Kathleen M. Murphy

Kathleen M. Murphy (1879 – 22 March 1963) was an Irish poet and travel writer. During her lifetime, Murphy was regarded the most well-travelled Irish woman.^[1]

Biography

Kathleen M. Murphy was born in Tulla, County Clare in 1879. She was educated at the Laurel Hill Convent in Limerick. She studied modern languages at University College Dublin.^[2] In 1932, Murphy won first prize in the Aonach Tailtean Literary Competition, and the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Papal decoration for her poetry.^[1]

Murphy travelled extensively from the late 1930s across Asia, Africa and South America, and wrote for various publications including The Capuchin Annual.^[2] In a letter to the editor of the Annual, Father Senan, with autobiographical notes for the 1945/46 edition in which she described herself as "Ireland's super-tramp!"^[1]

Murphy died in Birr, County Offaly on 22 March 1963.^[1]

Bibliography

• Studies, March 1918 – June 1919, four poems.
• Poems, Dublin and Cork, Talbot Press, 1932.
• Capuchin Annual, 1950–51 and 1959, two poems.^[1]

References

1. Colman, Anne Ulry (1996). Dictionary of nineteenth-century Irish women poets. Galway: Kenny's Bookshop. pp. 166–167. ISBN 0-906312-44-2. OCLC 35268787.
2. Fanning, Tim (27 March 2022). "The road less travelled – Tim Fanning on travel writer Kathleen Murphy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 May 2022.

Further reading

• Bixby, Patrick (2022). Unaccompanied Traveler The Writings of Kathleen M. Murphy. ISBN 9780815637332.
• MacGreevy, Thomas (1963). "The Lady of Birr; the late Miss K. M. Murphy". Capuchin Annual: 384. Retrieved 2 May 2017.