Granny Murphy

I got a couple of photos from home this week one of which was a picture of my dad's mother - the often referred to matriarch of the Murphy clan 'Granny Murphy'. She was an amazing woman - twelve kids, scores of grandchildren and great grandchildren but more than that she was an epicentre for almost all the family. She only learned to drive when she was about 65 but took to it enthusiasitically and I can remember sitting into her car one day as a kid and she 'floored' it in an effort to race my dad to her house - as they say in Limerick she was a 'gas card' at times.

She was strong willed (stubborn to some) and not afraid to speak her mind while also wanting the best for her own. It's a testimont to her that over ten years after she left this world that she regularly comes up in conversation and more often than not in a reverential way. I have heard it said that my dad and three of his brothers are referred to as the 'sopranos' in one of the local bars they frequent- the 'heavy gang' that roll in to their local! If that's true then 'Granny Murphy' was definitely the 'god mother', the one they all looked up to, the one that kept them in line.

It's easy to realise that you miss her, she was such a dominant character and had such an influence on us.
Francis