{"id":65817,"date":"2025-10-08T00:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T00:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/65817\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T00:04:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T00:04:14","slug":"seamus-murphy-dog-trough-to-de-valera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/65817\/","title":{"rendered":"S\u00e9amus Murphy: Dog trough to De Valera"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e9amus Murphy, one of Ireland\u2019s best-loved artists, died aged 68 in October 1975. Earlier this year, the fiftieth anniversary of his passing was marked by Cork City Library\u2019s naming of his memoir Stone Mad as its One City One Book selection for 2025.<\/p>\n

Murphy was one of a family of four born to James and Margaret Murphy of Mallow, Co Cork. He had a twin brother, John, and two younger siblings, Michael and Bartholomew.<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s father was a railway man, and the family soon moved to Cork city, settling on Ballyhooley Road. At St Patrick\u2019s School on Gardiner\u2019s Hill, he was taught by the writer Daniel Corkery, who encouraged him to study at the Crawford School of Art. He then spent seven years as an apprentice stone-cutter in John Aloysius O\u2019Connell\u2019s yard in Blackpool, an experience he described with great affection in Stone Mad.<\/p>\n

Murphy enjoyed a year-long sojourn in Paris from 1932-33 on a Gibson Bequest scholarship, studying under Andrew O\u2019Connor and Marcel Grimond.<\/p>\n

In 1944, he married Maigread Higgins, daughter of the sculptor Joseph Higgins. They settled on Wellesley Terrace, Wellington Road, and had three children, Beibhinn, Orla and Colm.<\/p>\n

For much of his life, Murphy worked from a studio on Watercourse Rd he called \u201cthe Skullery,\u201d producing everything from modest headstones to monumental figurative sculptures.<\/p>\n

Here are ten of the finest examples of his work.<\/p>\n

The Onion Seller, Bishop Lucey Park and Cornmarket St, Cork\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CorkCork women Breda Scanlon and Marie Sheehan with the Onion Seller at the Coal Quay in 2012. Picture: Darragh Kane<\/p>\n

\u00a0Murphy produced a plaster version of the Onion Seller \u2013 modelled on a \u2018shawlie\u2019 named Mary Anne, who sold onions around Cork city centre \u2013 in 1937. It was later cast in bronze. There are two versions in the city centre, one in Bishop Lucey Park, the other on Cornmarket St. The version in Bishop Lucey Park was presented to the city by Sunbeam Wolsey in 1985, while the version on Cornmarket St was presented by McDonald\u2019s franchisee Ray Doherty in 1995.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It originally stood on Winthrop St, before being moved to its present location in 2012. A third version, belonging to the solicitor and art collector Charlie Hennessy, was sold at auction in December 2008, and remains in private hands.<\/p>\n

Virgin of the Twilight, Fitzgerald’s Park, Cork\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA detail from Madonna of the Twilight.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Murphy exhibited The Virgin of the Twilight at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1943. Carved from Kilkenny limestone, and standing over 6ft tall, the statue won great acclaim but sat in Murphy\u2019s studio for 20 years until friends raised a subscription to buy it for the people of Cork. The one proviso was that it would not be placed in a church. Today it can be seen in Fitzgerald\u2019s Park, along with his sculpture Dreamline, and busts of Michael Collins, \u00c9amon de Valera and Tom Barry.<\/p>\n

The Dublin sculptor Ois\u00edn Kelly considered Virgin of the Twilight to be the finest carving produced in Ireland in the 20th century.<\/p>\n

St Finbarr, Aula Maxima, UCC\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"StSt Finbarr at UCC. Picture: Tomas Tyner, UCC<\/p>\n

\u00a0On his return from Paris, in 1934, Murphy was commissioned to produce a statue of St Finbarr to replace the sculpture of Queen Victoria that had graced the eastern gable of the Aula Maxima at UCC since her visit to Cork in August 1849.<\/p>\n

The commission came from the Academy of St Thomas, a college society founded by Alfred O\u2019Rahilly, the Registrar of UCC. Murphy\u2019s statue is 6ft 10 inches tall, and weighs 1\u00bd tons. It depicts St Finbarr as a bearded monk, holding a crozier in his left hand, with the other raised in blessing.<\/p>\n

On its presentation to the Governing Body in June 1934, the statue was described by the Cork Examiner as \u201cthe first religious statue to be accepted by any of the three constituent colleges of the National University of Ireland.\u201d The sculpture of Queen Victoria it replaced was subsequently buried in the President\u2019s Garden.<\/p>\n

Murphy would go on to produce any number of religious works, but his relationship with the Church was not always amicable.<\/p>\n

St Gobnait, Ballyvourney, Co Cork\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SeamusSeamus Murphy at work on his statue of Naomh Gobnait.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Murphy\u2019s work on the Church of the Annunciation was widely admired, and he might reasonably have expected further commissions from the Church. However, he famously fell out with Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, the all-powerful Catholic Primate of Ireland, when he delivered a bust of \u201cthe Blackrock Borgia\u201d that was not to his liking. McQuaid not only rejected the bust, he also instructed the Bishop of Cork to pass Murphy over for any further commissions.<\/p>\n

When a local committee in Ballyvourney, Co Cork began raising funds for a statue of St Gobnait, they showed great bravery in commissioning Murphy to create it.<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s life-sized statue of St Gobnait – perched on a beehive, around which are relief figures of the bees with which she is often associated \u2013 was unveiled in 1951, and was one of the artist\u2019s personal favourites.<\/p>\n

St Gobnait overlooks the cemetery where two of Murphy\u2019s great friends, the poet Se\u00e1n \u00d3 R\u00edord\u00e1in and the composer Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Riada, are buried. Murphy carved both their headstones.<\/p>\n

Church of the Annunciation, Blackpool, Cork\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ChurchChurch of the Annunciation, Blackpool. Picture: Denis Minihane.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Murphy was commissioned to design the Church of the Annunciation on Great William O\u2019Brien St, Blackpool by William Dwyer, founder of the textile manufacturer Sunbeam Wolsey. Murphy\u2019s contributions included designs for the three altars, the baptismal and holy water fonts, the plaque above the children\u2019s altar, the annunciation panel, and the Sacred Heart and Madonna statues on either side of the altar.<\/p>\n

Murphy also designed the tabernacle, lamp, candlesticks and other brasses, which were made by Gunnings in Dublin. The 80 foot bell tower and its bell, dedicated to Dwyer\u2019s late daughter, Maeve, were also made to Murphy\u2019s specifications.<\/p>\n

On the church\u2019s completion in 1945, it was known locally as \u201cDwyer\u2019s fire escape (from hell).\u201d The nickname seems unfair; Dwyer was a generous employer, and one of Murphy\u2019s biggest supporters.<\/p>\n

Gaol Cross Memorial, UCC\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\u00a0Gaol\u00a0Gaol Cross Memorial.\u00a0 Picture: David Creedon<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Gaol Cross Memorial at UCC is a prime example of Murphy\u2019s exquisite skill as a letterer. The relief plaque, carved in limestone with a bronze frame, lists the names in Irish of 18 men who died during the War of Independence, 13 of whom were buried in the gaol itself. Of those, five were executed on February 28 1921 for their role in the Dripsey ambush the previous month.<\/p>\n

The plaque was commissioned by the Cork Gaol Memorial Committee, chaired by P Crofts, and was unveiled by \u00c9amon de Valera TD on Sunday July 11 1948. By then, Alfred O\u2019Rahilly had been elevated to president of UCC, and the college had assumed ownership of the gaol site. O\u2019Rahilly, an ardent Republican, recalled that he had himself been a prisoner at Cork Gaol when some of those listed on the memorial faced the firing squad.<\/p>\n

St Brigid and the Twelve Apostles, San Francisco<\/p>\n

\"SomeSome of the sculptures by Seamus Murphy on St Brigid’s church in San Francisco. <\/p>\n

\u00a0St Brigid\u2019s Church, on the corner of Van Ness and Broadway, San Francisco, was built by Irish immigrants in 1864, and later underwent various refurbishments. Murphy\u2019s statues of St Brigid and the Twelve Apostles were commissioned by Monsignor James P Cantwell and installed in the 13 niches on its fa\u00e7ade in 1948.<\/p>\n

Murphy is reputed to have based the faces of the apostles on those of the leaders of the Easter Rising \u2013 Doubting Thomas, for instance, is said to be based on \u00c9amon de Valera \u2013 though others claim his models included his friends in Cork, such as Timothy \u201cthe Tailor\u201d Buckley.<\/p>\n

St Brigid\u2019s was closed in 1994, and sold to the Academy of Art University in 2005. The church was slated for demolition, but a local committee succeeded in having it listed as a historic building. It has since been converted for use as the university\u2019s School of Design. Murphy\u2019s statues remain in place on its fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n

Madra\u00ed dog trough, Patrick St, Cork\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ColmColm Murphy at the Drinking Trough his father Seamus Murphy inscribed with the Irish word \u2018Madra\u00ed\u2019, on Patrick Street, Cork. Picture: David Creedon <\/p>\n

One could easily walk past Murphy\u2019s dog trough at 124 Patrick St and not know it was there. The trough is at street level, at the northern end of the street, and was commissioned by Knolly Stokes, proprietor of the Old Bridge Restaurant, in the 1950s. Stokes\u2019s business attracted the most prominent of the city\u2019s \u201cladies who lunch,\u201d many of whom had toy dogs they tied to the railings outside.<\/p>\n

Stokes commissioned Murphy to produce a trough, which his staff would fill with water each morning so the dogs could replenish their thirst. When Murphy duly delivered the trough, with the single word Madra\u00ed \u2013 the Irish for dogs \u2013 carved on it, Stokes worried that some of his clientele might not understand what it meant. Murphy assured him: \u201cI\u2019m quite sure the dogs can.\u201d The bowl was stolen in 2019, but was soon recovered by garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Bronze busts of five presidents of Ireland, \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, Dublin<\/p>\n

\"SeamusSeamus Murphy with \u00c9amon de Valera and the president’s bust in 1960.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Murphy made bronze busts of the first five presidents of Ireland – Douglas Hyde, Se\u00e1n T \u00d3 Ceallaigh, \u00c9amon de Valera, Erskine Childers and Cearbhall \u00d3 D\u00e1laigh \u2013 all of which are in the collection at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in. de Valera sat for Murphy at the \u00c1ras, sending the presidential Rolls Royce to collect the artist from his lodgings each morning. In the evenings, however, de Valera\u2019s chauffeur would only drop him to the bus stop.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the former TD and Senator M\u00e1ir\u00edn Quill donated another Murphy bust of de Valera to the people of Cork; it is now in Fitzgerald\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n

Headstones<\/p>\n

\"AA gathering at the grave of the ‘Tailor and Ansty’, Timothy Buckley and Anastasia Buckley (n\u00e9e McCarthy), at Gougane Barra. Picture: Richard Mills<\/p>\n

\u00a0Murphy made a large part of his living carving headstones, treating them as reverentially as he did his commissions for sculptures. His headstones include those for \u00d3 Riord\u00e1n and \u00d3 Riada at Ballyvourney; the composer Arnold Bax in St Finbarr\u2019s Cemetery in Cork; the Blasket Island storytellers Tom\u00e1s O\u2019Crohan and Peig Sayers in Dunquin; Timothy and Anastasia Buckley, or the Tailor and Ansty, as they were more often known, in Gougane Barra; and his own, at Rathcooney Cemetery.<\/p>\n

After Murphy\u2019s passing, on October 2 1975, the Cork-based sculptor Ken Thompson inherited his tools. He observed that Murphy\u2019s headstones have \u201ca characteristic simplicity, and are finely proportioned and sympathetically worked\u2026 many of his finest works went into our churchyards.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"S\u00e9amus Murphy, one of Ireland\u2019s best-loved artists, died aged 68 in October 1975. Earlier this year, the fiftieth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60,6405],"class_list":{"0":"post-65817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-music-movies-reviews-munster"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}