William Martin Murphy (1845–1919)

William Martin Murphy was a businessman, politician and engineering contractor who built tramways and railways and owned newspapers and other businesses in Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As an employer, he fought unions by locking out strikers and bringing in alternative workers.

He was born near Castletownbere in the far south of Ireland, where his father was a building contractor. His father died when he was 18 and he took on the business. He moved to Cork in 1867 and then Dublin in 1875, where his numerous business interests included a hotel, a department store, two national newspapers and the Dublin United Tram Company. He built additional horse-drawn lines for the tram company and from 1896 oversaw electrification, which promoted the suburban growth of the city. He also built many urban tram routes elsewhere: in Ireland, Britain and Argentina. At the same time, he was the contractor for the construction of several railways and a board member of railway companies. In 1903 he became the chairman of Ireland’s amalgamated Great Southern and Western Railway. He headed the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and was the principal organiser of the Dublin International Exhibition of 1907.

In 1911, Murphy led the employers’ side in a bitter dispute with the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU). While he generally aimed for good relations with his employees, he regarded the ITGWU as an organisation with extremist political aims. He locked out employees and brought in workers from England to keep his railways operating until the union side collapsed. Another dispute followed in 1913 when Murphy refused to allow staff on his Dublin tramways to join the ITGWU. Once again, he locked out workers until they were forced to accept his conditions.