Ireland: Catholic priest ambushed, stabbed multiple times in ‘frenzied’ attack

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Catholic priest ambushed, stabbed multiple times in ‘frenzied’ attack
Father Paul Murphy, a 52 year old Chaplain with the Irish Army, was stabbed outside Renmore Barracks, Galway in the West of Ireland at around 10:45 p.m. last night. Thankfully, he has survived.



Fr. Paul Murphy, Irish Army Chaplain (credit: Catholic Arena / X)
Catholic Arena / X

Aug 16, 2024
(LifeSiteNews [adapted]) — A Catholic priest, who serves as a chaplain in the Irish Army, was ambushed and stabbed “multiple times” in a “frenzied attack” on Thursday night in Galway, Ireland – which saw Irish soldiers open fire in response. Initial reports said a “teenage male youth” had been detained, who reportedly “uttered statements about Irish military involvement in the Middle East.”

Virgin Media News issued the following report on the violent assault today:

Father Paul Murphy, a 52 year old Chaplain with the Irish Army, was stabbed outside Renmore Barracks, Galway in the West of Ireland at around 10:45 p.m. last night as he arrived for duty in his car.

Fr. Murphy was seriously injured, but survived the attack – sending a message from Galway’s University Hospital as he awaits surgery. 

He thanked people in a Facebook post on Friday for their “prayers, love and concern.”

I’m doing okay: just awaiting surgery. All will be well.

According to the Irish Mirror, police are investigating whether the incident was terror related.

The Special Detective Unit of An Garda Síochána [Irish police] is involved in this investigation. One line of enquiry is to establish if this attack had a terrorism motivation.

Irish Mirror journalist Paul Healy reported details of the attack:

It is understood Fr. Murphy was sitting in his car waiting for the barracks gates to open when the attacker approached him. 

Sources say the chaplain lowered his window and the attacker immediately stabbed him multiple times.

Healy goes on to recount how Fr. Murphy tried to escape, stating:

The gates of the barracks then opened and Fr. Murphy is understood to have driven forward in an effort to get away from the stabber.

The attacker however clung onto the vehicle and continued to try and attack Fr. Murphy.

Irish soldiers then “fired a number of warning shots,” Healy said, adding that a search of the suspect’s home saw evidence which may explain the motive.

Sources say Gardaí [police] have since searched the suspect’s address in the Galway area and a number of items of interest, including radicalized ‘literature’ were recovered.

There are now concerns that the teenager became radicalized online and that he had a specific grievance and plan to target Defence Forces members.

Healy further reports that “online social media posts” made by the suspect are now being reviewed.

The suspect, described as “Irish” and said to be 16-years-old, “remains in detention and is being questioned in a Gardaí station in the North Western region,” according to the Irish Examiner. 

Their report says how “sentries overpowered the youth and detained him” until police arrived, noting that, “Fr. Murphy was provided with first aid at the scene before being taken to hospital where he received further treatment.”

A soldier who had served with Fr. Murphy on a tour of duty in Lebanon responded with shock and words of admiration for the Padre.

Brendan Cruise said on X:

I was fortunate enough to have served in Lebanon with Fr Paul Murphy who was the battalion padre. He was absolutely brilliant on the tour, he had time for everyone & a smile for all. Wishing him a full recovery.

Simon Harris, the Taoiseach [Irish Prime Minister] said his “thoughts are with the victim” and thanked the Defence Forces and Gardaí for their action and response in a post on X. 

Irish users of the social media platform responded angrily, with many holding Harris and the government responsible.

One user replied to Harris saying, “You’ve brought terror back to this Island, after we fought 800 years to live in peace.”

Others noted the Godlessness of the modern Irish state, remarking the deliberate omission of the fact that the victim is a Catholic priest and that no prayers were being offered by the leader of the Catholic nation. 

“Very telling you won’t say a Catholic priest was attacked and you offer no prayers for him.” 

Attacks on Catholics and their places of worship have been on the rise in Ireland. A spate of anti-Catholic crime in County Donegal over the summer saw many churches burgled, with damage and attempted arson occuring. One church in Lifford had been targeted three times in six weeks. 

The Protestant Church of Ireland has also been targeted, with historic and “irreplaceable” mummies damaged following a break-in and attempted arson in St Michan’s Church, Dublin in June. 

The vandalism, according to Dublin Live, is believed to have ruined the mummified remains of five Catholics “including an 800-year-old artifact known as ‘The Crusader.'” A Romanian national was found guilty of the damage.

Yet the attacks have also been linked to hate speech – not online – but made by Irish politicians themselves. 

In April, reporting on arson attacks on two County Meath churches, Catholic Arena alleged:

Hate speech by politicians against Catholics has been a major factor in the recent rise in crime against Catholic.

The attempts to burn down these two churches came shortly after an Irish Member of Parliament (TD) was “mocked for her Catholic faith” by her fellow members during a speech given in the Parliament itself, known as the Dáil.

Gript reported on March 23 how Deputy Carol Nolan’s warning that mass migration policies of the Irish government had created chaos in the country.

“We have an immigration system and an immigrant homeless situation that are nothing short of spiralling social sabotage,” Nolan said.

“This Government has no answers for one simple reason, it is because it does not ask the right questions and it does not listen.” 

Nolan was reportedly “sniggered at” at by members she referred to as “communists,” who she says derided her and other members for their Christian faith – whilst refusing to acknowledge the chaos their open borders policies were causing. 

“I could hear the comments and the muttering – some TDs were definitely mocking our Catholic faith” 

Nolan claimed the anti-Catholic rhetoric emerged over Ireland’s referendum on abortion, when she says was targeted for being pro-life. She explained:

Unfortunately, I had this trouble before the abortion referendum, and when I called for a ‘No’ vote [to legalising abortion]…so it’s not the first time I have borne the brunt of that type of sentiment.

Nolan said:

I would get a lot of it, and I got a lot of it because it was evident I was pro-life and because of my beliefs.

She remained defiant in the face of this “bullying,” saying Parliament refused to reflect a majority of Irish people whose lives and livelihoods in tourism have been blighted by uncontrolled mass migration. 

“In advance of Holy Week, we will take no lectures from the hard left and the looney left who will not face the people.”

The comments in the Irish Parliament came weeks after a priest’s house was set ablaze “intentionally” in Kildare, destroying outbuildings at St Brigid’s Cathedral.

The attacks on the Catholic faith and on Christianity in Ireland have now seemingly escalated to the attempted murder of a priest. Prayers for Ireland, and for the restoration of its leadership to Christ are urgently needed.