Coastguard award for Frank
CURRACLOE man Frank Murphy has been honoured with a marine long service medal by the Irish Coastguard in recognition of 40 loyal years as a volunteer and station officer. THE surprise presentation was made at the recent annual conference of the Coastguard in Athlone when Frank was called to the stage at a gala dinner in the Sheraton Hotel and bestowed with the medal by the organisation’s Voluntary Services and Training Manager Declan Geoghegan. ‘I wasn’t informed about it beforehand so it was a pleasant surprise,’ said Frank who has the distinction of being one of four generations of the Murphy family to have served in the Coastguard. HIS grandfather Francis Murphy was appointed the first Number One Man, as it was then called, in charge of Curracloe Coastguard following the handover of the service to the new Irish State by the British administration in 1923. He served for 11 years before retiring in 1934. FRANK’S father Jack followed in his dad’s footsteps by becoming a volunteer in the Coastguard for a number of years before emigrating to England. FRANK himself joined in September 1976, becoming station officer in charge in 1988, a position he still holds. His son Stephen served for a few years in the late 1990’s before moving to England to work and live. ‘IT is a proud record for me and my family,’ said Frank who was delighted to have been honoured in front of station officers from all over the country.