John "Joe" Murphy (1917 – 2 August 2000) was an Irish civil engineering contractor. In his early life he worked as a police officer in the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

but moved to England in 1945 to work in construction with his brother John Murphy. After ten years Joe established his own company, Murphy Limited, which became known as "Grey Murphy" to distinguish it from his brother's "Green Murphy" (J Murphy and Sons). Grey Murphy specialised in below-ground works, while Green Murphy specialised in above-ground works. Grey Murphy did well during the 1960s building boom and grew to become one of the largest Irish-owned construction firms.

Early life

Joe Murphy was born as John Murphy in Cahersiveen,

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

in Ireland in 1917. He was educated at a national school at Knockeen,

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

, before joining the

(police service). Murphy travelled to England in 1945 to join his older brother, who was working in the construction industry there. Murphy's brother had adopted the name John when he arrived in England so Murphy adopted "Joseph" to avoid confusion. The pair worked as labourers before setting up their own sub-contractor. One of the firm's first projects was to remove hazards to shipping on the Dover-Calais route in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

Grey Murphy

After 10 years in partnership with his brother, Murphy left the firm to establish his own company specialising in cable-laying. Joe Murphy's company was Murphy Limited (under JMCC Holdings), while his brother's firm was J Murphy and Sons. The firms distinguished from each other as "Grey Murphy" and "Green Murphy" respectively, for the colours of their

company vehicle Fleet vehicles are groups of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business, government agency, or other organization rather than by an individual or family. Typical examples include vehicles operated by car rental companies, taxicab companies, ...

s. Grey Murphy tended to focus on below-ground work and Green Murphy on above-ground. At one stage the two companies accounted for 10% of the UK construction market. Murphy's company, as well as other Irish-owned contractors, did well during the 1960s building boom. Murphy became a member of the fashionable Irish Club in Eaton Square, London, which became a centre for industry gossip. Murphy and his company became renowned for valuing good workmanship, for paying high wages and for employing Irish nationals. His friend, the actor Joe Lynch, claimed that Murphy employed more Irishmen than any firm based in Ireland. Grey Murphy's Irish subsidiary, JMSE, was accused of bribing the senior politician Ray Burke. The company was investigated by the

Flood Tribunal The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman, was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of cor ...

established in 1997. Murphy was not called in front of the tribunal due to ill health but was interviewed by them in Guernsey, though no action was taken against Murphy or the company.

Personal life

Murphy's wife died in 1962, leaving him to raise a daughter and a three-month-old son. Murphy remarried in 1968 to the sister of his dead wife, they had no further children. In the 1960s Murphy and his brother invested heavily in the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

-based bank the International Finance and Trust Corporation. The bank collapsed and both men lost millions of pounds. Murphy was briefly in crisis, but eventually recovered around 80% of his investment. Murphy later moved to

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

and lived there as a tax exile. Murphy's second wife died in 1991. Murphy died of cancer at home in Guernsey on 2 August 2000. At the time his company was one of the top 10 largest Irish-owned building firms; Murphy was personally worth £36 million. The company entered administration in 2013 and was closed down.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Joe 1917 births 2000 deaths People from Cahersiveen Civil engineering contractors 20th-century Irish businesspeople Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom