Richard Murphy
Richard Murphy was a notable Irish poet born on August 6, 1927, in County Galway, Ireland, into a wealthy Protestant family. His early life was marked by travel between Ireland and Sri Lanka, where his father worked as a public official. At the age of ten, Murphy began his musical education as a member of the Canterbury Cathedral Choir. He later attended prestigious schools and secured a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied under prominent literary figures. Murphy published his first collection of poems, *The Archeology of Love*, in 1955, and his work often reflected his complex relationship with his Irish heritage and English education.
Throughout his career, he was recognized for his keen observations of Irish culture, as seen in works like *Sailing to an Island* and *The Battle of Aughrim*. His poetry, characterized by its lyrical quality and depth, earned him several accolades, including the Maren Toonder Award. Murphy's later years were spent in various locations, including Killiney and South Africa, and he continued to engage with literature as a poet-in-residence at American universities. He passed away in Sri Lanka on January 30, 2018, leaving behind a legacy as an important figure in 20th-century Irish poetry.
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Richard Murphy
- Born: August 6, 1927
- Birthplace: County Galway, Ireland
- Died: January 30, 2018
- Place of death: Sri Lanka
Biography
Richard Murphy was born at his family’s estate in County Galway, Ireland, on August 6, 1927. His parents were Elizabeth Mary Ormsby and William Lindsay Murphy, and he was raised in a wealthy Protestant home. Murphy spent much of his childhood moving between Ireland and Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon), where his father was a public official. At age ten, after winning a competition for voice, he became a member of the Canterbury Cathedral Choir, where he studied music. His musical education was interrupted, however, by the outbreak of World War II, and he returned to rural Ireland. He won several scholarships to prestigious schools and attended both King’s School and Wellington College.
In 1944, Murphy won a scholarship to study at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied with writer C. S. Lewis and the great Anglo-Saxonist, J. A.W. Bennett. Murphy completed a BA in 1948 and an MA in 1955. During this period, he also developed a lifelong love for the area around Connemara, Ireland.
In 1955, Murphy published his first collection of poems, The Archeology of Love. The poems in this volume were largely about his love for Patricia Avis, whom he married in 1955. The couple made their home in Connemara, living in a house that previously had been occupied by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. In 1959, after a series of family deaths and tragedies, the couple divorced.
Sailing to an Island, published in 1963, is one of Murphy’s most enduring and compelling poetry collections. These poems, largely autobiographical, focus on Murphy’s attempts to reconcile the conflicting experiences of his past, including his Irish heritage and experience and his English education. In addition, this volume reflects the influence of Bennett and Anglo-Saxon poetry on Murphy’s sea poems.
In the early 1960s, Murphy began working on The Battle of Aughrim, published in 1968. His plan for a descriptive poem about a battle, however, changed when poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath visited him at his home in Cleggan, Ireland. It was Hughes who recommended that the subject be best expressed in dramatic monologues. Focused on the division of Irish culture, the volume also contained the poem "The God Who Eats Corn," an exploration of British colonialism
Throughout the 1970s, much of Murphy’s work reflected his surroundings in western Ireland. In 1980, however, he moved to Killiney, near Dublin, and his poetry shifted to respond to the new location. Murphy also often traveled abroad, serving as poet-in- residence at several American universities. His later major collections included The Price of Stone (1985), The Mirror Wall (1989), New Selected Poems (1989), Collected Poems 1952–2000 (2001), and The Pleasure Ground: Poems 1952–2012 (2013)
Murphy’s accomplishments as a poet can be traced through his books of poetry and in his 2002 memoir, The Kick. The tensions between Murphy’s upbringing and his beliefs and between his urbane sophistication and the wild scenery of Connemara have proved interesting to critics. As a member of the Irish poetic revival and the creator of well-crafted and finely tuned poems about the heritage, history, and people of Ireland, it is likely that he will be remembered as an important twentieth century Irish poet. He was a member of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Irish arts association Aosdána. Among the honors he received throughout his career were the Maren Toonder Award, the American Irish Foundation Literary Award, and the British Arts Council Award.
In 2007 Murphy returned to Sri Lanka, having lived in South Africa since 1997. His Irish upbringing was examined in the film The Other Irish Travellers (2012), a BBC documentary made by his niece. Murphy died at his Sri Lanka home at the age of ninety on January 30, 2018.
Bibliography
"An Anglo-Irish Poet Who Wrote to Unite Divided Self and Land." The Irish Times, 3 Feb. 2018, www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/an-anglo-irish-poet-who-wrote-to-unite-his-divided-self-and-land-1.3374928. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.
Murphy, Richard. The Kick: A Memoir of the Poet Richard Murphy. Cork UP, 2017.
"Poet Richard Murphy Dies, Aged 90." The Irish Times, 31 Jan. 2018, www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/poet-richard-murphy-dies-aged-90-1.3374961. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.
"Richard Murphy." The Poetry Archive, www.poetryarchive.org/poet/richard-murphy. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.
"Richard Murphy." Poetry Foundation, 2018, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/richard-murphy. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.
"Richard Murphy." Wake Forest University Press, 2018, wfupress.wfu.edu/authors/richard-murphy/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.