'There were parties everywhere': Cork winner of Mastermind International recalls triumph

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Few Irishmen can lay claim to the title of Mastermind in the show's enduring 53-year run but only one is a Mastermind International champion — a mild-mannered geography teacher from Whitechurch, Co Cork.
John Mulcahy — just 29 at the time — etched his name into the annals of trivia history in the echoing chambers of London's Guildhall in February 1979.
Not only did he outsmart some of the best and brightest minds from across the globe — Nigeria, Australia, Canada — he did so under an oppressive spotlight likened only to that of the Gestapo's merciless methods of interrogation.
And with, as Mr Mulcahy described him, the 'stern and distant' Magnus Magnusson at the helm, few would have faulted the Corkman for folding.
He was suitably phlegmatic. Remarkably unphased.
John Mulcahy, the first Irishman to win Mastermind, holds the trophy at the gate of his home in Whitechurch, where his love of knowledge continues in retirement. Picture: Chani Anderson
The soft afternoon glow spilling across his face at his cozy Whitechurch homestead is considerably less oppressive than the spotlight in the Guildhall, but he is perched on his armchair just as he was that night — cross-legged, palms placed gently on knees, sharp, attentive.
Likewise, the anecdotes — and the pride — flow out of him like the answers did all those years ago.
Mr Mulcahy's ascension to the apex of Mount Mastermind began humbly back home where he claimed Ireland's Top Score title in the summer of 1978.
'At the final of Top Score above in Dublin, the producer of Mastermind, Bill Wright, was there and they announced that the winner would be going on to this international competition.
'RTÉ were good to me, they helped me an awful lot. They brought me up to Dublin for a weekend and pumped me with questions.
'I was doing pub quizzes here at the time in Blackpool with The Bowler's Rest when it was in its heyday. We won the Blackpool festival, which was bigger than the Olympics at the time and they all wanted to come over (to London).
'I went over that night with my sister and my mother, my father couldn't come at the time. There were four friends who came along as well. We had a good time despite it being pretty nail-biting.'
Incredibly, there was no financial prize for the Cork man on that wonderful night.
'Nothing financial, just honour, prestige … and a trophy,' he said.
What followed, though, transcended material value: A personal letter from then taoiseach Jack Lynch, national recognition and a tidal wave of goodwill — all washed down with enough Guinness to fill the Lee.
He had surprised the world, but none more than himself, when it came to the buzzer-beating answer that ultimately crowned him Mastermind International champion.
'It was an interesting question. I still scratch my head and say, how did I get that answer?
'It was about a boxer who twice defeated Jack Dempsey. The only part of the question that I knew was a boxer who had died recently, that was Gene Tunney. The buzzer went off but Magnus continued anyway, saying 'I started so I'll finish'. I knew it was the last question. I gave the answer and it was right. Now, I was a point ahead of the previous contestant."
He said the last contestant was David Hunt, who was the champion of champions.
"He hadn't done that well in the first round. But, my God, when he got on the chair this time he was absolutely flying it. There was no doubt he was going to win it, only that the time ran out.
'Would you believe he ended up a point below me? You see, you don't see the scores when you're on the chair and you don't have anything to go off, unlike when you're watching television. As a result I wasn't totally clear what was going on. But I was very relieved when it did happen, when it was announced.'
The Irishman may have been saved by the bell but his expertise was irrefutable. He rattled off 15 correct answers in round 1 — tackling Irish History from 1916-1922 — and a further 13 in the general knowledge round. He wasn't afraid to pass on a question he didn't know either.
No bluffing, no bluster, just unshakeable knowledge.
It was a trivia performance defined by egoless precision and quiet confidence.
If anyone was prepared going into the Guildhall it was John Mulcahy. He was no stranger to the rhythm and sleight of hand required in buzzer-style quiz shows, having conquered Top Score.
'It was slightly different in that it was the number of questions you could get into the two minutes and you had to be very, very fast. The secret, well I won't say the secret because I certainly didn't go in with any plan — but the idea was that if I didn't know the answer I passed right away. That way I got a couple of extra questions in.
'It wasn't that I was all high and mighty, I was most unimpressive because I missed nine questions. I'd say they were all gasping, wondering how you could win and miss that number of questions. It was just about the speed, there was no time to think.'
Little did he know the sheer amount of Irish he would do proud that night. Thousands tuned into Mastermind International from all over the globe the night it aired in March. Irish hearts swelled, puffed up with conceit. Some were even compelled to pick up their pens and write to their Irish champion.
'First of all I think it was a national honour. The whole country took pride in it, so in that sense I was delighted.
'I was also pleased for the family more than myself. I got fed up with it after a while to be honest.
'It's quite amazing, people are still coming up to me and introducing me to others as the fellow who won 'the brain of Ireland' or whatever. They never get the name right of course
'It seemed to mean an awful lot to an awful lot of people. The local people responded hugely, seen of course when hundreds had turned out in Cork Airport at the time. It was crazy."
He said the vast bulk of those who wrote to him from around the world were immigrants saying they were very proud of him.
Letter from Jack Lynch
'We had a postal strike at home, following Mastermind, that went on for three months. I was inside in school one day, and looking out I saw this army motorbike scorching down the hill outside Deer Park. Next thing there was a knock on the door and this army fella came in handing me the envelope. It was the personal note from Jack Lynch.'
The letter to John Mulcahy from Jack Lynch.
Lynch knew, as well as anyone, the importance of such a triumph. It was enough to lift a nation — a salve of sorts. It was a moment of grace for a country bleeding from the Troubles, especially when this particular battle of the brains took place in the monarchy's own backyard. What's more, John Mulcahy's triumph shifted the needle considerably on the way people perceived the Irish at the time.
'I suppose you'd have to see it in the context, the Troubles were on at the time and not everything associated with Ireland was good news.
I wasn't totally conscious of it but apparently over in England it was a big thing, the Irish jokes were flying at the time. A headline in one of the newspapers read 'The Ultimate Irish Joke'
'I got a phone call from a paper one morning before going into class. They said 'you know that the IQ tests have been carried out'. I don't know what point they were making, apparently the Irish were last. I said 'I'm not that surprised because we don't do IQ tests here, it's not part of the selection for going into school'. Even basic things like that you know you'd be asked to comment on.'
His topic of choice in round 1 was hardly impetuous, maybe instinctive, though he claims he never looked at it in such a way.
'The fact that I was taking the topic I chose was of some significance too. I was sitting with this stereotype even though I didn't ever look at it that way. To me, it was just a very interesting episode in the country.'
Like any great story, Mr Mulcahy's road to success — and the road after it — was paved with proverbial potholes. In round 2, there was debate over the answer to a question revolving around the works of Rudyard Kipling. There's an argument to say John Mulcahy deserved the point, however, due to a technicality, the question was scrapped.
It was a minor derailment that did little to shake the Corkman's composure.
'There was a bit of a glitch while I was in the chair when I was answering a question. There was an interruption from above and they said 'we want to check out that answer' and as it turned out, apparently I'd given out the wrong answer.
'So they said 'well, technically maybe he's right'. The question was about Rudyard Kipling's Plain Tales from the Hills and they wanted to know what hills he was referring to. I said the Himalayas; they flagged it as incorrect. Apparently it was the Simla.
'Someone said, 'well, technically Simla is in the Himalayas now so maybe the best thing to do is take out that question completely'. Now, I was in the middle of a two-minute round and this interruption came. I didn't take a whole lot of notice though, it didn't put me off or anything thankfully."
Gay Byrne gaffe
And then came the slip. Gay Byrne, ever the showman, prematurely released news of John Mulcahy's victory on RTÉ radio, to the dismay of the BBC who weren't set to air the show until the following month.
'There was a delegation from RTÉ over including Adrian Cronin, who was the producer of The Late Late Show at the time. He rang up Gay Byrne, either that night or the next morning. He said 'the Irish fella is after winning the Mastermind' but never said to Gay to keep it quiet. So, what did Gay do? He put it out on the radio the following morning.
'It was a laugh because my poor father was here at home and he'd gone up to the shop as usual for the milk. They were asking him 'how did John do? How did John get on?' And he'd say 'Ah, he did alright. He didn't let us down anyway'. The next thing he came home and the phone was hopping off the hook, everyone wanting to talk to him. Of course, it was the same inside the school.
Press coverage about John Mulcahy.
'They probably were annoyed but this was a matter between RTÉ and the BBC. I didn't know anything. It was on the front page of all the papers over in London. I was out of circulation. There were no mobile phones or anything and the few friends that I was over with had gone home. So, I was on my own and enjoying life until I got to Heathrow where I was paged.
'I think it was the Daily Express turned up with a camera and a reporter and I had to unpackage my trophy and get a photograph taken. When I went up to board the plane an Aer Lingus employee said 'Mr Mulcahy, would you mind just waiting please? We'll try and get people on board and out of the way'. I thought what's all this about?
Press coverage about John Mulcahy.
'So they got everyone on and I was last, placed in the front seat. To my surprise everyone jumped up and applauded. The idea was, of course, that I'd be off first in Cork. I was whipped away rather than going through security and they brought me into some room where the family were waiting and the press. It was kind of the VIP treatment which was the last thing I was expecting."
He said that when he went into school the following week someone showed up and said "it's Gay Byrne on the phone, he's looking for you".
"So I went in anyway and he said 'I've heard a rumour that the BBC withdrew the trophy and that they're going to cancel the programme'. So I said, 'well, as far as I'm concerned, the trophy's at home in the cupboard, I've heard nothing about it'.
"I think he was worried that there might have been repercussions over it.'
The International Mastermind trophy awarded in 1979 to John Mulcahy. Picture: Chani Anderson
And there it still rests, tucked away safely. A simple object but a shining symbol.
Surprisingly, Mr Mulcahy never pursued the next big win. Mastermind International would suffice for the Whitechurch whizz.
He celebrated with family and friends for days on end, so much so that Guinness House ran out of their signature black stout, having to dash dramatically across to the Oyster mid-revelry and hold up St Patrick's St to roll a dozen more barrels back to HQ.
It was pure madness. There were parties everywhere, every crowd wanted something. The celebrations went on for a while
"The show, would you believe, was actually shown at home on Ash Wednesday so I went up for a pint the night before and I said that's the end of that now.'
And it was. He returned to what he loved most: shaping the minds of the youth. He taught in Deer Park and the local community school in Whitechurch for years before taking tenure as a professor at UCC. As he put it himself, he never had an inclination to do anything else, despite others' expectations.
'There was a program on there one time about television quizzes and they were on about the way some of the winners of Mastermind had gone on to host their own quiz shows among other things but I never had any inclination. There were no offers anyway.
'I was very happy as a teacher anyway, quite happy to continue on.'
In a world driven by immediacy and digital shortcuts, John Mulcahy's legacy stands for something rarer. It was a patient, unflashy pursuit of knowledge grounded in curiosity, tempered by humility, and crowned with one of the most quietly extraordinary victories in Irish public life.