5th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers (British Army)
Died:
10/05/1915 (Killed in Action)
Age:
20
Summary
James Neville Herbert Murphy was the only son of Rev. William Alexander E Murphy and Isabella Charlotte Murphy. He was born in County Donegal about 1895. The family moved to Desertmartin in 1897. After Rev. Murphy died in 1907, the family moved to Dublin. James was educated at St. Columba's College, Rathfarnham. When the war broke out was in the Medical School at Trinity College, Dublin. Second Murphy was serving with the 5th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, but was attached to the 2nd Battalion. Second Lieutenant James Neville H Murphy was killed in action near Ypres on Monday 10th May 1915. He was 20 years old.
Further Information
James Neville Herbert Murphy was the only son of Rev. William Alexander E Murphy and Isabella Charlotte Murphy. He was born in County Donegal about 1895.
Family: William Alexander Edie Murphy, Isabella Charlotte Murphy, Nannie Mercia Murphy (born about 1892), Charlotte Margaret Murphy (born about 1894), James Neville Herbert Murphy (born about 1895). All three children were born in County Donegal.
The Rev William Alexander Edie Murphy, B.A., M.A., Rector of Desertmartin from 1897 until he died in 1907 aged 60 years. With him is his wife Isabella Charlotte and their family of three. Mamie Marcia is on the left and James Neville Herbert is in the middle of the photograph. This only son became a Second Lieutenant in the British Army and was killed in action in France, aged 20 years.
The Rev William Alexander Edie Murphy, B.A., M.A., was Rector of Desertmartin from 1897 until he died in 1907 aged 60 years. He also ministered at Carrigart and Carndonagh, County Donegal, for a long term of years. James’s grandfather, Rev Mungo Neville Thompson, M.A., was the revered rector of Clonmany and Carndonagh for upwards of forty years.
The 1901 census lists James Neville as age 6 living with the family at house 3 in Dromore, Desertmartin, County Londonderry.
James was educated at St. Columba's College, Rathfarnham. The 1911 census lists James Neville as age 16 boarding at house 12.1 in Taylor’s Grange, Whitechurch, Dublin.
The 1911 census also lists James N H as age 16 living with the family at house 2 in Waltham Terrace, Blackrock No. 2, Dublin.
When the war broke out was in the Medical School at Trinity College, Dublin.
Second Lieutenant James Neville Herbert Murphy was serving with the 5th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, but was attached to the 2nd Battalion.
Second Lieutenant Murphy went to the Front on 2nd May, attached to the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Second Lieutenant James Neville H Murphy was killed in action near Ypres on Monday 10th May 1915. He was 20 years old.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 18th May 1915: Second Lieutenant J N H Murphy
Second Lieutenant J N H Murphy, who was killed in France on the 10th May, was the only son of the late Rev. W A E Murphy, .M.A., who ministered successfully at Carrigart and Carndonagh, county Donegal, and Desertmartin, County Derry, for a long term of years. His grandfather, Rev Mungo Neville Thompson, M.A., was the revered rector of Clonmany and Carndonagh for upwards of forty years, and in his memory a beautiful stained glass window stands in the latter church. It is also of pathetic interest that a cousin (Captain Dorman of the Muster Fusiliers) of Second Lieutenant Murphy is also returned as killed in the past week, and his uncle, Dr Harry Thompson, is at present at home wounded from the front. The deceased was an officer in the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
From unknown publication dated 22nd May 1915: 2nd Lieut Jas. Neville Herbert Murphy
Second Lieutenant James Herbert Neville Murphy, 5th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, attached 2nd Battalion, who was killed in action on the 9th May near Ypres, aged 20, was the only son of the late Rev. W A E Murphy of Desertmartin, County Derry, and of Mrs Murphy, Blackrock. He was educated at St. Columba's College, Rathfarnham, and previous to the war, was a student of medicine in Trinity College, Dublin.
His cousin, Captain Dorman of the Munster Fusiliers, was also killed that week. His uncle, Dr Harry Thompson, was at home wounded from the front at the time.
Second Lieutenant J N H Murphy has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
The CWGC record Second Lieutenant James Neville Herbert Murphy as the son of Isabella C Murphy, of 2 Waltham Terrace, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, and the late Rev. W A E Murphy.
All images courtesy of Sam Hudson, Desertmartin. Information provided here is courtesy of the excellent research undertaken by Mr Sam Hudson.
