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Born: January 17th 1927
Died: February 28th 2022
Renowned for his scholarship, courage and erudition, John Augustine Murphy, who has died at the age of 95 , was professor of Irish history at University College Cork and one of Ireland’s foremost historians. A formidable debater, he became a thorn in the side of “republicans” when elected to Seanad Éireann. Known simply as John A, he was named “ Cork person of the year 2005”.
Blessed with a clear, strong tenor voice, he was a tireless singer at a party and loved to sing in Irish though he also had a rich store of songs in English, including ballads such as The Gentle Black and Tan. Leaning against the mantelpiece, a glass of whiskey in hand, his rendering of Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfhainn Cé Hí ( Not for Ireland would I tell her name) was unforgettable. Indeed, so passionate was he about singing and music in general that he said all he wanted on his gravestone was just: “He sang”.
Murphy also once said that if there was one thing he could change in the country, it would be the quality and availability of education. It was a guiding principle throughout his life. Revered at UCC, he became Emeritus Professor of Irish History on his early retirement in 1990. For many years he presided over lunch at the “Captain’s Table” in the college dining room. From time to time various members of staff were apprenticed to that elite forum to see if they could hold their own in the cut and thrust of debate on burning issues of the day. The main requirements for permanent membership were a well-stocked mind and a certain irreverence bordering on eccentricity.
Though it may not have been as intellectually demanding as some of his other academic work, The College: A History of Queen’s/University College Cork, written with verve, style and wit, was the publication in which he would have taken greatest pride. It was appropriate that the year of its publication (1995) marked the 50th anniversary of his first entering the College; from student to academic to member of governing body, he had witnessed its manifestations from several vantage points for a third of its history.
Subsidiary publications include Where Finbarr Taught, a more concise history of UCC, and Where Finbarr Played, a history of UCC sport, 1911-2011. He also supplied the text for University College: a Portrait in Words and Images. As well as being conferred with the degree of Doctor of Literature by the National University of Ireland in 2001 in recognition of his contribution to academic and public life, he was also given the title of College Historian, a post which came with the considerable benefit of a guaranteed parking space for life, a privilege then accorded only to the university president of the day.
‘A very bookish boy’
Born in the west Cork town of Macroom, where in his own words he became “a very bookish boy”, he grew up in a home echoing with music. Winning a County Council scholarship in 1945, he graduated from UCC with a first class honours degree in history and then took an MA before being appointed the first lay teacher at Farranferris, the diocesan seminary, a period that he would recall with great affection, when he formed lasting friendships with An tAthair Tadhg Ó Murchú and An tAthair Seán Mac Cárthaigh, although his association with the Catholic clergy in general would always remain guarded. Having become an assistant lecture at UCC in 1960, he was appointed Professor of Irish History in 1971, a position he held until his retirement. His seminal 1975 work, Ireland in the twentieth century, was one of the first surveys of contemporary Irish history.
Recalling with touching warmth his meeting with Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Cork, he described it as “a strange experience” . Though no monarchist, he had been pleading for a visit for some time for the betterment of British-Irish relations.
“I told her the symbolic story of the statue of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, which was erected in UCC in 1849 and remained there until 1934 when it was put in storage and then bizarrely buried in the President’s Garden. In 1995, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Queen’s College foundation, it was resurrected. Her visit was also symbolic. It said a lot for our people’s development, that we welcomed her not with a tugging of the forelock but simply as a distinguished visitor who was quite charming.”
A provocative political commentator, he was first elected to the Senate in 1977 and again in 1987 as an independent candidate on the university panel. Besides opposing the hunger strikes, he condemned the violent activities of “republicans” and was widely regarded as being politically close to the Workers’ Party. As well as helping with the legislative process, he strove to “improve British-Irish relations, to separate the state from the Catholic ethos and to encourage the Irish language to be cherished for its own sake, not simply as an adjunct to nationalism.”
Opposing Ireland’s referendum on same-sex marriage, he claimed in a letter to The Irish Times (13th May 2015) that he could not be accused of homophobia or bigotry as he had supported recognition at UCC for an LGBT society in the 1990s. He called the proposed constitutional amendment “grotesque nonsense”.
Attitudes to the Proclamation
His penchant for ruffling feathers was also seen during the 1916 commemoration when he challenged current attitudes to the Proclamation. “Though we frequently refer to the lofty ideals of the document, few of us take the trouble to read it seriously or understand its context.” Describing the phrase “cherishing all the children of the nation equally” as “the most frequently quoted – and misunderstood” part of the Proclamation, he argued that what was “intended here, beyond any doubt, was an olive branch to unionists, a wistful aspiration to all-Ireland reconciliation and unity”. The “cherishing” phrase, he argued, “continues to be misinterpreted almost daily – by taoisigh, former presidents, government ministers, and others; in short, by people who should know better”.
Despite attaining such career highlights as the UCC professorship, the honorary doctorate, and the person of the year award, the honour which he treasured most was becoming a Freeman of Macroom. “But whether or not that entitles me to free parking will be the acid test,” he quipped.
With a keen interest in Gaelic games, whenever Cork made it to an All-Ireland final, he would attend wearing the football medal his father had won in 1911 as a talisman on his lapel.
UCC celebrated his 90th birthday in a grand manner. Past presidents and local VIPs as well as family and friends were invited to the party. A bronze bust of the historian in more youthful days, made by his close friend, the late Seamus Murphy, sculptor and mason, has been purchased by the college and put on permanent display.
He has contributed significantly to the understanding of modern Irish history and politics in the US. As Ruth Dudley Edwards and Úna O’Donoghue observed in a joint article, “from the early 70s he was one of the first Irish-based historians to become closely involved with the vibrant American Conference for Irish Studies, which he attended regularly. As well as making many short trips, he was visiting professor at the Loyola University Chicago in 1974, at James Madison University in Virginia in 1979, at Boston College in 1984-5 and at Colby College, Maine, in 1987, and the deep and lasting friendships with fine historians like Larry McCaffrey and Emmet Larkin”.
John A Murphy is survived by his children Susan, Brian, Hugh, Cliodhna, and Eileen. His wife Cita predeceased him in 2020.