She has acted as chair of several Commissions of Investigation and an inquiry into various child abuse issues within the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Before practising law, Judge Murphy, a native of County Donegal in Ulster, worked with the National Social Service Board and was responsible for setting up a network of citizens’ information centres throughout Ireland.
While in practice at the Bar, she was co-Editor of the Irish Times Law Reports and authored several books and articles.
[1][2] Murphy was married to the late Justice Adrian Hardiman, judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland; the couple had three sons.
[3] In 2006, Murphy was appointed chair of the Commission of Investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy from, or attached to, the Archdiocese of Dublin between 1 January 1975 and 1 May 2004.