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= Seamus Murphy =

Legacy
Seamus Murphy’s work can still be found in Cork, and his work is also recognised outside of Ireland. Murphy created many stone carvings in the form of sculptures, monuments, and portrait busts in his life.

After Murphy returned to Cork from his apprenticeship, there was a lack of support for artists and he carved headstones to earn money, the headstones can yet be seen in graveyards in County Cork and County Tipperary.

In 1945 Murphy designed the Church of the Annunciation in Blackpool in County Cork, a commission he received from the businessman William Dwyer. Murphy made most of the stonework and statues in the church himself.

Murphy’s memoir Stone Mad, was written about his years as an apprentice in Cork and it was first published in 1950. The book is still in print, and it was named Cork’s Favourite Book in 2013.

The sculpture park in Fitzgerald’s Park in Cork City was created to exhibit one of Murphy’s statues and since 1959 several of his sculptures have been added to the park. The first statue to be displayed was ‘Virgin of the twilight’ which Murphy created in 1942, but it was never part of the collection of any Catholic church in Cork. Since then there are also three busts of the War of Independence figures situated in the park, Michael Collins since 1966, Tom Barry since 2008 and Éamon de Valera since 2016.