Steeped in history: An interview with Fr Jimmy Murray

The local historical milestones - dates, names, and details – roll off Fr Jimmy Murray's tongue with ease.

He speaks of the first written reference to his native area, Rosemount, in 1793; discusses a survey in 1834 which listed the occupations of the local people; and outlines the influence which the McGeoghegan clan had in the area in years gone by.

He explains the important social contribution of the local GAA club, founded in 1924; and tells of the visit of a former US presidential candidate, Al Smith, to his ancestral home in Rosemount in June 1937.

Given the extent of his knowledge, it comes as no surprise to learn that Fr Jimmy has worked on a number of publications relating to the history of Rosemount.

'I would always have had an interest in the local area because I grew up there and I grew up in an oral tradition where people did a lot of talking. Unfortunately, we didn't listen to them enough,' he explains. 'When I came back here (to Moate) Gerry Sheehan and Master Liam Cox were great historians in the town.'

Jimmy will celebrate his 80th birthday this month. Much of his working life was spent teaching in Terenure and in Moate, in the Carmelite College and, later, Moate Community School.

After a decade as parish priest in Knocklyon, Dublin, he returned in recent years to Moate and is an active member of the community in his beloved Rosemount.

One of six children in his family, Fr Jimmy said that when he was growing up most people in the area would have been quite poor.

'They would have struggled. It was predominantly farmers and tradespeople. There was tradition of a lot of tradespeople in the area, and that tradition is still there in the building industry.'

He says that, historically, the McGeoghegans were the family that had most influence on the local area. 'The McGeoghegans were poets, soldiers, scholars, priests. They were quite clever people. Quite a famous tribe.

'The last of them, Owen, built Rosemount House which is a Georgian house that's still there. He built that in 1773. He must have called it Rosemount because the first written reference we have to Rosemount - even though there was no such townland - is from 1793 when Bishop Plunket was doing his rounds and in his diary he wrote that he had spent a day ‘in Rosemount.''

Fr Jimmy's local historical knowledge is regularly called upon when he gives guided walks to local schoolchildren and others. Next week, from Thursday, June 22, to Saturday, June 24, a ‘Pride of Place Weekend' celebration takes place in Rosemount and this will include a guided walk he will lead to a bronze age burial ground on top of Cnoc Aiste, overlooking Rosemount.

Ordained a priest in 1965, Jimmy started his teaching career in Terenure College before moving back to Moate to teach in the Carmelite College in 1967. 'I was probably the first past pupil to be back there teaching,' he explains. He mostly taught English and Business Studies.

'At that time, you were full of energy. With a lot of the kids, I would have been in school with their brothers. It was interesting being back. There was a great atmosphere there.'

In 1981 he went to work again in Terenure College. 'Dublin was a different scene (compared to Moate). It's country people versus city people. It's a different mindset, but you got to know them, to know their ways and their sense of humour.'

After a year's sabbatical in Berkeley, California, in 1992, Fr Jimmy had a brief spell as Novice Master in Kinsale before returning to Moate to again serve as principal of the Carmelite College.

'I was principal here for many years. So I was back here teaching in Moate until the amalgamation of the schools in 1997. Then I taught in the community school here for a few years.'

His next move was to Knocklyon, Dublin, home of the Ballyboden St Enda's GAA club, to serve as parish priest. 'That was a great place to be,' he says.

'The primary school there would have 1,500 pupils. The community school would have 720. I was ten years there, and I enjoyed that. It was quite a dynamic area but they're very good people. It's easy to get very involved with people through confirmations, first communions, sickness, death... all of those things bring you into people's homes.'

Over the years there have been changes in Irish society, and in the prominence of the Catholic Church. Have those changes made his work more difficult?

'It's maybe not more difficult, but different. You have to work harder and be quite flexible and understanding of how things have changed so fast. If you weren't careful, you could end up being so conservative that you'd be out of touch with reality,' he replies.

Fr Jimmy grew up playing gaelic football and he has an abiding interest in the sport. 'When I was ordained here and came back (to Moate), Fr Michael Morrissey and myself played with Rosemount. The Moate people didn't appreciate that! They still remind me of it,' he laughs.

'The GAA was founded in Rosemount in 1924 and it became the glue that kept the parish together. It gave it an identity, the way people identify with their team. They built a pitch, and in 1978 they built a community centre. A lot of functions go on in the centre, and they have a good record at different levels of football even though the population is small.

'The GAA also fostered dancing and plays and all the other social things that make a community unique and special.'

He says that when he was based in Dublin he would 'nearly be in Croke Park every Sunday,' and he is a regular attendee at Rosemount games to this day.

Fr Jimmy also goes on excursions with the very active and well-organised GAA social initiative group in Rosemount. 'It was Mary McAleese who started that initiative. She proposed that the GAA should look after those who have retired, those who are not actively involved in games. They have taken it up seriously (in Rosemount) and a lot of good has come out of it.'

Last summer the social initiative group brought more than 50 people to Croagh Patrick. Fr Jimmy was among them, climbing ‘the Reek' for the first time and saying Mass in the chapel at the top.

'We were blessed with the weather. It was a magnificent day. To tell you the truth, when I got up to the top I said, ‘it has to be easier going down', but going down was worse!'

Unsurprisingly for a man who was able to tackle Croagh Patrick, Fr Jimmy keeps himself in good physical condition and often goes for walks around the GAA pitch in Rosemount.

When asked about his other pastimes, he replies: 'I read a good bit. Not as much as I'd like to, but I do enjoy that.

'I also like to go to visit the sick in hospitals, because I know so many of the older people here from over the years, between the school and all the families.'

He enjoys living in Moate, close to his native place. 'I'm back among my own, you might say,' he smiles.