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of whose life no particulars are attainable, died in 1816. Dibdin speaks of his name as " united with all tender and honourable reminiscences," and says he " fell a victim to his labours." His principal works were : Plans of the Church of Batalha, in Portu- gal (i792-'96); Travels in Portugal during lySg-'go (1795) ; Arabian Antiquities of Spain {181 y 16), in numbers, atlas folio, 100 engravings; a work of which Allibone says "it would be difficult to say too much in commendation." His Travels in Portugal were translated into French and German. '^
Uurphy, John, a Gaelic poet, born in the County of Cork, in March 1700, is stated by O'Daly to have been distinguished for the beauty and pathos of his elegiac compositions. He was the preserver and transcriber of many Irish historical tracts, and the patron of a bardic session held annually for some years at Charleville. ^^9 Murphy, John, D.D., a Catholic clergy- man, acted aa one of the leaders of the Wexford insurgents in 1 798. He was born at Tincurry, in the County of Wexford, studied at Seville, took orders, and re- turned to Ireland in 1785, and became parish priest of Boulavogue. In November 1797 he joined eighteen Catholic clergymen in endeavouring to avert the proclamation of their parishes by swearing allegiance to the Government. He is said to have been driven into insurrection by the oppressive conduct of the soldiers and yeomanry, and by the wreck of his chapel ; or as Mr. Froude says : " After forty-five years of hitherto inoflfensive life, he had become possessed with the ' Irish idea.' " On the 25 th May he took the field at the head of a large body of pike-men, defeated a party of troops at Oulart, next day took Camolin and Enniscorthy, and encamped on Vine- gar Hill. According to Froude and Musgrave, he and his men now embarked upon a course of unprovoked plunder and murder ; while Dr. Madden says their operations were in retaliation for imme- diate injuries, or were such as were neces- sary in the prosecution of the insurrection. After the defeats at Arklow and Vinegar Hill, he joined the column that passed through Scollagh Gap, crossed the Barrow, and was defeated at Kilcomney. Dr. Murphy found his way to Taghmon, where he was recognized and arrested. He was executed on 26th June 1798. Several documents relating to his career will be found in the appendix to Musgrave's Irish Rebellions. '*' ^« 331
Mnrphy, Michael, Rev., a Catholic clergyman, who took an active part in the Insurrection of 1798 in the County of
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of Wexford, was born at Kilnew, in that county, and was educated at a hedge- school at Oulart. Having been ordained at Ferns in 1785, he proceeded to Bor- deaux, and pursued his studies at the Irish College. After his return he be- came parish priest of Ballycanew, and according to Musgrave, " behaved himself there with very great propriety till the rebellion broke out." Dr. Madden says he was driven into joining the insurgents by his chapel being wrecked by the yeo- men. He shared the fortunes of the Eev. John Murphy's brigade until the battle of Arklow, 9th June. His heroic death at that battle is thus related by Mr. Froude : " The battery behind the barricade com- pletely swept the road. Twice the priests led on their followers, over the bodies of their falling comrades, through musket- shot and round shot and grape, to the yeiy mouths of the guns, the priests com- ing so close that they shot the gunners at their posts with their pistols. Twice they failed ; the second time with such desperate loss that they wavered and sought shelter among the walls. . . A third time they charged till they again touched the barri- cade. With a contempt of death which was really admirable they seemed deter- mined to take the guns, though every man might fall in doing it, when a round shot, . . . caught him and his horse, and hurled them into ruin." '■*' =-»9 331
Murphy, Robert, Eev., a mathema- tician, the son of a shoemaker, was born at MaUow in 1806. When he was eleven years of age he accidentally fractured his thigh, and during his confinement to bed his attention was attracted to the study of mathematics; rudimentary books were with difficulty procured, and before his recovery he acquired considerable acquaint- ance with the science. Through the solu- tion of some problems in a newspaper, he became known to a Mr. Mulcahy, who put him to school, where his pro- gress was rapid. In 1824 he published remarks upon a pamphlet by Rev. John Mackey, of Maynooth, on the Duplication of the Cube. In October 1825 he was by his friends entered in Caius CoUege, Cam- bridge. In May 1829 he was elected a Fellow ; he took deacon's orders, and in 1 83 1 was appointed Dean of his coUege. He eventually fell into dissipated habits, was obliged to leave Cambridge, and spent the latter part of his short life as a teacher and writer in London. He con- tributed a number of papers to the Penny Cyclopcsdin and the Cambridge Philoso- phical Transactions, besides publishing separate works on Electricity (1833) and
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