FIFTY years ago a Ballymurphy family suffered a devastating double tragedy. Joseph Murphy (22) was shot dead by the UDA, the news of which caused his father Joe (55) to suffer a heart attack and pass away a short time later.
Gerard Murphy and Vera McHugh (née Murphy) recalled the events of 50 years ago when they lost their brother and father to an act of sectarian hatred. Joseph Murphy was married to Mary and the couple were expecting their first child.
Joe Murphy had recently been released from hospital where doctors had diagnosed him with angina. He was told he could expect to live up to 40 more years. But when Joseph was murdered after visiting a relative in hospital with his wife and mother-in-law on August 10, 1973, Joe's hopes of a long life with his family died with his son.
Speaking about that horrific day Vera said: “My father had been a bit sick and he had been in Musgrave Park Hospital where he was diagnosed with angina and he was in hospital for about three weeks. We had been visiting him over the summer. He had got out on the Sunday and then what happened to Joseph was on the following Friday.
“Joseph lived just behind us in Ballymurphy with his wife Mary and she was having her first baby. Joseph came in that Friday and asked if I could iron a pair of jeans for him as Mary’s brother had been taken into hospital and he was going up with her and her mum to visit. My sister had been over that day with her kids and my Daddy was playing with them before they left.
“On the nine o’clock news it said someone had been shot and it said he was in his 30s. My Mummy got up straight away and she was very worried. The doctors had told her my Daddy could have lived another 40 years as long as he didn’t get any big shocks. My Daddy said to her ‘I hope you’re not worrying that’s our Joseph, he’s only 22 and they said it was someone in their 30s.’"
TRAGIC: Joseph Murphy and his father Joe Murphy died within hours of each other
But Vera said her mother, who was also called Vera, knew right away that something wasn't right and tried to remain calm for the sake of her husband's health.
“She couldn’t settle, however. She just knew, and my Daddy was trying to calm her down. The ten o’clock news came on and they repeated what they’d said but I just knew, because they said the person had been leaving Musgrave Hospital. I went out with my Mummy to the shop to get some cigarettes and we called into Joseph’s friend Gerard’s house, as he said he was going to call in to see him when he got back from the hospital. Gerard lived in Whiterock and when we arrived he said Joseph hadn’t called in that night.
“That was when we all knew, we just knew. When we got home it was after 11 and my Mummy was trying to keep calm for my Daddy. At around 12 we heard a car outside and my Daddy said ‘That must be him now,’ but it wasn’t, it was Mary’s sisters and they told us he’d been shot coming out of Musgrave and he was with Mary and her mum.
“We didn’t find out until long afterwards how she tried to throw herself on him to protect him and they had aimed the gun at her but it had jammed. My Mummy started screaming and all the lights began turning on in the street. My Daddy came and asked what was happening and if it was Joseph and we had to say yes. He went to the ground and started saying, ‘My son, my son, my lovely son,’ and he collapsed and we had to get an ambulance and he died not long afterwards.”
Gerard Murphy was only 15 when he lost his older brother and father. He said his mother was a pillar of strength and though the events of that night permanently left their mark on her, she was able to recover slowly thanks to the help of family, friends and the community in Ballymurphy.
Gerard said: “It was only hours between them both. Joseph was shot around 9pm and my Dad was dead a few hours later. It was just mayhem after that. My Mum was asking where my father was, she didn’t know he had gone in an ambulance because she was so upset over Joseph. It was a miracle she didn’t go as well, but I think it was her being so strong and she had us as well. We were the two youngest under Joseph and there were three sisters above him. I was 15 and Vera was 18.”
Vera said: “We had the two coffins at our house. Mary didn’t want to go back to their house after that, she moved down to Divis and had a wee boy called Joseph in January and she let me stand for him. I gradually went back to work and for years I would just go to work and come home. My Mummy would be lying on the sofa with a blanket covering her head.”
TRAGIC: Joseph Murphy with Father Noel Fitzpatrick, who was murdered by the British Army in the Springhill/Westrock massacre of 1972
Gerard added: “My mother had worked in O’Boyle’s Holy Shop in Chapel Lane for years and everyone knew her from the shop. A big factor in her survival was going back to the shop. Michael O’Boyle was very good to her and said she could come back whenever she wanted and would always have a job. She got worried she would get too upset when back at work and he said it would happen but she could always go and take some time and have a break. It was the remaking of her.”
Fifty years later the family still have no answers as to why Joseph was shot that night, other than it was carried out by the UDA under their cover name, the UFF. The family took part in a Historical Enquiries Team investigation into Joseph's death, but it yielded no answers.
Vera and Gerard said that even though the end of their father's and brother's lives were tragic they have nothing but precious memories of them both. Gerard recalled in particular how Joseph was an extremely talented footballer.
“Joseph was a defender, he was a real ball player," he said. "He played for Corpus Christi and in 1973 they reached two cup finals. It was a bit mad that year because both finals were against Unity Flats. The first one was over in Brantwood which Unity Flats won.
“The second game was played in Celtic Park, it was one of the last competitive cup finals played and Joe scored the winning goal. He got carried the whole way back to Ballymurphy, there were so many of us kids there to watch it.”
TALENTED: Joseph Murphy (seated, far-right) was a talented footballer for Corpus Christi where he played as a defender.
Vera chipped in: “He’d hurt his leg and they wanted to take him off but Joseph wasn’t having any of it and he stayed on and scored the winning goal. It was so shortly after that that everything happened. We have fantastic memories of them both, all good memories.”
Vera said the events of 50 years ago will always be with them and it only takes the smallest of triggers to bring memories flooding back.
“It doesn’t feel like 50 years ago at all and sometimes I just get a wee feeling on a Friday night that will remind me of it. I remember when I was coming 55 and I didn’t want to be 55 because that was the age my Daddy was."
Gerard said: “I’m 65 now, ten years older than my Dad was, which is mad. There’s always going to be a part of me which will be forever 15. It’s the little things you miss out on over the years, like not being able to go for a drink with my only brother or my Dad.
"However, I do want to thank the people of Ballymurphy. My mother always said it was them who helped us in the most difficult period of our lives. They were the best people in the world – and they still are.”
