Fr Murphy celebrates golden jubilee mass

IT was a special day for Dundalk born Fr. George Murphy as he celebrated his jubilee, the 50th anniversary of his ordination at a special mass in the Marist church on Sunday.

Originally from Park Drive, Fr. Murphy has recently retired, having spent the last six decades based in parishes across Mississippi in the USA.

Joined by many members of his own family, along with local people who attended the mass, Fr. Murphy was welcomed by Marist priest, Fr. Kevin Cooney.

Speaking to the Argus during his trip back home over the last few weeks, he said it was remarkable how much his hometown had changed.

‘I love to come home and visit family. In fact I do get home quite a bit

But at times it feels like a foreign country here, and sometimes I don’t even recognise Dundalk. The town really has changed so much that I got lost a few times!’

Ordained in 1966, he had been a former pupil of the Christian Brothers school, where he said he first realised that he might take up the vocation.

‘But I think as far back as my teenager years I knew that I wanted to leave Ireland, so when the offer came up to work in a parish in Mississippi, I jumped at it.’

Looking back on that decision, which shaped his entire life, Fr. Murphy added: ‘It was the naivete of youth I suppose too, but I’ve never regretted it.’

He recalled the turbulent early years, in 1969 when he and a fellow priest made international headlines during Hurricane Camille when they were forced to cling to two statues all night to avoid the rapid floodwaters that tore into their church.

Looking back on the incident now he says: ‘I was only 26, so young, so naive, it was almost a blessing.’

First assigned to the parish of Gulfport in Mississippi, he recalled how the civil rights movement had begun to take hold, with the southern states the real focus of demonstrations.

Gulfport, a military town, was also the last stop for American soldiers who were on route to Vietnam to fight in a war which many knew little about.

‘It was a lot for a young Irish man to contend with. But I loved my work in the parish, loved my time Murphy.

Over the years he served in six different parishes, including Biloxi, which became world news due to the damage caused by another devastating hurricane - Katrina.

He added that as with parishes in Ireland, and indeed across the world, the Catholic church in America has suffered too from the fallout of the abuse scandals.

‘In my parish, we are lucky to have maintained a fairly steady there,’ said Fr. church going population, but yes the church in general has suffered a haemorrhage.across the United States’

Having ‘really enjoyed’ his time at home during which he celebrated his golden jubilee, Fr.Murphy said that he could never imagine returning home to live in Ireland on a permanent basis.

Indeed, he confesses that such is his love for his adopted homeland; ‘I’m a Mississippi boy now, I tell people. I’ll live out my days there.’