Séamus Murphy (15 July 1907 – 2 October 1975) was an Irish sculptor and stone carver, best known for designing the Church of the Annunciation,

Blackpool, Cork Blackpool () is a suburb of Cork city in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated in the north of the city, on the N20 road to Mallow. Blackpool is part of the Cork North Central Dáil constituency. History The first official reference to Blackp ...

. Examples of his unique carvings of statues, gravestones, monuments and plaques can be found around Ireland, particularly County Cork.O'Suliivan, Marc
Cork In 50 Artworks, No 16: Statue of St Gobnait at Ballyvourney, by Séamus Murphy
. ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'', 9 August 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2024

Life

The birth of James (Séamus) Murphy, and that of his twin brother John, is recorded at Fair Street, Mallow,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, on 15 July 1907. His father, James Murphy, was a railway employee. The 1911 census records the family, now with two further sons (Michael, b. 1909 and Bartholomew 5 days old when the census was taken on 2 April), living on Ballyhooley Road in Cork city. He attended Saint Patrick's School on Gardiner's Hill where his teacher was Daniel Corkery who encouraged him to go to art school. He attended the Crawford School of Art (1921-22) and then took up an apprenticeship with a monumental sculptors' firm. He would, in time, go on to become a

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

professor of sculpture. In 1944 he married Maighread Higgins, daughter of the Cork sculptor Joseph Higgins, and they went on to have three children; the knitwear designer Bebhinn Marten, the novelist Orla Murphy and the painter and

De Dannan De Dannan (originally ''Dé Danann'') is an Irish folk music group. It was formed in 1975 by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott ( banjo) as a result of sessions in ...

member Colm Murphy. His studio/workshop was at Watercourse Road, Blackpool, Cork. In the 1945 local elections, he ran unsuccessfully for the minor fascist party

Ailtirí na hAiséirghe Ailtirí na hAiséirghe (, meaning "Architects of the Resurrection") was a minor fascist political party in Ireland, founded by Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin in March 1942.

Cork Corporation Cork City Council () is the local authority of the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Before 1 January 2002, the council was known as Cork Corporation. The council is responsible for ho ...

, taking 116 (0.42%) of first preference votes.

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Official WebsiteThe Silent Art, Louis Marcus
1907 births 1975 deaths Artists from County Cork 20th-century Irish sculptors Irish male sculptors People from Mallow, County Cork {{Ireland-sculptor-stub

Life

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