Before The Rebellion
He was born at Tincurry in the Parish of Ferns, County Wexford in 1753, the youngest son of Thomas and Johanna Murphy. He sailed for Spain in early 1772 and studied for the priesthood in Seville, Spain where many of the clergy in Ireland received their education due to the persecution of Catholics, most notably by means of the Penal Laws. He was ordained to the priesthood in the spring of 1779.
On his return to Ireland in 1785 he became the parish priest of Boolavogue, a small village 5 miles north-east of Enniscorthy. In 1798 he was described as being "about 45 years old, light complexioned, bald pated and about five feet nine inches high. He was well made, uniting strength and agility".
During his life Murphy would have been called "Mister Murphy". Cardinal Cullen arranged for Irish priests to be styled as "Father" from the 1860s, and so certain priests such as Murphy became known as "Father" long after their deaths.
Read more about this topic: John Murphy (priest)
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“O make me a mask and a wall to shut from your spies
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Rape and rebellion in the nurseries of my face....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)