Cork woman reunites with Roy Keane 30 years after late dad arranged first meeting

A Midleton woman has shared the heartwarming story of how she reunited with her childhood hero Roy Keane more than 30 years after her late father arranged for her to meet the Manchester United legend.

Midleton woman Claire Griffin recently got the chance to show Keane a very special 1,000-piece jigsaw made by her dad, William Murphy, who passed away in 2024.

The jigsaw featured a photograph of Claire, her father and Keane taken when they first met at Old Trafford in 1995.

Speaking to Paul Byrne on Cork’s 96FM, Claire explained that her love for Roy Keane went back to her teenage years.

In 1994, her grandfather, who was seriously ill with motor neurone disease, entered a radio competition in the hope of arranging for Claire to meet her footballing hero.

Sadly, her grandfather passed away before anything came of it.

But Claire’s dad, William, was determined to make his daughter’s dream come true.

He wrote a letter directly to Roy Keane at Manchester United, explaining how much it would mean to Claire to meet him.

Around six weeks later, the family received an unexpected phone call from Keane himself.

Claire was sitting at home doing her French homework when her sister came rushing into the room to tell her that Roy Keane was on the phone.

The Cork footballer had received her dad’s letter and wanted to help.

He arranged tickets for Claire and William to attend a Manchester United match against Leeds United in April 1995, followed by a chance to meet him afterwards.

Father and daughter spent around an hour and a half chatting with Keane, who also posed for photographs with them on the Old Trafford pitch.

It became one of their most treasured family memories.

Years later, when William became unwell and was spending more time at home, Claire had their photograph with Keane turned into a 1,000-piece jigsaw.

Her dad spent three weeks completing it in 2022 and proudly displayed it in the family home.

William sadly passed away in 2024, but Claire never forgot how much that meeting with Keane had meant to him.

She became determined to show the footballer the jigsaw her father had made.

That opportunity finally came at an Irish Guide Dogs fundraising event in Cork on October 8, where Keane was among the special guests.

Claire, who runs Midleton-based KLA Shipping with her husband Paul, had booked a table at the event to celebrate the company’s tenth anniversary while supporting Irish Guide Dogs.

The business, which specialises in shipping, customs clearance, imports and exports, is named after their three daughters, Kate, Leah and Anna.

Claire brought the jigsaw along, hoping she might get a few moments with him.

And when her twin sister Lorna spotted Keane in the reception area, Claire seized her chance.

Despite the event running on a strict schedule, Keane encouraged Claire to approach him.

“Are you going to let her stop you?” he asked when a security woman initially tried to move things along.

Claire showed him the jigsaw and explained how her father had treasured their meeting all those years ago.

Keane happily chatted with her, admired the puzzle and posed for another photograph.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” Claire said.

For Claire, it was an emotional moment that brought back wonderful memories of her dad.

She said William would have been beaming with pride if he had been there to see it.

More than 30 years after William first wrote that letter, Claire finally got the chance to honour his memory by showing Keane just how much his kindness had meant to their family.