Chelsea supporter Tommy had a desire to help people
By Éadaoin Ní Flaithearta
A POPULAR Springfield man and former Dublin Bus driver has been remembered as a confidant to many and a committed family man, after he passed away earlier this month aged 82.
Tommy Murphy previously featured in The Echo in January, after he suffered a fall in a secluded spot just outside The Square Shopping Centre and he praised the security guards and a couple who helped him after his fall.
Tommy Murphy sadly passed away
He had been undergoing treatment for bowel cancer at St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Centre at St James’ Hospital at the time, and later went into Tallaght University Hospital, for treatment unrelated to the fall, and passed away on March 2 after contracting Covid-19.
Tommy lived in The Liberties until the age of six, when he and his family moved to Dolphin’s Barn. He played football for Rathdrum United FC – named after the road he grew up on – and attended the local Christian Brothers school.
After he finished school, Tommy had a number of jobs, including in Urney’s Chocolate Factory in Tallaght, and he also worked in various roles in Scotland and Birmingham throughout his teens, but was always happy to be back home.
Tommy was also a lifelong Chelsea FC supporter, and in his younger years played darts and football.
When he was in his early 20s, Tommy and his friends went to the Olympia Ballroom in town and he met the love of his life, Margaret, who he was married to for over 50 years before she passed away in 2016.
Talking about how his parents met, Tommy’s son, Robert, said: “He was in the ballroom with his mates, and he saw a girl that he liked.
“The big thing at that time was to meet at the Clery’s clock on O’Connell Street, so he gave my mam his watch and said he’d meet her at the Clery’s clock the following Saturday – and the rest is history.”
Tommy and Margaret moved to Springfield in 1972, and two years later their son, Robert, was born. The trio formed a strong family unit, and in 1982 Tommy began working as a bus driver for Dublin Bus.
For over five decades, Tommy worked on Tallaght bus routes, mainly the 77, the 50 and the 65, and he was a proud SIPTU member and shop steward.
His desire to help people extended beyond his job, and Robert remembers his dad as a direct, reliable and fair man.
“He was the go-to man,” explained Robert. “He solved every problem I’ve ever had. My mam was brilliant in her own way, but he was the main man that me and my friends would go to. He was very fair and direct.
“He was there for people if they needed him, and he’d be having chinwags on the road with the neighbours.
“He was a great listener, and he’d give people who were talking to him his full attention.”
Tommy, beloved husband of the late Margaret and dear father of Robert, is sadly missed by his loving son, Robert’s partner Hilda, brother Harry, sister Kathleen, brothers-in-law Billy, Paddy, Richie, Gus and Paddy Melia, sisters-in-law Patricia, Ann and Amellia, nephews, nieces, relatives, friends, and Robert’s friends Steve, Arch, Tony, Andrew and Joseph.
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