Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Murray, Daniel
MURRAY, DANIEL (1768–1852), archbishop of Dublin, born on 18 April 1768 at Sheepwalk, near Arklow, co. Wicklow, was the son of a farmer. He studied at Dublin and Salamanca, and on receiving ordination as a priest of the Roman catholic church, he was employed as a curate at Dublin and Arklow. Apprehensive of violence from disorderly troops in the latter district, he removed to Dublin, and acquired the esteem of the archbishop of that see, John Thomas Troy. Murray was consecrated in 1809 Troy's coadjutor, under the title of archbishop of Hierapolis 'in partibus infidelium.' Murray acted for a time as president of the Roman catholic college at Maynooth, and earnestly opposed the projected arrangement with government designated the 'veto.' On the death of Archbishop Troy in 1823 Murray succeeded to the see of Dublin. He enjoyed the confidence of successive popes, and was held in high respect by the British government. Pusey had an interview with him in 1841, and bore testimony to his moderation, and Newman had some correspondence with him before 1845 (Liddon, Life of Pusey, ii. 246-7; J. B. Mozlet, Letters, p. 122). A seat in the privy council at Dublin, officially offered to him in 1846, was not accepted. His life was mainly devoted to ecclesiastical affairs, the establishment and organisation of religious associations for the education and relief of the poor. Among these was the order of the 'Sisters of Charity,' for the constitution of which he obtained papal confirmation. As a preacher Murray is stated to have been ' pre-eminently captivating and effective,' especially in appeals for charitable objects. Murray took part in the synod of the Roman catholic clergy at Thurles in 1850, and died at Dublin on 26 Feb. 1852. He was interred in the pro-cathedral, Dublin, where a marble statue of him has been erected in connection with a monument to his memory, executed by James Farrell, president of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Fine Arts. The only published works of Murray are pastoral letters, sermons, and religious discourses. Two volumes of his sermons appeared at Dublin in 1859, extending to nearly fourteen hundred pages, 8vo, with his portrait prefixed from a painting by Crowley in 1844. A marble bust of Archbishop Murray is in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.
[Notices of Archbishop Murray, by the Rev. W. Meagher, Dublin, 1853; Dalton's Archbishops of Dublin, 1838; Madden's United Irishmen, 1858; Brady's Episcopal Succession, 1876; Life of M. Aikenhead, by S. Atkinson, Dublin, 1882.]