Murphys of Spur Hill

Pauline Murphy has informed the Togher Historical Assoc. of some remarkable structures in Togher which all have a Murphy/Spur Hill connection though the Families are not related. The first concerns her Father , Finbarr Murphy who lovingly painted and maintained a water pump on Maher's Lane which until recently was unknown to most. The pump , like its counterpart near the Sexton House , was walled on three sides and painted in flat green. As shown in the photo below , thought to date from the early 1990s , Finbarr was extremely proud of his charge. Today , it is believed to either be completely overgrown by vegetation and hidden from all but the most inquisitive of eyes or sadly possibly demolished. The second photo shows a 2009 shot of it , with the top of the water pump protruding from the overgrowth. Its location is just before the area where a gas pipeline was laid down not far from the railway bridge to the east of the Chetwynd Viaduct. The Togher Historical Assoc. paid a brief visit to the location but could not discover its whereabouts. It is planned to undertake a more exhaustive investigation in the near future. Pauline has kindly supplied a map outlining the original locations of all water pumps on Spur Hill.

Finbar Murphy posing beside water pump

2009 photo of location of water pump on Mahers Lane

Location of water pumps on Spur Hill

Pauline Murphy also informed the Blog of a stone which is hidden in plain sight at the junction of Sarsfield Road and Doughcloyne Hill. Her Father placed the stone there in the 1970s or 1980s as a marker for the Deanrock Bowling club from which to start their scores on Sunday mornings. Legend has it that her Father relocated it from excavation works being carried out on the old City Walls! The truth of this claim may never be known. The stone marker is nowadays several feet further in from its initial placement , having been pushed into the bushes by a car crash several years ago. Eamonn Pearse traveled to the location to capture some images of the stone as it is today.

Stone at junction of Sarsfield Road/Spur Hill

Zoomed out shot of stone marker in bushes

Close up of stone marker at corner of Sarsfield Road

Pauline also informed the Blog of an old Grotto halfway down Mahers Lane which was erected by the owners of the adjoining farmland. This particular Murphy Family , no relation , may have constructed the shrine in 1954 which was a Marian Year in the R.C. Religion. Kathleen O'Keeffe confirmed that she used to visit it in the early 1960s. Originally it would have had a statue and kneelers , but nowadays all have been removed and the site is slightly overgrown. Pauline has supplied a photo from the 1970s showing the shrine as it would have looked back then. Kathleen O'Keeffe photographed some close ups of the site as it is today.

 1970s photo of shrine/grotto on Mahers Lane

Modern photo taken by Pauline Murphy

 Photo by Kathleen O'Keeffe

Close up view of remnant