At the top of St Patrick’s Street is a water bowl for dogs. It says ‘MADRAÍ’ on it. Many people walk past it and never notice it. I think it is lovely.
I love dogs. We have 2 dogs at home.
The dog bowl was made by the sculptor, Seamus Murphy.
We decided to find out some more things about Seamus Murphy and write a chapter about it. We watched a video about him. We looked through a book with photographs of all his work. We went to very many places in Cork where we saw sculptures, heads, plaques and gravestones.
Page 3 / 1
His son is Colm Murphy who is a painter and musician. We visited Colm in his house where he lived with his parents. He told us lots of information.
In his book called Cork City, Mr Tom Spalding says that Mr Knolly Stokes had the Old Bridge Restaurant in this building and he asked Seamus Murphy to make a dog bowl for his customers who came with their dogs.
I made a model of the dog bowl which you can see as part of this project.
Page 3 / 2
Seamus Murphy was born in 1907 in a village near Mallow called Burnfort – where Tomás MacCurtáin went to school.
The family moved to Ballyhooley Road before Seamus was two. The house is only around the corner from the Dillons Cross Ambush site.
The number on the door says 143 but the 1911 Census says he lived at 149 Ballyhooly Road with his dad James, his mum Margreth and his three brothers – his twin John who was 4, Michael was 2, and baby Bartholemew was only 5 days old.
Page 3 / 3
His dad was a steam engine driver. There is a lovely bust of his dad in the house at Wellesley Terrace. I recognised Long Jim because it is in the film.
Seamus went to school at St. Patrick’s Boys National School. My dad and uncle went to the same school but it had moved from St. Lukes Cross to Gardiners Hill by then.
Page 3 / 4
One of his teachers was Daniel Corkery who went to be a professor in U.C.C. and also wrote books. Frank O’Connor is a famous short-story writer who lived close to Seamus at Harrington Square. He also went to St Patrick’s school. Mr. Corkery encouraged both Frank O’Connor and Seamus Murphy with their work. Colm said his granddad was also a sculptor. His mum’s dad was Joseph Higgins and he did a bust of Daniel Corkery which was on display in the Crawford Gallery at the moment. We went to the Gallery to see it and to Ballyphehane Cemetery to see the headstone that Seamus Murphy made for Daniel Corkery’s grave.
Page 3 / 5
Seamus left school when he was fourteen.
Daniel Corkery helped Seamus to get a scholarship for night classes at the Crawford School of Art. He got an apprenticeship with John Aloysius O’Connell of St Patrick’s Art Marble Works in Blackpool where he trained for seven years.
In 1931, he received a scholarship and went to study in Paris.
Page 3 / 6
We read that one of the French sculptors whose work influenced Seamus was Aristide Maillol. We went on a holiday break to Paris in November and visited the Musée D’Orsay. We saw lots of famous art including work by Mr. Maillol, called Desire.
Seamus returned to Cork and one of his first commissions was the statue of St Finbarr at U.C.C. which is seven feet high. There is lots of work by Seamus Murphy that we saw around Cork.
Page 3 / 7
When we went to the Library, we saw Frank O’Connor and Sean O’Faolain
Every week, I go to classes at the School of Music and there are carvings on the wall by Seamus Murphy.
Page 3 / 8
When we went to meet Mr Dan Breen at the Museum, we saw a plaster bust of Tomás MacCurtáin and the death masks of Sean O’Riada and Frank O’Connor.
Page 3 / 9
In the garden outside the Museum, Emma stod next to Eamonn deValera. Isabelle stood next to Tom Barry and I stood next to Dreamline.
Colm told us a story of when Seamus made the bust of President deValera. He used to visit the President every day for a few weeks to make the head.
Every morning, the President’s Rolls Royce used to collect Seamus from his lodgings and bring him to Áras an Uachtaráin. Every evening, Seamus got back into the Rolls Royce but was dropped off at the bus stop. Colm did not know why he didn’t get a lift all the way home.
Page 3 / 10
There is also a bust of Michael Collins in Fitzgerald’s Park – all done by Seamus Murphy
When we went to visit the Lord Mayor’s Chamber in City Hall, as well as Tomás MacCurtían and Terence MacSwiney, we saw Jack Lynch, a small St Finbarr and President John F. Kennedy.
Page 3 / 11
Seamus made a statue for the Bon Secours hospital.
The film said that Seamus was the first man to put a woman over the door in the Bons Maternity Hospital.
My aunt was born in that hospital. When my granddad went to visit, my dada and other aunt were 5 and 4 and had to stay in the car. My Nana threw a packet of biscuits down to them but they fell into the basement – so they never got them. We looked and they are not there anymore.
Page 3 / 12
When we went to St Finbarr’s Cemetery to see the graves of Tomás MacCurtáin and Terence MacSwiney, we saw the big cross made by Seamus Murphy and lots of headstones carved by Seamus. Most have them have red writing. We liked the box of tools, the church organ and the harp.
Page 3 / 13
When we went to see the house where Tomás MacCurtáin was killed, we went into Blackpool Church. Seamus Murphy designed the building and made many of the sculptures.
Page 3 / 14
These are photographs of my hands that were cast when I was 5 , 6 and 8.
They were made by putting my hands into sticky material. As it set, I pulled my hands out and we were able to pour in a liquid in the shape of my hands. In 1936, Seamus made a bust of Tadhg O’Buchalla. He was known as The Tailor. In the book, the Tailor and Ansty, they describe how Seamus made the head of The Tailor. The actor, Jack Healy read this chapter of the book to me. My dad took a video which is on YouTube and which allowed us to watch again. It is funny.
Page 3 / 15
The Tailor says that his head is old and he needs a new one. He jokes with a neighbour that to make a bust, he has to stick his head in porridge. He takes out his real head as the porridge is setting and pours in the bronze.
The book says what really happens. Seamus makes the head by sticking pieces of clay together until he is happy that it matches the real head.
We went to Carol MacGabhann’s studio and she showed us how she puts the clay together just like Seamus.
Seamus would then take a plaster mould of the first clay head. Colm told us that a plaster mould can be used seven times to make a bronze statue but must be broken up after that.
Page 3 / 16
Seamus had a workshop on Watercourse Road – just near where the horse trough is. Colm told us that the nickname for the room where they kept all the busts was The Skullery.
In 1944, Seamus married Maighréad and they had three children – Bebhinn, Orla and Colm.
Page 3 / 18
There is a bust of Colm is his house which Seamus made. When we went to the Crawford Gallery we saw a painting of Colm’s mum Maighréad which was done by her dad, Joseph Higgins. We thought they looked very like each other.
Maighréad was a teacher in Scoil Mhuire. She taught my aunt and also our teacher, Ms. Sugrue.
Page 3 / 19
In the film, I learnt that Seamus lost two toes when a big lump of stone fell on his foot.
Colm did not know what his dad made with the stone that fell on his toes. He told us that his dad came home that night and went to bed with his sore toes.
A friend was a doctor and he just called that night just to say hello. He smelled gangrene as soon as he opened the door and got Seamus straight to hospital. If he had not called, the gangrene would have spread and Seamus would have lost more than two toes – maybe his whole leg.
Page 3 / 20
Colm told us that, when he was small, he sometimes did a very important job for his dad.
When Seamus was preparing to carve words onto stone, he would set out the letters. Seamus would be concentrating that they were all the same size. He was not always concentrating on spelling and so Colm would check the spelling before Seamus started carving.
Page 3 / 21
As well as lots of information, we had lovely biscuits at Colm’s house.
Seamus died in 1975 and is buried in Rathcooney Cemetery with his mother Maighréad, and his brothers Micheál and Bat. Seamus made the headstone for his mother.
Page 3 / 22
We would love to read what you thought of this chapter and our project.