Born: 21 September 1894, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 30 June 1916, S Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1927, Mungret College SJ, Mungret, County Limerick
Died: 02 October 1968, St Camillus' Hospital, Shelbourne Road, Limerick
Part of the Mungret College SJ, Mungret, County Limerick community at the time of death
1916-1918: St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly, Novitiate
1918-1919: Belvedere College SJ, Great Denmark Street, Dublin, working
1919-1920: Sacred Heart College SJ, Crescent, Limerick, working
1920-1968: Mungret College SJ, Mungret, County Limerick, working
◆ Irish Province News 44th Year No 1 1969
Obituary :
Br Thomas Murphy SJ (1894-1968)
On Wednesday, October 2nd at about 1.15 p.m. Brother Muphy passed peacefully to his reward. It was a happy and blessed ending to a happy and holy life, but his loss leaves us all poorer. We miss his cheerful, holy and ever helpful presence around the House.
He was a patient of the Regional Hospital, Limerick for some weeks till August when he was transferred to St. Camillus Hospital. In both hospitals the nursing staff were very fond of him. He never gave any trouble and was always good humoured. Thanks be to God he did not seem to have pain at any time. On Wednesday morning the 2nd October he failed rapidly. Fr. Rector returned to him immediately and received his last breath. He was fortified with all the rites of the Church.
The remains were removed to the Boys' Chapel on Thursday evening, The President and Secretary of the Union, other past pupils and teachers from the College were present. It was 2 memor able sight as the hearse and cars moved through the boys drawn up on either side of the avenue. On Friday morning the Chapel was packed to over-flowing with priests, brothers, boys, friends and neighbours. We had past pupils from Limerick, Tipperary and even Australia. It was a most impressive ceremony; sung lauds followed by Concelebrated Requiem Mass and a sermon by Fr. Kerr who was Rector here until July last. It is thought it was the biggest funeral ever seen here; ič is easy to believe it. In many ways it was a very joyous occasion because we all felt that Brother Murphy had gone home to God. His beloved flag was at half mast. In all, over fifty priests and brothers were present including Fr. Vice-Provincial (Fr. Provincial was in Rome his Secretary, Fr. Rectors of Belvedere, Crescent and Clongowes, and priests and brothers from Galway, Tullabeg, Clongowes, Crescent, Rathfarnham, Milltown Park, Gonzaga, Gardiner St. and Belvedere.
The Brothers of his own Community saw him as “a humble and simple man” who had a great devotion to Our Lady and the Rosary, who was to be found either praying in the Domestic Chapel or going about his work.
May God rest his lovable soul. We all thought as much of him as he did of Mungret. Nobody who heard it will ever forget the beautiful tribute paid by Fr. Kerr when he addressed the congregation after the Gospel. We are very grateful to him for allowing us to reproduce it here :
“It is not customary to have a homily or panegyric preached at the funeral of an Irish Jesuit, but Fr. Rector suggested to me, that when a man has served one house for 48 years as Brother Murphy served Mungret it was only fitting that some tribute should be paid.
In 1962 the then General of the Society of Jesus sent a Visitator to the Irish Province. The Visitor, not knowing any of the men, asked each of us to write a brief account of what we had done in the Society. This is what Brother Murphy wrote: ‘From 1918-1919 I was in Belvedere on the house’ - one sentence ‘From 1919-1920 I was in the Crescent on the house’ - one sentence. ‘Since that time I have been in Mungret’. (And then reading on, one feels that the love and affection of the old man for this College took possession of his pen, for he continued) ‘There I was in charge of the water-supply. I looked after the wells and the pumping system. I attended and operated the electricity generator till the coming of the E.S.B. I attended to the maintenance of the house, the roofs, the chimneys and the heating system.
'All these, your reverence, thank God I was able to do’.
This was Brother Murphy's simple statement of his life's work, but it told little of the man who was one of the best known and best loved Jesuits of the Mungret Community. Each of the past, and I’m glad to see them represented here today - has his own favourite image of Brother Murphy. Some remember him as a young man flitting about the roof-tops, hanging in the most precarious positions, calling cheery greetings to the boys below. Others think of him covered with grime tending the electrical generators or servicing the bunkers. Still others see him as he strode across the Apostolics' field on his way to the pump-house at Cahir, with his little black dog at his heels; and none can forget his smile in the Boys' refectory as he slipped an extra serve to a hungry 3rd Clubber! But all of us remember him as he walked on the stone corridor at eventide telling his Beads or kneeling at the back of the Boys' Chapel during Benediction or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Which of us will ever forget the ritual with which he surrounded the hoisting of the college flag. He used it to honour a visitor, to celebrate a feast or to congratulate the Boys on a victory. That flag flies at half-mast today in his honour, but we can be certain that all the flags of Heaven are unfurled today as they welcome their faithful servant.
Every clerical student who passed through Mungret remembers one thing about Brother Murphy : his extraordinary reverence for the priesthood. Many a young man, wavering in his vocation, depressed and feeling lonely made his way to Brother Murphy to find comfort, solace, guidance and strength. Is it any wonder then that his Christmas mail from America, Australia, England, Africa and China was the wonder of the rest of the community.
How often do I remember being called to the parlour to entertain one of the Past either a priest, or layman with his family! When a brief period had elapsed and the visitor felt that he had fulfilled all the requirements of courtesy or etiquette by talking to Fr. Rector then came the moment of truth : ‘well, Father, what I really called for, was to see Brother Murphy!’
Each year as examination time and ordinations approached in Carlow, All Hallows, Thurles, St. Peters and the other major seminaries, the letters poured into Mungret asking for Brother Murphy's prayers, for all the boys revered him as a saint. The roof-tops were not the only heights he reached. He had attained the closest union with God and he had the ability to communicate his love of Him to others.
I find it difficult today to ask you to pray for Brother Murphy, for all of us know that he already enjoys the Vision of God. He always prayed for and he will continue to pray for all in Mungret, for its priests, its brothers, its scholastics, its students, its day-staff, its farm-staff and domestic staff. So I would ask you now to stand and join with me in the Prayers of the Faithful for the eternal and happy repose of his soul with the God he loved and served so well”.
◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1969
Obituary
Brother Tom Murphy SJ
Br Tom Murphy spent only one year in Belvedere, from 1918 to 1919. It was a year, however, he was never likely to forget for he was in charge of the household staff and found that many young men in trouble with the police demanded sanctuary as national heroes in the houses of religious. The rest of his life in the Society was spent in more peaceful surroundings, forty-eight of them in Mungret College. He was part of the Mungret scene and it will take many years to fill the void his going has created.
◆ The Mungret Annual, 1964
A Tribute to Brother Murphy
Brother Thomas Murphy SJ
With Bro Murpluy's reluctant permission we give an extract from a letter sent to him by Father Willie Lane (1941-46). The Editor believes that others of the Past will share in the sentiments expressed in the opening paragraph. Fr. Lane's address at present is: St Mary Magdalen Parish, 8521 10th Avenue, SE, Everett, Washington USA
My brief visit to Mungret would have been enjoyable under any circumstances. Having the good fortune to meet you was indeed an un looked-for bonus. I was delighted to see you looking so well and your memory of the boys and the doings of many years ago would do justice to one much younger in years than you yourself. It was good to see the place once again and to recall many of the happy times which we had, even in the trying days of the war years ... in all that time you never left us without heat or light. Somehow you were always able to scrounge around and put everything in working order. There was not one student who did not quietly pay tribute to your great devotion to duty and the absolute generosity with which you gave yourself to your chosen vocation. Believe me, Brother, and I do not wish to test your humility, you were an inspiration to many of us during our stay in Mungret.
During my visit it was a treat to see the whole place looking so: well. With your own long years of good maintenance now paying off, I am sure you are trying to groom soneone else to carry on your fine work. The new addition is surely the result of long years of waiting and wanting, but now that it is there it is a credit to the architects and the builders and most of all to the administration who planned and prayed for the final reality. I am sure that it will be properly appreciated by the boys as it becomes part of the general programıne by which Mungret strives to prepare all her graduates for a worthy place in the world.
This parish in which I am Pastor is a new one, founded only in 1957. As the founding “Father” I had the responsibility of choosing a site and beginning, literally from the ground up. We now have a church and school at a cost of 500,000.00 dollars. Our people are very generous and by degrees we are paying our debts. This summer we have to have two new classrooms (they are now almost complete), and in September we will open bids for a new convent which will be in the neighbourhood of 135,000.00 dollars. All these temporal things sometimes invade our time too much. That is why it is important that we have the constant fervent prayers of our friends. I hope I will be in yours in a most special way. Should any of the old gang be back in Mungret from my time there ('41-'46) be sure to give them my regards. As for the staff, I am not aware that any of my old teachers are there now, with the exception of Mr O'Brien. If he is still there, bring to him my warınest personal greetings and good wishes.
◆ The Mungret Annual, 1966
Jubilee
Brother Thomas Murphy SJ
Rev Brother Thomas Murphy SJ is due to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of his Religious Profession on the 30th June, 1966.
Brother Murphy's many friends at home and abroad will join in our good wishes to him for this happy occasion.
During the 50 years of his religious life, he has been an example for his loyalty to the ideals of his vocation, in his humility, piety and faithful service; and his genial good humour and droll wit have endeared him to all.
In the course of a long life he has seen many changes, not only in the world outside, but within the College, where he has spent more than 40 years. His interest in current affairs is matched by his interest in all the activities in the College. Those who remember him for his double devotion to the National Flag and to the College Flag - will be glad to know that he still keeps both flags flying.
Many who as boys dwelt within the walls of Mungret College are likely to associate Brother Murphy with these same walls with the work of building and repairing, of heating and plumbing, of painting and decorating, and innumerable jobs involved in the upkeep of a large College building. After so many years of faithful service in the maintenance of the fabric, Brother Murphy can survey with satisfaction the building as it stands to-day, with all its facilities - including new Assembly Hall, Refectories and Swimming Pool for the boys of the present time.
The edification to which Bro Murphy has contributed has not been only material but spiritual as well. His devotion to the welfare of the boys, and his interest in their later careers, especially of those who followed vocations to the priesthood, is well known. Who knows, however, how the example of Bro Murphy and other Brothers may have influenced the vocations of many of those who labour in the missions of to-day? We are reminded that it was through the example of the Jesuit Brother, St Alphonsus Rodriguez of Majorca, that St Peter Claver was inspired to become an apostle to the negroes of Cartagena.
Brother Murphy has a remarkable memory of those who have passed through Mungret over the years. He is always eager to have news of them, whether Churchmen or Laymen, whether in Ireland or abroad. He is among the first to welcome those returning to visit the Alma Mater, or among the first for whom they enquire. Those who have not had an opportunity of meeting Brother Murphy for some time will be glad to know that he has recovered from his illness of recent years, and while not as active as formerly, is at present in good health and spirits. We pray the blessing of God on him, and wish him a very happy Golden Jubilee - ad multos annos.
◆ The Mungret Annual, 1974
Obituary
Brother Thomas Murphy SJ
When I arrived in Mungret in 1952 little did I dream that I would spend fifteen contented years in that house with a tradition and a happy community atmosphere which was rather unique. Mungret's situation out side the city of Limerick and its two-schools in-one contributed largely to creating its homely atmosphere; but then, people are essential in making a house a home.
We, the Brothers of the Jesuit community, were a happy group, and I soon came to see how much we owed to Br Tom Murphy, for his example was always an inspiration to us. Externally, Br Tom did not have a lot going for him; but one could not live side by side with him for long without perceiving what I might call his inner goodness and devotion. To my mind he was a perfect example of the “Traditional” Jesuit Brother - deeply spiritual and devoted to his work, In all weathers Br Tom could be seen making his twice daily trek across the fields to the pump-house to ensure that the college would have water; and, prior to the ESB installation, he was in charge of the generator which gave us light. Indeed, all of the house maintenance depended on Br Murphy and he never spared himself in time or energy when there was a job to be done.
I soon came to sce how Br Tom's life centered round his morning meditation and the Mass, to which he was devoted. He loved serving Mass and it was from this, I feel sure, that he derived his great reverence for the priesthood, which one could not fail to notice. This may explain, at least in part, his love of the apostolic school. He took a fatherly interest in all the apostolic students and championed their needs and interests at all times. It was both touching and amusing to see him gathering the left over dessert from the community dinner to supplement the “aps” second-table!
One always found it difficult to refuse him any request as it was never for himself he asked anything, but to fulfil the need of somebody else. For instance, when I would be very rushed in the kitchen he had a habit of coming along and announcing “There's a poor. man at the back door”. Of course, I could never refuse that sly, charming smile and would end up producing something.
Br Tom possessed a dry, witty, Dublin humour, which could be devastating at times and helped to make all our recreations enjoyable. On feastdays, and at other times, he loved to join in a game of “one hundred and ten”, and it was delightful to see how he enjoyed winning a game, which he usually contrived by remarking : “Let tr-r-ricks come this way”. Towards the end of his life, he developed a bad tremor in his hands and so, at Christmas time, I was roped in to write his Christinas correspondence (again, how could I refuse ?). Letters went to bishops and priests all over the world who were past apostolic students and who always sent him cards at this time of year. Indeed, when any of these dignitaries or simple priests paid a visit to Mungret, the first person they asked to see was Br Murphy. His pleasures were of the simplest kind, and he loved an “outing” - rare enough in Mungret! Mr Jack O'Brien (RIP) on occasion, took Br Tom and myself out for a day's tour of the south west, and my enjoyment of these trips was always enriched by Tom's Dublin wit.
Looking back, the things I most remember about Br Tom are his wholehearted, generous devotion to work, in the execution of which he never spared himself; his love for the Mass and the Rosary; his fidelity to his spiritual duties; his loyalty to Mungret College, especially the apostolic school, and his unfailing cheerfulness.
Br. Tom died on 2 October 1968. I had left Mungret by then, but I came to his funeral, and was very impressed though not surprised by the tributes paid to him. At the Requiem Mass, Fr Rector (Fr Jack Kerr) said that although it was not usual he felt that he should say a few words about Br Murphy to the boys and the large attendance, and proceeded to deliver a very touching homily on Br Tom's life as a Jesuit.
As was fitting, he died and is buried in the community plot in the grounds of the college he loved so well. What a pity the college should soon be no more; but, for me, when ever I think of the past, Mungret and Br. Tom Murphy will be intertwined memories which I shall always cherish.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.
Br Tom has already heard these words from our dear Lord, and I count on his help that I too may hear the same words when I go to join my brother in Christ.
JK
