BORN at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, the fourth of five sisters, Bronagh Murphy spent the first years of her life in Carlingford, Co Louth, where her mother lives today and which she always saw as home.
When Bronagh was six her father, who was master of Carlingford Lough, was moved to Kilkeel in Co Down.
It was at school that Bronagh first developed her passion for literature and drama, ranging from the work of Tennessee Williams to the great Irish poets, Yeats, Kavanagh and Heaney. After moving to London with sisters Deirdre and Bernadette, she enlisted as an auxiliary nurse. She later completed a state registered nurse (SRN) course in Belfast, followed by a course in midwifery in Dublin. After working as a nurse in Baghdad to save money for a drama course, she returned to London to study acting at the Drama Studio in Ealing, whose alumni include Forest Whitaker and Emily Watson.
Bronagh moved to New York in the 1980s to pursue her interest in acting. Heavily involved in the New York Irish Arts Center, then under the artistic direction of Jim Sheridan, she appeared in several acclaimed theatrical productions and films, including a starring role in the award-winning Elysian Fields. During her time in New York, where she became an American citizen, she continued to work as a nurse, particularly in the care of terminally ill patients, such as those suffering with Aids and cancer.
It was in New York that Bronagh met the Irish-born playwright, Honor Molloy.With Bronagh's finely tuned ear for naturalistic dialogue allied to Honor's poetic lyricism and concern for social justice, they created a powerful, grittily humorous and deeply moving account of the lives of five different Dublin women, all in the throes of labour pains: Maiden Voyages.
Enthusiastically received by the critics, Maiden Voyagesalso enjoyed a London production.
Having returned to Ireland in the 1990s, Bronagh moved to Dublin. For the past 10 years she worked at the HARI unit at the Rotunda Hospital, which offers women IVF treatment for infertility. In 2007 she completed an MSc in reproduction and development at Bristol University.
In June 2008, Bronagh was diagnosed with a form of leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. In October, Maiden Voyageswas performed at the Liberty Hall Theatre in Dublin to great acclaim from a sell-out audience of over 400.
Bronagh fought the disease with her customary spirit, humour and fortitude. She finally succumbed on February 2nd and was buried in St Michael’s Church, Carlingford two days later. Friends and family came from America, Israel, England and throughout Ireland to pay tribute to a remarkable woman. Her extraordinary generosity of spirit, passion for people and life and infectious sense of humour will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
DL