in the leadup to the Eurovision [news report]
Matty was pictured in 2012 with the new Eurovision wall [see 4 Generations of the Murphy Family]
Matty sadly passed away in 2018.
The plaque on the bottom right of the wall reads:
Eurovision Song Contest 1993: The flags painted on this wall represent the European countries which participated in the Eurovision Song Contest held in the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet, o 15th May, 1993, and was the idea of Mr. Matt Murphy, owner of these premises. Ireland won the contest that year with Niamh Kavanagh, singing “In Your Eyes”, composed by Jimmy Walsh, with the orchestra conducted by Noel Kelehan. Reading from the top left to the right, the countries represented here were:
IRELAND FINLAND AUSTRIA PORTUGAL SWEDEN GERMANY MALTA ICELAND ITALY BELGIUM
SLOVENIA SWITZERLAND ISRAEL NORWAY EUROVISION LOGO GREECE DENMARK SPAIN CYPRUS
NETHERLANDS BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA UNITED KINGDOM TURKEY LUXEMBOURG FRANCE CROATIA
ERECTED BY MILLSTREET TIDY TOWN ASSOCIATION
(the new layout of the flags differs slightly from the original version!)
The Eurovision Wall in 2019 (photo: @ConorSheehan19)