The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are saddened to report the death of another of our brother priests.  Fr Jeremiah (Jerry) Murphy MSC died at Haven Bay Nursing Home, Kinsale Co. Cork on Tuesday 3rd August 2010.  He was 90 years of age.

His funeral mass took place at Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork on Thursday 5th August.  Following the mass Fr Jerry was laid to rest in Kilnamartyra Cemetary.

Fr. Jeremiah Murphy was born on 19th February 1920 in Kilnamartyra, Co. Cork, son of Jeremiah and Hannah Murphy.  He had three brothers, Michael, Fr. Bertie, MSC and Br. Pat, OMI, and two sisters, Eilis and Anne, all of whom predeceased him.

Fr. Jerry received his primary education at Kilnamartyra National School and his secondary education at Sacred Heart College, Western Road, Cork.

He entered the novitiate of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on 13th August 1940 in Crosshaven, Co. Cork and made his first profession on 13th September 1941.  He studied Philosophy and Theology at Moyne Park Galway from 1941 to 1946 and was ordained Deacon there on 23rd June 1946.  He was ordained to the Priesthood on 21st September 1946 at Moyne Park, Co. Galway.  After ordination Fr. Jerry taught Physics and Chemistry at Myross Wood, West Cork and while residing there he also applied his practical skills as Community Bursar and Farm Manager.

When a Novitiate was established at Vunapope near Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, Fr. Jerry generously volunteered his services and was eagerly accepted.   After four fruitful years, during which he taught religion to the novices and found time to minister to nearby villages, he returned to Ireland.  His planned return to Vunapope never materialized.   We remember particularly today fellow MSCs Fr. Allen Browne and Fr. Edmund McSweeney both of whom died recently and who in 1946 shared the joy of ordination with Fr. Jerry Murphy.  These three great men, together, served the Lord in the Mission Fields of Papua New Guinea.

In January 1969 Fr. Jerry went to San Antonio, Texas where he was appointed Pastor of St. Anthony’s Parish.  During the next thirty years, fulfilling his numerous stewardships of different parishes and pastoral areas, Fr. Jerry gained the title of the ‘most travelled and experienced MSC in the southern States of America’.  He had huge experience and knowledge of the different dioceses in Texas and Arkansas where he was highly respected and is still fondly remembered by both clergy and laity.

Fr. Jerry retired to the Community at Carraig na bhFear in 2002 where he enjoyed ministering to local Nursing Homes and helping with other MSC ministries, not to mention visiting relations and attending West Cork Funerals!

Recently he has been tenderly cared for by the staff of the Haven Care Centre, Kinsale where he died peacefully on Tuesday 3rd August 2010.

He is survived by nieces and a nephew as family members.

Ar dheis Dé to raibh a anam dhílis.