THE MUDDY MURPHY STORY - THE EARLY YEARS

The Murphy Clan Story ... the Murphy name is deeply rooted in Irish history through its close association with three of Ireland's famous 'institutions' - black beer (stout), potatoes, and Irish fiddle playing (the Irish violin).

In the early years the Murphys were primarily a sea-faring clan (the name comes from the Gaelic 'Muirchu', or sea-warrior) and it is through the exploits of one such early Murphy that the family story begins with a very memorable event that occurred in 1661.

The Boxty Murphy Story: Boxty Murphy was a fisherman in 17th century Ireland whose father was a charmed Leprechaune and whose mother was the bubbly owner of a pub beside the local village wharf . This somewhat peculiar combination of parents gave Boxty not only a very lucky streak but also a large capacity for his mother's home-brew Irish ale, and as a result of this mixed parentage the local villagers bestowed the folklore name 'Cluricaune' (or mischievous little drinker) on the Irishman. One afternoon in the summer of 1661 Boxty Murphy fell into a deep sleep after consuming six flagons of ale whilst watching over the roasting of the barley for one of his mother's fresh home-brew beers. Not surprisingly the barley burnt badly, and fearing the wrath of his mother, Boxty mixed the burnt malt into the new ale mixture hoping she would not notice . However, to his dismay the resulting beer, far from being an attractive golden brown, turned out totally black! His mother was furious, but with no

The Paddy Murphy Story: in 1847, almost two hundred years after the unexpected invention of the dark Irish stout, Paddy Murphy, the great grandfather of Muddy Murphy, was caught up in one of Ireland's worst economic and social crises - the Potato Famine. The potato crop of that year, the principal source of food in Ireland, had failed across the entire country leaving many starving and thousands of others with no option but to abandon their homes and emigrate to the New World. Paddy Murphy was himself a major potato farmer during the famine years around 1847, and yet somehow, as if protected by the unlikely magic of his distant ancestor Boxty Murphy, Paddy's potato crops were completely unaffected, yielding a full harvest as normal. Recognising the imminent onslaught of the faminePaddy Murphy donated his entire potato crop to the surrounding communities to ensure they had enough food to survive the lean famine years.