A headstone is unveiled at Glasnevin Cemetery for a civillian mistakenly killed during the Easter Rising.
A headstone in memory of Edward Murphy from Dublin, who was shot dead during the 1916 Rising, is unveiled at Glasnevin Cemetery. The married father of four children was mistakenly killed after tipping his hat to someone he knew on his way home from work.
He was one of over 260 civilians killed during the 1916 Rising.
Edward Murphy's grandson Donald Gordon explains the effect the death had on his grandmother,
It was horrendous.
Edward Murphy served with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles in the Anglo-Boer War in 1902. His great-great-grandson Samuel Egan finds Edward Murphy an inspirational figure.
Working as a waiter, Edward Murphy was sent to the Fairyhouse Races on Easter Monday 1916 by his employer. The next day, as Rising was under way, Edward Murphy attempted to return to his home at Upper Pembroke Street. At Stephen’s Green he tipped his hat to someone he knew, which drew the wrong attention to him, and he was shot by an unknown gunman.
Historian Conor Dodd states that many people trying to go about their business were caught up in the crossfire, but in the case of Edward Murphy,
He was just unlucky enough really to wave at the wrong person at the wrong time.
At Glasnevin Cemetery, the British Ambassador to Ireland Dominick Chilcott lays a wreath Edward Murphy’s headstone. Tribute is also paid by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers, and the chairman of the Glasnevin Trust John Green.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 25 October 2015. The reporter is Aisling Kenny.
