Rev. Murphy was ordained priest at a special service in St Catherine’s Church, Tullamore, on Wednesday, June 3, stepping into full-time ministry before parishioners, colleagues, family members and friends who filled the church for the occasion.
The service marked the next stage in Murphy’s path through Church of Ireland ministry. He made the declarations of ordination and received the laying on of hands, the formal moment that set him apart as a priest, while Canon Isaac Delamere preached and paid tribute to a ministry he described as marked by a signature blend of empathy and insight.
That search for meaning around Tullamore is rooted in what the day represented for one local church and one cleric. Murphy, originally from Bunclody in Wexford, was ordained as a deacon at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Trim, in June of last year, and his move to priesthood now confirms the progression from deacon to priest that has defined his path over the past year.
Delamere used the pulpit to push back against any hint that the service was a step up in status. Priesthood, he said, was not a promotion or a status symbol but a calling to serve God and people. He also acknowledged the support of Murphy’s wife, Rachael, who serves as Children’s Ministry Coordinator for the Church of Ireland, and the couple’s five children were part of the wider family story surrounding the ordination.
Murphy has spoken before about the route that led him here, calling it a winding but purposeful road after earlier work in the military, policing, information technology and charity leadership. He has also made clear where he feels most himself, saying he is happiest when surrounded by fields, stone walls and a kettle that is just boiled, a line that fits the country-rooted life he described and the ministry he has now embraced.
He will continue as curate of the Geashill Union of Parishes and work alongside Delamere in the Tullamore Union with Geashill Union, leaving open the practical question of how his day-to-day duties will be split between the two parish groupings. For now, the answer is simpler: the ordination has moved Murphy into priestly ministry, and Tullamore is where that change was made public.
