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1. T. Morrissey, William Martin Murphy (Dundalk 1997).
2. D. Keogh, `William M. Murphy and the Origins of the 1913 Lock-out', Saothar 4 (1978) 21; idem, `The Clash of Titans--James Larkin and William Martin Murphy', Thomas Davis Lecture, March 1997. E. Larkin, James Larkin, Irish Labour Leader 1876-1947 (Dublin 1989) 119.
3. Murphy seems to have been Yeats's target in September 1913, among other poems. Foster, taking a distinctly Yeatsian perspective, recently suggested that Murphy by 1913 `had come to symbolize (not always fairly) the essence of bourgeois Dublin philistinism', see R. Foster, W. B. Yeats: a Life (Oxford 1997) i, 479-82, 495-501. E. Strauss, Irish Nationalism and British Democracy (Westport 1951) 217.
4. Keogh (1978). Morrissey (1997). D. McCartney, `William Martin Murphy: an Irish Press Baron and the Rise of the Popular Press', in B. Farrell (ed) Communications and Community in Ireland (Cork 1984). For Murphy's political connections, see F. Callanan, T. M. Healy (Cork 1996).
5. W. M. Murphy, `Reminiscences of 50 years Ago', Belvederian 2 (1909); `William Martin Murphy: The New President of the Union', Belvederian 1 (1908); Dublin Builder 5, no. 82 (1863) 81.
6. The loss of both his mother and father at an early age may explain some of the `cold anger' which G. K. Chesterton noted, while T. M. Healy described him as `a quite Red Indian ...' who ate `... his vengence cold.' Callanan, Healy, 474, 487. Morrissey, 4-7.
7. These included the Skibbereen gasworks and the light-house at Galley Head. R. Harrison, Bantry in Olden Days (Bantry 1992) 37, 42, 51. The West Cork Eagle and County Advertiser, 13 January 1877. Skibbereen Eagle, 28 June 1919.
8. Slater's Directory of Ireland, 1870. Guy's Cork Almanac and Directory, 1915. Cork Examiner, 27 June 1919.
9. Irish Independent, 27 Jun 1919. `William Martin Murphy: The New President', Belvederian 1 (1908).
10. These ventures included tramways and railways, Cleary's department store and housing development in Drumcondra, among others. P. Costello & T. Farmer, The Story of Denis Guiney and Clearys (Dublin 1992). L. M. Cullen, Princes and Pirates: The Dublin Chamber of Commerce 1783-1983 (Dublin 1983) 72.
11. He was engaged in finishing the construction of the mortuary chapel at Glasnevin. Irish Builder, 18, no. 382, 1875.
12. Thom's Official Directory, 1877-1883. He and his wife were to reside at Dartry for the remainder of their lives.
13. With his father-in-law he formed a partnership with Michael Cleary, establishing Cleary and Co in 1883. The store was initially purchased from a receiver for £32,000. With ample investment from Murphy and Lombard and the managerial talent of Cleary, the firm performed extremely well during the bouyant 1890s. In 1902, under Murphy's direction, Cleary's also purchased the Lawlor family interest in the neighbouring Imperial Hotel. Murphy's stake in the ownership and management of Cleary's increased when Robert Cleary died in 1900, followed by James Fitzgerald Lombard's death in 1901. At various times between 1903 and 1909, 22,000 ordinary shares were sold to Murphy by the Cleary family; Costello and Farmer, 34-9; National Archives, M. 3723 (101) Memorandum in matter of Cleary's Minors, 1909; Cullen (1983) 72-4; Irish Independent, 27 June 1919; Skibbereen Eagle, 28 June 1919.
14; T. P. O'Connor, Memoirs of an Old Parliamentarian (London 1929) 55; Morrissey, 8-13.
15. Irish Independent, 27 June 1919; Skibbereen Eagle, 28 June,1919; `The Irish Industrial Question', lecture by W. M. M. (Dublin 1887); J. O'Dea, `Clara to Banagher-1', Irish Railway Record Society, 2, 136-9. For details on promotion and construction, see National Archives, Privy Council Office, Railway Files on Mitchelstown Fermoy Railway, South and West Clare Railway. Also see Taylor, The West Clare Railway; Morrissey, 8-13.
17. Irish Independent, 27 June 1919; M. Manning & M. McDowell, Electricity Supply in Ireland: the History of the ESB (Dublin 1985) 1. In the case of the Cork tramway, which opened in 1898, Murphy was the sub-contractor for buidling the permanent way and the power house, later becoming chairman of the Cork company, which also used the power house to supply electrical current for domestic use and street lighting; Cork Constitution, 21, 23 & 27 December 1898; M. Daly, Dublin: the Deposed Capital (Cork 1985) 172-3; D. Johnson, `The Dublin Trams', Dublin Historical Record 12 (1951) 109-110; J. Kilroy, Irish Trams (Dublin 1996) 21. In 1881, Murphy joined the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland. He was proposed by Jessop and seconded by Harty, indicating that he had already won a high degree of respect in engineering circles. Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland, Dublin, Application Form of William Martin Murphy, 1881.
18. The new company extended and improved the service and the number of passengers increased from 10,000,000 in 1881 (the first year of operation) to 24,000,000 in 1895-96, the last year of full horse operation. The company also began to build their own trams at Inchicore; Kilroy, 21, 81-4; F. J. Murphy, `Dublin Trams 1872-1959', Dublin Historical Record 33 (1979) 3-5.
19. J. P. McKay, Tramways and Trolleys: the Rise of Urban Mass Transport (New Jersey 1976) 179.
20. Murphy (1979) 3-5; Kilroy, 81-3.
21. `William Martin Murphy: new President', Belvederian 1 (1908).
22. Wright, A Disturbed Dublin (London 1914) 70.
25. BPP 16 (1916) Royal Commission on the Rebellion in Ireland (Statement furnished by W. M. Murphy). For background to strike, see Keogh (1978); J. O'Brien, Dear Dirty Dublin (Berkeley 1982).
26. Dublin Diocesan Library, Walsh Papers. These provide some detail on Murphy's first venture into newspapers. Also see Morrissey, 18-30.
27. Shortly after Parnell had first been elected as a member for Meath in 1875, he attended an auction in Glasnevin Cemetry in Dublin where Murphy was selling off the building equipment which he had been using in the construction of the mortuary chapel. Murphy asked Parnell what he wished to bid for and in order to spare him further delay, he offered to undertake the purchase on his behalf. Parnell indicated that he wanted a weighing machine and proceeded on his way, having acquired a bargain. Meanwhile, Murphy wrote out a cheque to the auctioneer and went to the trouble of arranging the transportation of the weighing machine (with payment) all the way to Avondale. Characteristically, Parnell never repayed or even thanked him; T. Healy, Letters and Leaders of My Day (Dublin 1928) 307.
28. B. Walker, Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801-1922 (Dublin 1978) 346.
29. Callanan, 106-363; National Press, 17 March 1891.
30. Walker, 346, 354, 366; Freeman's Journal, 6 November 1893.
31. National Library, ILB 04 P.1. Irish Indepedent Printing and Publishing Co (Ltd) Prospectus.
32. Dublin Diocesan Library, Walsh Papers, Murphy to Walsh 14, 17, 19 and 29/12/90. Irish Independent, 27 June 1919. TCD, Dillon Papers, Ms 6752/35, Murphy to editor of Freeman Journal and National Press, 4 March 1895. Ms 6804/66, Circular to Freeman Shareholders. Ms 6804, Murphy to Dillon, 23 Nov 1891. National Press, 26 March 1892.
33. O'Connor, 57-8. Irish Independent, 2 January 1909, 27 June 1919, 2 January 1935. J. J. Dunne, Headlines and Haloes (Dublin 1988). Healy, 443, 449-50.
34. National Library, Redmond Papers, Ms 15,209 (2), Murphy to Redmond, 28 August 1900.
35. National Library, Redmond Papers, Murphy to Redmond, 27 September 1900, 4 October 1900; Redmond to Murphy, 3 Oct 1900. Murphy later bitterly pointed out that after he purchased the Independent on Redmonds behalf he `never got the least encouragement or help from him'. National Library, Redmond Papers, Ms 15209, Murphy to O'Connor, 11/12/1916.
36. While Redmond had gone to great lengths to keep the Independent out of Dillon's control, when he assumed the leadership of the party he did not give Murphy and Healy the support they expected in return for the takeover. National Library, Ir. 941 36, W. M. Murphy, `The Story of a Newspaper' (1909).
37. National Library, Ir. 941 36; W. M. Murphy, `The Story of a Newspaper' (1909). Harmsworth visited Murphy's house in Dublin prior to the launch of the new Independent: British Library, Northcliffe Papers, Add. Mss 62391, vol. 239, Diary, 21 August 1904.
38. National Archives, Harrington Papers 1052/2/6, Murphy to Harrington, 30 December 1904. National Library, Ir. 941 36, W. M. Murphy, `The Story of a Newspaper' (1909). Harmsworth, who came from a Dublin family, took an interest in the progress of the paper, sending a telegraph to Harrington when the first edition came out: `Hearty Congratulations on Excellent Paper'(National Archives, Harrington Papers 1052/2/5, Telegraph from Harmsworth to Harrington).
39. Murphy estimated it would take £50,000 to reorganise the paper and within four years he achieved profitability without exceeding this level of investment. By 1911, the paper put three Ford vans on the road for distribution in Dublin, which had previously been carried out entirely by horse drawn van and bicycle. H. Oram, The newspaper book: a history of newspapers in Ireland, 1649-1983 (Dublin 1983) 103-18.
41. McCartney, 30. L. Cullen, Eason and Son: A History (Dublin 1989) 307. Oram, 105-6. Callanan, 484.
42. Healy, 470. Irish Independent, 27 June 1919. McCartney, 36-7. McCartney points out that O'Connor's background in journalism and a long spell as a representative of the IPP make him a uniquely qualified judge of the impact of the Independent on public opinion, especially since he was no friend of Murphy.
44. Irish Independent, 30 March, 24 April 1917; Times, 2 May 1917.
45. In August 1915 he wrote to his editor: `There was so little real criticism of the Bill and its acceptance by the Party having being taken as a sufficient hall-mark. It is astonishing how little people know of its provisions and its probable effect on the future of the country, and I think the most effective way of creating public opinion and turning it in the right direction on this subject would be a frontal attack on the Act as it stands, bringing out the foregoing points and insisting again and again that the Irish people are getting no adequate exchange for the loss of imperial power while the imperial parliament goes on imposing taxation and intercepting the money of the Irish people before it can reach the hands of the spending body'. National Archives, Harrington Papers, Murphy to Harrington 21/8/1915.
46. W. Wells & N. Marlowe, The Convention (Dublin 1918). In the wake of the Rising, when property was extremely cheap around the main thoroughfares north of the river, Murphy bought up four sites in ruins adjoining the Independent offices on Abbey St at bargain prices; space at this stage was insufficient for the expanding newspaper. These sites provided the location for Independent House which still stands. The old offices stood intact following the Rising. Oram, 129.
47. House of Lords Record Office, Lloyd George Papers D/14/1/12 and 22, Cecil Harmsworth to Alfred Harmsworth, 25 and 26 May 1916. Murphy's nationalism became a very pale shade of green in his communications with Northcliffe. For example, he finished a letter to Northcliffe: `I was heartily with you all through your War Campaign. You saved the Empire'.
48. House of Lords, Lloyd George Papers, D 14/1/33, Cecil Harmsworth to Northcliffe, 28/5/1916.
49. National Library, Redmond Papers, Ms 15209, Murphy to Lloyd George, 21/12/1916
50. National Archives, Harrington Papers, 1052/4, Murphy to Harrington, 25/2/ 1917.
52. National Library, Ir. 941 24 no. 18, W. M. Murphy, Irish Convention 1917-18: Speeches and Draft of a Home Rule Bill, 3-40.
53. P. Jalland, `Irish Home Rule Finance', Irish Historical Studies 23 (1983).
54. The Leader, 30 September, 7 October 1916. Freeman's Journal, 7 October 1916.
56. Skibbereen Eagle, 10 June 1863. National Archives, Calendar of the Grants of Probate, Ireland, 1863 Wills (Dublin 1865).
57. National Archives, Will of William Martin Murphy.
58. House of Lords Record Office, Lloyd George Papers, D/14/1/22, Cecil to Alfred Harmsworth, 26/5/1916.
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