THE Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr Michael Murphy (72), died last night after a long illness.
Dr Murphy succeeded the controversial Bishop Cornelius Lucey in 19 attempted to ensure that his episcopate would mend fences particularly between the churches in Cork.
Michael Murphy was born in Kilmichael parish in 1924, the youngest of a family of four. In 1937 he entered St Finbarr's seminary at Farranferris as a boarder to begin his secondary education.
He left Cork to study for the priesthood at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, in 1942. He was ordained a priest of the Cork diocese on June 19th, 1949. The first six years of his priesthood were spent in a parish in Washington DC, where he worked with migrant families living in poor housing conditions.
On his return to Ireland he was appointed curate for two years to Ballingeary (Uibh Laoire parish) and was then transferred for four years to St Mary's Cathedral, Cork.
In July 1961 he was appointed one of four Cork priests assigned to St James's Missionary Society to work in the Peruvian Andes among a people who live at 9,000 feet above sea level.
In 1964 he returned to Cork and was appointed curate at the city's cathedral in August of that year.
On February 18th, 1965, he left to start work on what would later become the Cork and Ross Diocesan Mission to Peru.
He served in the parish of Trujillo during the early years of the mission and remained committed throughout his life to its development.
He also oversaw the extension of the mission in 1992 to include part of the city of Manta in Ecuador.
Following his work on the mission in Peru, Father Murphy was appointed president of his former college Farranferris - and in April 1976 he was nominated coadjutor bishop of Cork and Ross. On May 23rd, 1976, he was ordained bishop and appointed parish priest of Douglas parish. Then, on the retirement of the late Bishop Lucey, he became Bishop of Cork and Ross on August 23rd, marking 20 years in that office this year.