James Murphy (architect)

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James Murphy

St. Patrick's, Norwich (1879
Born 1834
County Tipperary, Ireland
Died 1907
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Nationality USA
Known for Architect, partner in Keely & Murphy and James Murphy

James Murphy, FAIA, (1834–1907) was an Irish-American architect active in late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century New England, who designed numerous Roman Catholic churches and related structures. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Early life and career

Murphy was born in 1834 in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 1852, he emigrated to the United States along with his brother Michael. Soon after his arrival, he entered the Brooklyn, New York firm of Patrick C. Keely as an apprentice. Keely was already an established architect specializing in ecclesiastical design. Eventually, Murphy became a partner in the firm, operating as Keely & Murphy. Murphy would later marry Keely's sister-in-law.

Architectural practice

By the mid-1860s, the duo opened a branch office in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1875, the partnership was dissolved and Murphy established his own practice.[1] Murphy continued to specialize in church design for the ever-growing number of Roman Catholic parishes during the late nineteenth century, particularly in the southern New England area of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Murphy employed his nephew, Ambrose J. Murphy, who would later partner with Frank R. Hindle. Some time around 1900, Murphy established a new office in Boston, Massachusetts.

Personal life

James Murphy married Patrick Charles Keely's sister-in-law. Murphy had a brother, Michael Murphy, with whom he emigrated to America. The architect, Ambrose J. Murphy, was his nephew. Murphy died April 18, 1907 at the Holy Ghost Hospital (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[2]

Legacy

Ambrose J. Murphy continued James Murphy's firm after 1907. He entered into partnership with Frank R. Hindle to form the firm of Murphy & Hindle, which practiced architecture in Rhode Island until the 1940s. That firm also specialized in church design.[3]


  • Sacred Heart Church Springfield, MA (demolished)
  • St. Peter Church Great Barrington, MA
  • St. Mary Church, Pawtucket, RI[4]
  • Holy Trinity Church, Central Falls, Rhode Island (first church, demolished - some glass from that building still exists in the school)[4]
  • St. Margaret Church, Rumford, East Providence, Rhode Island[4] (original church, replaced by Robinson, Greene and Beretta)
  • St. Ambrose Church, Lincoln, RI
  • Holy Name of Jesus Church, Providence Rhode Island[4] (with Ambrose J. Murphy)
  • St. Edward Church, Providence, RI[4]
  • Immaculate Conception Church, Easthampton, MA
  • Holy Rosary Church, Holyoke, MA
  • St. Patrick Church, Whitinsville, MA (first church, replaced with historic church by Charles D. Maginnis)[5]
  • St. Mary Church, Turners Falls, MA
  • St. Patrick Church, Bridgeport, CT (lower church, completed by Dwyer & McMahon)
  • St. Rose Church, Meriden, CT
  • St. Francis of Assisi Church, Naugatuck, CT
  • St. Francis Church, New Haven, CT
  • St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Milford, MA
  • St. Mary Church, Bethel, CT (replaced by new church in 1993)
  • 1864 St. Gregory Church, Dorchester, MA (first church, rebuilt by Patrick W. Ford)
  • 1868 St. Mary of the Annunciation Church, Cambridge, MA
  • 1868 St. Peter's Church, Hartford, CT[6][7]
  • 1869 St. Mary Church, Providence, Rhode Island[4]
  • 1869 St. Bernard Church, Fitchburg, MA[8]
  • 1874 St. Joseph Church, Somerville, MA[9]
  • 1874 St. Mary's Church, New Haven, CT
    St. Mary's Church, New Haven (1874)
  • 1875 Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Gardner, MA (burned 1887, replaced by Fuller & Delano, Worcester) [10]
  • 1875 Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist Stamford, CT[11]
  • 1875 St. Joseph Church, Lynn, MA (completed in 1885)[12]
  • 1879 St. Patrick's Cathedral, Norwich, CT[13]
  • 1881 Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Newton, MA
  • 1885 St. Louis Church, Fall River, MA (demolished in 2010)
  • 1889 Holy Trinity Church, Central Falls, RI
  • 1890 St. Edward the Confessor Church, Medfield, MA (first church, replaced around 1978)
  • 1900 St. Patrick Church, Lewiston, ME (closed in 2009) [14]

Works attributed to Murphy

See also

References

  1. ↑ St. Patrick's (accessed 17 January 2011)
  2. ↑ RIHS, Murphy, Hindle and Wright Architects Records (Accessed 17 January 2011)
  3. ↑ Dr. Kevin F. Decker, Department of History, State University of New York at Plattsburgh
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Norton, Paul F. (2001). Rhode Island Stained Glass An Historical Guide. Dover, New Hampshire: William L. Bauhan. 
  5. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=nTIAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT91&dq=St.+Patrick+Church,+Whitinsville&hl=en&ei=jz1ZTYSHAtORgQeZ_uTDDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=St.%20Patrick%20Church%2C%20Whitinsville&f=false first St. Patrick Church
  6. ↑ St. Peter Church
  7. ↑ Parish History
  8. ↑ SEC Report
  9. ↑ History
  10. ↑ Gardiner Town Report
  11. ↑ Parish History
  12. ↑ History
  13. ↑ Historic Buildings of Connecticut
  14. ↑ St. Patrick's holds final Mass
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