Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, p 147:
Kevin Murphy

Like his three brother priests, William Kevin Murphy attended Nudgee College before going to St Patrick's at Manly. The name Kevin took precedence in honour of the popular Superior of the Warwick Convent for 44 years, Mother Kevin [O'Brien] who was a great friend of the Murphy family and also the aunt of Mons. John English. He was ordained with Jim Kelly and his brother James in St Stephen's Cathedral in 1913. Kevin, born in 1886, was two years older than brother James so perhaps he had worked on the farm at Swan Creek, outside Warwick, before 'going away'.

He served in many places - Rosalie, Ipswich, Helidon, Wynnum, Pittsworth, Stanthorpe, Nanango, Crow's Nest, Cannon Hill, North Ipswich, Esk for 9 years, and finally when his health began to fail, he went as assistant to his brother Fr Patrick at Corinda.

In the panegyric, Archbishop Duhig said, 'In Fr Kevin Murphy there was a happy combination of natural and supernatural gifts that combined to make him an ideal priest. From his parents he had inherited the strong Faith so characteristic of the Irish Catholic stock that in the days of Bishop O'Quinn came to settle on the Darling Downs. In his 27 years of priesthood no company could ever be dull which was brightened by his presence ... If I may say a word for myself, let it be that Fr Kevin Murphy was very dear to me, first because he was one of the three priests that I ordained in this Cathedral soon after my coming to Brisbane as Coadjutor Archbishop and then because I believe that Ordination inaugurated a new epoch for the Archdiocese. Now the first of them has gone to his eternal reward.'

Fr Kevin died in the Mater Hospital at the comparatively young age of 53 years, on 9th October 1940. He was laid to rest at Nudgee.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Martin.)

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Prayer Calendar: Deceased Priests who have ministered the Catholic Faith throughout Toowoomba and districts, 1864–2025, Compiled by Annie Carrett, Diocesan Archivist, 2001, Updated by Gabrielle Saide, Diocesan Archivist, 2023:
Rev William Kevin Murphy, died 9 Oct 1940

William Kevin Murphy was born at Warwick on 6 January 1886, the son of Timothy and Bridget Murphy, who lived at Swan Creek, in the Warwick district. [There were 10 children in the family. 3 of his brothers, Patrick John, Michael Garrett and James {qq.v.}, became priests and 2 sisters became nuns. Furthermore, a nephew became a priest and 3 nieces nuns.] Kevin was himself named after Sister Kevin, a pioneering nun in the Warwick district. After some time at Nudgee College, seminary studies were undertaken at St Patrick's College, Manly; and on their completion he was ordained in St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, together with his brother James, on 8 December 1913. As a priest of Brisbane Archdiocese, he served in the following places: assistant priest, Rosalie, Ipswich, Helidon, Wynnum, Pittsworth, Nanango (there 1914-1920), Stanthorpe (before 1921?); parish priest, Crow's Nest, Esk (there for 9 years incl.1926), Cannon Hill (1933-1934); assistant priest, North Ipswich (there 1936 & 1937) [as assistant to his brother James], Corinda [as assistant to his brother Patrick] (1938-1940). In October 1940, he went into hospital for the removal of gall stones; but his liver proved to be in a hopeless state. He died at the Mater Hospital, Brisbane, on Wednesday, 9 October 1940, and was buried in Nudgee Cemetery, on Friday, 11 October, at the conclusion of Requiem Mass in St Stephen's Cathedral. Archbishop Duhig presided and preached; while the deceased's brother, Michael Garrett Murphy, was celebrant.

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.