Peter David Murphy (21 January 1923 – 3 June 2011) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster, best known as the host of the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

's ''Cross Country Quiz''.

Background and early life

Murphy was born in Huntington,

Clonegal Clonegal, officially Clonegall ( ; ), is a village in the southeast of County Carlow, Ireland. It is in a rural setting, close to the border between counties Wexford and Carlow, 5 km from Bunclody, County Wexford and 22 km from Carl ...

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

and was the youngest of the three children (and only son) of John and Julia Murphy. John Murphy (1879–1961) was farm manager at Huntington Castle, while Julia was a shop assistant in the nearby village of Clonegal. He was educated at the local national school and, later, Carnew Vocational School, before graduating to Warrenstown Agricultural College,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. Throughout his twenties, Murphy helped form his local branch of

Macra na Feirme Macra na Feirme (; officially meaning "Stalwarts of the land") is an Irish voluntary rural youth organisation. The organisation provides a social outlet for members in sport, travel, public speaking, performing arts, community involvement and agr ...

and became secretary of the organisation's regional executive, during which time he won several medals for public speaking and debating. He also involved in sport, and competed at minor, junior and senior level inter-county Gaelic football for his native Carlow. He also played cricket and handball.

Career

Murphy was appointed National Organiser of Macra na Feirme in 1953, and played a role in the formation of the National Farmers Association in 1955. His work brought him around Ireland and he found himself being introduced as "the man who knew more people in the country than anyone else" and "the voice of rural Ireland". This, together with a distinctive speaking voice, found him in demand as a presenter of Sponsored Radio Programmes, between 1961 and 1979, for a nine different companies including: Whelehans of Finglas,

Irish Farmers Journal The ''Irish Farmers Journal'' is a weekly newspaper (published Thursdays) which provides farming news, specialist advice, market data and country living features to the Irish agricultural industry. As of October 2019, it reportedly had a weekly ...

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

, Nitrogen Éireann,

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Iris ...

, Associated Livestock Marts, Farming Independent, Hygeia of Galway and Goulding Fertilisers. Throughout the 1960s Murphy began to develop a radio and television career with RTÉ that would last into the 1980s. Works on radio included Country Call, Meet The People and Around The Country. However, it was through television that Murphy was to become most widely recognised. His break came on the 1960s agricultural series ''Land Mark''. This led to the roles of question-master and question-setter (and later on as adjudicator) on the joint RTÉ/BBC production of Cross Country Quiz. Between 1973 and 1988 Murphy compiled a total of 14 quiz books based on the programme - all of them best sellers in the year of their publication. Murphy formally retired in 1992, but continued to accept invites as a quizmaster all over the country for many years after and continued to compile crosswords for several newspapers, including the '' Sunday Independent''.

Personal life

Murphy married Bridie McEvoy in 1967. They had four children and three grandchildren.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110718223402/http://www.news4.ie/april06/index.htm *https://stillslibrary.rte.ie/indexplus/image/2180/026.html *http://www.goreyecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhcwgbsngb {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Peter 1923 births 2011 deaths People from County Carlow RTÉ Radio presenters RTÉ television presenters