Edward Murphy (1948-2014)
In 1978, the first ever Librarian was appointed to the National College of Art and Design (NCA). Charged with the remit of developing a collection to support the teaching and learning of staff and students of the college, Edward Murphy began a process that would continue for the next 35 years: to build Ireland’s finest, most extensive research-oriented collection of books and journals on international contemporary art, design and photography.
When he took up the post, the library collection numbered fewer than 600 titles, occupying a mere 20 shelves in one room in the former home of the College of Art on Kildare Street. In 2013, upon Eddie’s retirement, there were 92,940 titles recorded in the accessions register and several dozens more awaiting entry, stacked in not-so-neat piles beside, beneath and on top of his desk.
At the helm of NCAD Library, Eddie was first and foremost an acquisitions librarian, tirelessly researching new artists, subjects and publications that would enrich the intellectual life of the college community. Art journals, newspapers, trade catalogues, book fairs, museum shows – his research took him around Ireland and further afield to London, Paris, Cologne and New York in the years before the internet transformed the information landscape. He engaged with students in the library, visited their work spaces and met with lecturers in their offices, ever curious about their interests and how the library might support their work.
In tandem, Eddie reached out to the wider visual arts community with visits to exhibitions and artists’ studios, collecting and retaining all of the available invitation cards, press releases and catalogues. Over time, a few boxes of material grew into a collection of some 200 metres of Irish visual arts documentation – the contents of more than 75 filing cabinets.
This collection forms the basis of the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL), formally established in 1997 as a national resource for the whole island of Ireland, with recognition and support from the Arts Council. With the committed input of our team as well as associates and donors, NIVAL actively documents all aspects of Irish visual art from 1900 to the present day and, as such, is building a record of Ireland’s visual cultural history. From a small independent initiative, Eddie’s ‘Project NIVAL’ has developed into a resource of international importance. If you were to put our current holdings back-to-back, they would be taller than Carrauntoohil!
In so many aspects of life, Eddie was a collector. He gathered an extraordinary volume of works by Irish artists, many of whom were close personal friends. His collection of Italian silk ties, numbering in the hundreds, illustrated the vibrancy, boldness and colour that were so much a part of his character. He loved music, story-telling and witty anecdotes and was passionate about opera with its intricate narratives and heightened drama. With a particular insight into human nature and sociopolitics, Eddie appointed and oversaw a team of knowledgeable staff responsible for the uniquely welcoming and creative environment of NCAD Library. And while he liked to boast of those who had gone on to excel in other areas, Eddie was distinctly proud of those who stayed – for 5, 20, 15 years or more – and contributed in no small way to ‘his library’.
Staff also proposed the renaming of the library in honour of Eddie’s inspiring influence, both personal and professional. In 2013, with the unanimous support of the college Board, the name was changed to the Edward Murphy Library to mark his enduring contribution to life and learning at NCAD. In the same year, the Royal Hibernian Academy awarded Eddie its gold medal for contributions to the arts in Ireland.
Edward Murphy passed away before his time on 17 May 2014. He was a man of great vision, dedication and enormous personality and NIVAL is his living legacy.