KEVIN, who died in September, was the oldest surviving lightkeeper, and one of the last of those who joined the Service before the era of radio-telephones. His father was Keeper T.P. Murphy (1872-1940), son of Richard Murphy (1844-1901), a gasmaker in the Service. His mother was Mary Hamilton, daughter of Rick Hamilton (1845-1932). Three of his Hamilton uncles were lighthouse men. The Murphy family had its origins in Co. Wicklow, and the Hamiltons were from Goleen, Co. Cork.

Most of Kevin's childhood years were spent in Rock Island, shore-dwellings for the Fastnet, where his father was Principal Keeper from 1911 to 1919. Like the other lighthouse children he walked to school in Goleen, a distance of two and a half miles. In 1919 the family moved to Cóbh, where the Hamilton grandparents were living. Kevin, by now the eldest of five boys, attended secondary school in Cóbh until he joined the Lights in September 1925.

After only a week or so as a Supernumerary Assistant Keeper at the Baily Kevin contracted a virus and was sent home to recuperate; he never returned to the Baily as an SAK. After a short spell at Sligo Lights he was sent to the Bull Rock in February 1926.

 
This was his first real test as a lightkeeper. Because of bad weather he had to wait at Dursey Sound for three weeks, and in the end an emergency relief was carried out by a local boat. Kevin often recalled the crossing that morning from Dursey Sound in an open rowing boat manned by six Dursey Island oarsmen. When he landed on the rock the PK said to him, 'What possessed your father to let you come to a place like this?' But he never regretted following in his father's footsteps.

Kevin stayed on the Bull until the following September when he was appointed Assistant Keeper at Aranmore, Co. Donegal.

Then in December 1927 he was moved to the Spit Bank where he remained for over five years. This is a pile-light built on a sandbank off Cóbh, and at the time it was manned by two keepers by night, one by day. As there were no shore-dwellings Kevin stayed with his grandmother when ashore, an arrangement which suited both himself and the Commissioners.

After the Spit he served as AK at North Aran (1933-36), Galley Head (1936-38), Mew Island (1938-41), and Ballycotton (1941-45). In 1936 he married Catherine Collins from Bandon, Co. Cork, who accompanied him on the rest of his travels around the coast.

In 1945 Kevin was promoted Principal Keeper to Poer Head, a fog-signal station at the entrance to Cork Harbour. This was followed by the hardest part of his service, four years on the Skelligs Rock (1947-51). Reliefs were often overdue for a week or more, and the landings were mostly by derrick ('gaff-landings' as they were sometimes called).

After the Skelligs the Mizen Head (1951-57) was a relatively easy posting. Although technically a rock station it was joined to the mainland by bridge, and the relief (to Rock Island) was carried out by side-car. For Kevin it was a welcome return to Goleen.

Kevin spent the last ten years of his service as PK at the Baily. There he had the responsibility of looking after the new recruits (SAKs) as they came and went. He taught them the basics of lightkeeping, as well as a sense of duty to the Service. This was not always an easy task, but he was never too strict on those who lacked his own dedication.

On his retirement in 1967 Kevin and his wife settled in Raheny. He enjoyed many years of good health there, and up to the end of his life he retained a great interest in the Lights and in current affairs. He was predeceased by his wife and by his four brothers (one of whom, Noel, was also a lightkeeper). He is survived by his two sons, Máirtín and Séamus.

Kevin Murphy: born 18 October 1907; died 28 September 2003.

S.M