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Celebrate one of Ireland’s best-loved names with Murphy gifts on the Irish National Tartan, from woven blankets and garden flags to Christmas ornaments. Murphy comes from Ó Murchadha, with historic families in Tyrone, Sligo and Wexford.
Murphy is the English form of the Irish Ó Murchadha, “descendant of Murchadh,” a personal name Patrick Woulfe renders as “sea-warrior.” Three separate families carried it in medieval Ireland: a Cinel Eoghain line in Tyrone, an Uí Fiachrach family on the southern shore of Sligo Bay, and a branch of the Uí Ceinnsealaigh in County Wexford, chiefs of Uí Feilme in what became the barony of Ballaghkeen. By 1890 Murphy stood first among all Irish surnames, with Cork, Dublin and Wexford leading the count.
Wexford also gave the name its most famous bearer. Father John Murphy, the curate of Boolavogue, led insurgents at Oulart Hill, Enniscorthy and Vinegar Hill in the 1798 rising before he was hanged at Tullow on 2 July that year, and the ballad “Boolavogue” still carries his memory.
The Murphy range brings that story into the home. A woven blanket, two garden flag designs and framed and ceramic Christmas ornaments are set on the Irish National Tartan, joined by an accent mug, a cork coaster set, a wall pennant, crest and harp T-shirts, and a novelty license plate for the car. For the full family story, read our Murphy surname history.
