100th member of the family!
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■ Matt Murphy had lots to celebrate this week after welcoming the 100th member of his family into the world, great-grandchild Alan Savage. Eighty-five-year-old Matt has 11 children of his own, as well as 38 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. LOCAL MAN Matthew ' Matt' Murphy had lots to celebrate this week after welcoming the 100th member of his family into the world, great grandchild Alan Savage. Matt, from Man O'war, is 'over the moon' thanks to the arrival of baby Alan, to the delight of parents Keith and his partner Mandy. Keith is Matt's grandson and Alan is his 49th great grandchild. The 85-year-old has eleven children of his own - seven sons Gerry, John, Matt Jr, Frank, Paddy, Tim and George and four daughters Marie, Kathleen, Ann (grandmother of baby Alan) and Peg, as well as 38 grandchildren, 49 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. 'He is absolutely delighted and can't believe this is the 100th addition to the family,' Matt's son Gerry told the Fingal Independent. 'We were counting it out and had to double check that we had the numbers right because there are so many of us! 'It's a big landmark to reach, you would have to knock on a lot of doors to find someone who has a family of 100. 'He's just glad he doesn't have to buy Christmas presents for all his grandchildren and great grandchildren.' Gerry said almost all the family live close to Matt in the north County Dublin area, apart from daughter Peg and her family who are based in Wexford, so Matt is never short of visitors young and old. Baby Alan arrived on January 11th and was named after Keith's uncle who passed away two years ago this month. 'It is a great milestone and Dad will be 86 in February so we'll probably have a big family get together then to mark both occasions,' said Gerry. 'We'll need a big room to fit all of us in,' he laughed. Originally from Wexford, Matt moved to Man O'war to take up a position on Nancy and Barry Cassins farm, where he worked for decades and continues to visit on a regular basis. After his wife left, Matt reared his eleven children as a single father. 'He moved up here from Wexford in 1967 to start work on the farm and he brought every one of us up on his own,' explained Gerry. 'My sister Kathleen Bolton, minded the little ones while my father was working seven days a week to provide for us. 'We're a very close family and we all live in Fingal bar my sister Peg and her family and my daughter Alison Rooney Murphy, who is probably the furthest away as she is in Australia at the moment. We're all there for each other if anything pops up or goes wrong so there was great excitement about the arrival of the 100th member of the family, we were all delighted,' said Gerry.
