Gerry Murphy (rugby union, born 1926)
Rugby player / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canon John Gervase Maurice Walker Murphy LVO (20 August 1926 — 7 January 2014) was an army chaplain and international rugby union player from Northern Ireland.[1]
Full name | John Gervase Maurice Walker Murphy | ||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | (1926-08-20)20 August 1926 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Bangor, Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 7 January 2014(2014-01-07) (aged 87) | ||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Norfolk, England | ||||||||||||||||
School | Methodist College Belfast | ||||||||||||||||
University | Trinity College Dublin | ||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Clergy | ||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Born in Bangor, County Down, Murphy attended Methodist College Belfast and Trinity College Dublin, in between serving in the Royal Ulster Rifles. He played rugby as a fullback for Ireland while a curate in Lurgan, with appearances against the Springboks and All Blacks amongst his six caps.[2]
Murphy became a Royal Army chaplain in 1955. After 22 years as a chaplain, Murphy was appointed rector of the Norfolk parish of Ranworth and Rural Dean of Blofield. He was later Domestic chaplain to the Queen.[3]
In the 1987 New Year Honours, Murphy was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.[4]