An Irish Diary on William Lombard Murphy (1876-1943)

William Lombard Murphy (1876-1943) was the son of the businessman and newspaper proprietor William Martin Murphy (1844-1919). That is sometimes how he is referred to but William Lombard Murphy had an interesting story in his own right. I have just written an Irish Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about him. Read it here.

 

Photograph of William Lombard Murphy (1876-1943).

Educated at Jesuit-run schools in Ireland (Belvedere College, Dublin and Clongowes Wood College, Kildare) and Austria (Feldkirk) and university in England (Cambridge), he was fluent in French and German. He studied medicine and practiced abroad and in Ireland for a good number of years before taking over his father's affairs when his father died in 1919. He was in charge of Independent Newspapers when the new offices were built on Middle Abbey Street in 1924. 

 

Independent House, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin. Image source.

Very involved with various different aspects of Dublin business life (Chamber of Commerce, Irish Tourist Association, Publicity Club of Ireland) and social life (Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society, Herald Boot Fund, Belvedere Newsboys' Club), he seems to have been slightly forgotten by the general public. However, some links still remain such as the Lombard Murphy Cup awarded at the Feis Ceoil every year.

RTÉ Brainstorm article on 5 Irish-born athletes at the Olympics

Ireland did not compete as an independent delegation at the Olympic Games until 1924. Prior to that, Irish-born athletes competed for other nations such as the United Kingdom (of which Ireland was a part until 1922) or the USA or Canada. I have just written an article for the RTÉ Brainstorm website on five of the Irish-born athletes who competed for other countries. Read it here.

 

Programme cover from the 1908 Games. Image source.

Given that she was the first Irish-born woman to win an Olympic medal, Beatrice Hill-Lowe (1868-1951) is one of the more unusual athletes that I wrote about. Born in Ardee in Co. Louth, she lived in England for a large part of her lifetime but she also spent time in Celbridge, Co. Kildare in the 1920s. If you would like to know more about her, you will find is a good bit of information in her entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography here. There is a short YouTube video here showing women taking shots with their bows and arrows at the 1908 Olympic Games in London and she is among them.  

Kennedy 'Ken' McArthur is another interesting Irish-born athlete who competed for another country. He represented South Africa in the Marathon at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. It was a grueling race that was run in extremely hot temperatures that caused around half of the competitors to drop out before the finish. This page on the Olympics website lists all of those who entered and those who did not finish the race. There is a short video of McArthur at the Olympic Games in Stockholm here.

RTÉ Brainstorm article on 100 years of Ireland at the Olympics

It is 100 years since Ireland first competed at the Olympic Games as an independent delegation. Prior to that, Irish people went to the Olympics as part of the Great Britain delegation, so Ireland's participation at the 1924 Games in Paris is important as it marks a step on Ireland's path to freedom. I have just written an article for the RTÉ Brainstorm website on the Irish team that went to Paris in 1924. Read it here.

 

Screenshot of the article.

I have written a few more pieces like this about Ireland and the Olympics and will share them when they are published. If you would like to find out more about the story of Ireland's first time at the Olympics, there is more information here on the website of the Centre Culturel Irlandais. The book Gold, Silver and Green: The Irish Olympic Journey 1896-1924 by Kevin McCarthy provides a good basis to understand the history of Ireland's Olympic journey.

Regarding early Irish entries into the Olympics, there are a couple of good articles on the History Ireland website. There is this one on boxing and this one on football.

Talk in Glasnevin Cemetry on William Lombard Murphy - 14 July 2024

Every year the French embassy in Ireland holds a ceremony at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin to honour those Irishmen who fought for France. This includes those who fought during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the First World War (1914-1918) and the Second World War (1939-1945). It usually takes place on France's national holiday - 14 July.

 

Photograph of me speaking at the ceremony in Glasnevin Cemetery 14 July 2024.

Every year for the last number of years, an Irish recipient of the French Légion d'honneur is commemorated after the ceremony. This year it was William Lombard Murphy (1876-1943) who was remembered at the graveyard. I was asked by the embassy to speak about Dr Murphy's life and times. I was pleased to do so and was delighted to meet members of his extended family who were present at the ceremony. I am writing a newspaper article based on my speech and will share more details as soon as it is published.

Travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor and Ireland - An Irish Diary

Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) was known for his fascinating tales of travel to far-off lands. He was also familiar with Ireland, having visited the country many times and had a long association with Lismore in Country Waterford. I have just written an Irish Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about his links with Ireland. Read it here.

 

Photograph of Patrick Leigh Fermor. Image source.

 

The letters that Fermore and Deborah Cavendish (Debo Duchess of Devonshire, owner of Lismore castle) exchanged other over the years offer great insight into their friendship and their impressions of Lismore and Ireland. Formor used his travel-writing skills to great aplomb in his letters. It's amazing to see him liken the Blackwater which runs alongside the castle to the mighty Zambezi and the Limpopo in Africa. This was on account of the bird-life and fish present and the trees "so thick with ferns and parasites and so looped and festooned with creepers".

 

Lismore castle in Lismore, Co. Waterford.

In a letter to Enrica (Ricki) Huston (1929-1969) in June 1961, Fermor described the walk which skirts the Blackwater and can run for a mile or two straight as a "diminishing vista like a watery Champs Elysées". One of my favourite anecdotes about his time in Ireland is where he recounts visiting a house in the woods and being given tea, Guinness and currant-buns. Afterwards, he thumbed a lift back to the castle in a lorry. I'm sure that lorry driver had a story to tell afterwards about his unusual passenger. 

 

An Irish Diary on L'Opéra d'Aran by Gilbert Bécaud

The Aran islands that lie off Ireland's west coast are a special place. This is due to their physical landscape of stone walls and karst limestone and the importance of the Irish language to daily life on the islands. 

Down through the centuries, they have inspired artists, writers and poets and have attracted international attention. I have just written am Irish Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about an opera set on the Aran islands that was written by a Frenchman. Read it here.

 

Photograph of L'Opéra d'Aran at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. Image source.

Gilbert Bécaud (1927-2001) was a popular singer and composer who was known as 'Monsieur 100,000 volts' and 'Monsieur Dynamite' on account of his engaging and electrifying stage performance. If you would like to find out more about him, have a look at the conference paper that Axel Klein gave at the Association of Franco-Irish Studies (AFIS) conference in Dublin in 2014. Read it here.

If you would like to hear Bécaud speak or listen to some of his music, there are a number of programmes on the Radio France website about him and his music. Just enter his name into the website's search bar like this and see what you can find.

Famous American army chaplain - an Irish Diary on Fr Francis P. Duffy

Born in Canada to the children of Irish emigrants, Francis P. Duffy (1871-1932) left a lasting legacy among his parishioners and in the regiment and army in which he served. I have just written an Irish Diary about the famous US army chaplain in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

 

Photograph of the Fr Duffy monument located off Times Square. Taken by my brother.

Photograph of the reverse of the Fr Duffy monument.

 

As I mentioned in my newspaper article, the monument pictured above was erected in 1937. Made of green granite from Minnesota, it is located in a prominent position in a major tourist area just off Times Square. Learn about the history of Father Duffy Square here and about the story of the statue designed by Charles Keck here.

 

1937 photograph of the monument and statue (still wrapped up) before its unveiling. Image source.

 

Fr Duffy's 1919 book.

In 1919, Fr Duffy wrote a book about his experience of the War. It was called Father Duffy's Story: A Tale of Humor and Heroism, Of Life and Death with the Fighting Sixty-Ninth. You can read it here on the Project Gutenberg website. If you would like to learn more about Fr Duffy and his life and times, you can have a look at these websites: 

1 2 3  - There are also a couple of short videos about his life here and here. 

The 69th Infantry Regiment of the New York Army National Guard (known as the Fighting 69th) has a long and storied past as it took part in many conflicts ranging from the American Civil War to the Mexican Border War, and from the First World War to the Second World War and on to Vietnam. You can find out more about the regiment here and here.

 

Photograph of Fr Duffy's gravestone in the form of a Celtic cross in Old Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. Image source.