W.R.E. Murphy
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William Richard English-Murphy, DSO MC known as W.R.E. Murphy (1890–1975) was an Irish soldier and policeman. He served as an officer with the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and later in the National Army. In the Civil War he was second in overall command of the National Army from January to May 1923. He was first Irish Commissioner of the
Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána. History 19th century The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and ...
and the last Commissioner of the force before its merger with 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 ...
in 1925. Thereafter he was the Deputy Commissioner of the Gardaí until his retirement in 1955.


British Army

Murphy was born in
Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
on 26 January 1890. His parents and grandparents died when he was a child. He and his sister Mae were raised by relatives in Belfast. He was completing his Masters Degree at Queens University Belfast when he followed the call of John Redmond to join the war effort and ensure Irish Independence. Ulster Regiments rejected him because he was Catholic. Seeking a regiment that treated Irish volunteers with respect, he joined the British Army in
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
in 1915 as an officer cadet in the
South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...
. He served in the
Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...
in 1915 and was wounded, but returned to action for the start of the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
in July 1916. He became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion; the South Staffordshire Regiment in August 1918, reaching the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel. In 1918, his regiment were posted to the Italian Front, at the
Piave River The Piave ( la, Plavis, German: ''Ploden'') is a river in northern Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice. One of its tributaries is the Boite. In 1809 it was the scene of a battle du ...
, where they were when the armistice was declared on 4 November 1918. He was granted the rank of substantive lieutenant colonel on the retired list on 16 May 1922. After he returned to Ireland he resumed his career as a teacher. At some point he joined the
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
– a guerrilla organisation fighting to end
British rule in Ireland British rule in Ireland spanned several centuries and involved British control of parts, or entirety, of the island of Ireland. British involvement in Ireland began with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Most of Ireland gained indepen ...
.


Civil War

In December 1921, the
Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
was signed between British and Irish leaders, resulting in the setting up of the Irish Free State. Conflict over the Treaty among Irish nationalists ultimately led to the outbreak of Civil War in June 1922. In 1922 Murphy enlisted as a general in the new National Army of the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
. After the start of the Civil War, he was put in command of troops charged with taking posts held by the
anti-Treaty IRA The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
in
Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
. At the
Battle of Killmallock The Battle of Kilmallock took place between 25 July and 5 August 1922 in County Limerick, Ireland. It was one of the largest engagements of the Irish Civil War. It consisted of ten days of fighting in the countryside round Kilmallock in Cou ...
in July–August 1922, he was second in command to
Eoin O'Duffy Eoin O'Duffy (born Owen Duffy; 28 January 1890 – 30 November 1944) was an Irish military commander, police commissioner and politician. O'Duffy was the leader of the Monaghan Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a prominent figure in ...
. His troops successfully dislodged the anti-Treaty IRA from positions around
Killmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...
in Limerick but Murphy was criticised for his tendency to 'dig in' and resort to
trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became a ...
rather than rapid offensive action. Afterwards, he was put in overall command of Free State forces in
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 ...
until January 1923. He lobbied
Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, L ...
, commander in chief, for 250 extra troops, to bring his command up to 1,500 and help to put down the guerrilla resistance there. In the early stages of the guerrilla war he organised large scale 'sweeps' to break up republican concentrations in
west Cork West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbe ...
and east Kerry. These met with little success, however. Murphy exercised overall command in the county but day-to-day operations were largely run by Brigadier
Paddy Daly Paddy Daly (1888–1957) sometimes referred to as Paddy O'Daly, served in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence''Michael Collins: A Life'' by James Mackay, p. 132 and subsequently held the rank of major-general in the I ...
, of the
Dublin Guard The Dublin Guard was a unit of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and then of the Irish National Army in the ensuing Civil War. Foundation In May 1921 the Active Service Unit of the Irish Republican Army's Dublin Brigad ...
. In October, in response to continuing guerrilla attacks on his troops, Murphy ordered a curfew to be put into place in
Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...
from 10:30 until 5:39 every night. In December, Murphy wrote to Mulcahy that the, "Irregular nti-Treatyorganisation here is well nigh broken up", and suggested the end of the war in the county was in sight. His optimistic prediction proved premature, however. On 20 December, Murphy sentenced four captured republican fighters to death under the
Public Safety Act The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is a preventive detention law under which a person is taken into custody to prevent them from acting harmfully against "the security of the state or the maintenance of the public order" in the ...
for possession of arms and ammunition. However, the sentences were to be called off if local guerrilla activity ceased. Humphrey Murphy, the local IRA Brigade commander, threatened to shoot eight named government supporters in reprisal if the men were executed. Eventually their sentence was commuted to penal servitude. In January 1923, Murphy was promoted from his command in Kerry to "responsibility for operations and organisation at the national level" in the army. Paddy Daly took over as commanding officer in Kerry. Murphy later voiced the opinion that Daly had been a bad choice, given his implication in the
Ballyseedy massacre The executions during the Irish Civil War took place during the guerrilla phase of the Irish Civil War (June 1922 – May 1923). This phase of the war was bitter, and both sides, the government forces of the Irish Free State and the anti-Treat ...
and other events of March 1923, in which up to 30 anti-Treaty prisoners were killed in the county.


Police career

Murphy left the National Army after the end of the Civil War in May 1923 and became first Irish commissioner of the
Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána. History 19th century The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and ...
. He later became deputy commissioner of 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 ...
, when DMP was merged with the new national police force in 1925. He held this post until his retirement in 1955. Murphy was to the forefront of efforts to close down Dublin's
red light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...
the
Monto Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in the northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street (formerly Gloucester Street) in ...
in the early 1920s. Between 1923 and 1925, religious missions led by
Frank Duff Francis Michael Duff, L.O.M. (7 June 1889 – 7 November 1980), known as Frank Duff, is known especially for bringing attention to the role of the laity during the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church as well as for founding ...
of the
Legion of Mary The Legion of Mary ( la, Legio Mariae, postnominal abbreviation L.O.M.) is an international association of members of the Catholic Church who serve it on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, as a Marian movement by the layman and civi ...
, a Roman Catholic organisation, and Fr. R.S. Devane worked to close down the brothels. They received the co-operation of Murphy in his role as Dublin Police Commissioner, and the campaign ended with 120 arrests and the closure of the brothels following a police raid on 12 March 1925. Murphy also held the post for a time of president of the
Irish Amateur Boxing Association The Irish Athletic Boxing Association Ltd. (IABA) is the national governing body for amateur boxing on the island of Ireland, developing and controlling the sport. Founded in 1911, the IABA operates from the National Stadium (Ireland), Nation ...
.
He died in 1975.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Wre Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Chief Commissioners of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Garda Síochána officers Irish people of World War I People of the Irish War of Independence People of the Irish Civil War (Pro-Treaty side) Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members South Staffordshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I People from County Wexford 1975 deaths 1890 births Irish officers in the British Army National Army (Ireland) generals