Priest forgives teenage attacker in court after near-fatal stabbing at Galway army barracks
Defence Forces chaplain, Fr Paul Murphy, who was stabbed in an incident in Galway last year, pictured leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice this afternoon after giving a victim impact statement. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.
A Catholic priest who survived an Islamist-inspired knife attack by a 16-year-old boy today turned to the youth in court and said he 'forgave' him.
The boy, now aged 17, leaned towards Fr Paul Murphy and replied, âI'm sorry.â
The moving scenes occurred as Fr Murphy, a Defence Forces chaplain, was giving his victim impact statement in the Central Criminal Court.
The boy, who can't be identified because he's a minor, pleaded guilty last February to the attempted murder of the priest at Renmore Barracks, Galway City, on 15 August.
The boy's parents sat beside their son during the hearing. The mother sat beside him after Fr Murphy turned to him to say he forgave him.
Sean Gillane, SC, for the defence, thanked Fr Murphy for his magnanimous and eloquent statement.
He told Mr Justice Paul McDermott that his client had just received a diagnosis of autism, following a court request for an assessment.
He said features of this can include "rigidity of thinking, fixated thinking and impulsive actions".
He said this diagnosis did not excuse his actions, but he hoped the court would take it into account in trying to understand them.
He also said his parents divorced in 2023 and his father moved out, and that he found this difficult.
Mr Justice McDermott said he had a lot to consider and adjourned sentencing to April 29. The boy continues to be remanded at Oberstown Childrenâs Detention Centre.
The court previously heard that an analysis of the boyâs devices showed content supporting the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.
Fr Murphy, an army chaplain, had stopped his car outside the barracks to gain entry at 10.35pm on 15 August 2024 when he encountered an individual.
He pressed a button to roll down his window and said the accused lunged at him with what was an eight-inch âhunting-styleâ knife, later recovered from the scene.
The court heard the chaplain had âseven deep lacerationsâ to his arms which required surgery, as well as minor cuts to his body and face.
GardaĂ believe Fr Murphy, aged 52, saved his own life by continuing to drive his car forward through the gates, where the sentry on duty fired warning shots into the air and other personnel went to subdue the attacker.
GardaĂ believe the boy radicalised himself online with jihadist material and relatively quickly made the decision to move to the next stage of attempting to kill someone.
Two days after the attack, Galway District Court heard that the attack was âfrenziedâ and that gardaĂ believed the accused held a âradical Islamist mindsetâ.
Last October, at Galway District Court, the boy was charged with attempted murder and intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Fr Murphy.
The court heard that the DPP had directed the boy be sent forward for indictment at the Central Criminal Court.
The boyâs defence solicitor, Jack Donohue, asked the judge to direct a psychological report on his client. Judge Adrian Harris granted the request.
Last February, at the Central Criminal Court, the boy pleaded guilty, and the following month the court ordered that the boy be assessed for autism ahead of his sentencing.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott made the direction after hearing that a psychologist at Oberstown Detention Centre, where the boy has been held on remand, recommended such an assessment.
The judge said this was in addition to any other reports that the psychologist at Oberstown deemed necessary.
Fr Murphy is a highly popular chaplain attached to the 1st Infantry Battalion. He is due to travel to Lebanon next month with the 126th Infantry Battalion.
He joined the Defence Forces in 2014 and has previously travelled to both Lebanon and Syria.
From Waterford City, he went to De La Salle Secondary School before studying at the nearby St Johnâs College, attached to the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.
He was ordained in 1996 and served for a time in St Benildus, beside his old school, before moving to Clonmel, Co Tipperary. He spent six years in Dunhill and Fenor Parish in Co Waterford and then in Tramore, just outside the city, where he stayed until 2013.
"Paul is a gentle, kind, soft-spoken man, and a great chaplain," a friend and colleague said of him.
Read Father Murphy's full victim impact statement below.
Your Honour, thank you for the opportunity to say a few words today.
I only went for a swim.
On Thursday, 15th August 2024, I returned from the swimming pool as I did most nights. But this night was different. I observed the usual security protocols when approaching a military installation; I turned off my headlights and turned on my carâs interior light.
Someone approached my driverâs side window, and once I lowered the window, he immediately started trying to kill me with a knife. Knowing not to touch the long blade which was shining before my eyes, I grabbed his wrists with my two hand,s but, having the advantage of standing outside the car, he was able to pull back, breaking my grip, and started stabbing me again.
In an attempt to escape the piercing knife, I drove ahead, crashing through the gates of the barracks, while my assailant kept pace with me and continued to try to rob me of my life. When my car came to a natural stop at a kerb, I struggled to fend off my attacker through the open window, and subsequently through my open door, until our duty soldiers intervened and overpowered the aggressor.
While I can remember each gory detail, I believe the attempted murder lasted only about 90 seconds.
Much has been written about this case, and news stations around the world covered it extensively. One interesting observation is that from a few articles that people sent me, I felt that I was watching my own funeral. By changing one or two key words, these news reports read as my obituary. Mercifully, they read positively.
I did not see or hear much news, nor read much online or in the âpapers, but one angle proffered was that âthe poor priest was just in the wrong place at the wrong timeâ. Your Honour, if it wasnât me it would have been someone else, and I am convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
That night was filled with blessings.
I arrived back at barracks about 15 minutes later than usual, having chatted with friends outside the pool after my swim; it was the exact moment I needed to be at the gate. I had a certain protection in my car which was written-off in the attack.
When I pushed the button for my window to open, it only opened two-thirds of the way down. If it had opened fully, I would be dead. There were many other blessings witnessed at the gate and inside the compound, but, in the interests of State security, I will not be detailing them here.
Itâs safe to say that, except for the fact that one human being came to kill another, every other aspect of that incident was a blessing.
The 15th of August is celebrated annually throughout the Catholic world as the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven. While Our Blessed Lady had her place in Heaven assured, Heaven wasnât ready for me that night! That night was also the vigil of the anniversary of the death of the Irish Jesuit, Fr Willie Doyle, an Army Chaplain who was killed in battle in the First World War.
Investigations are ongoing to see if Fr Doyle should be canonised as a saint, and we had been praying for his intercession in our Garrison Church, one hundred metres from where I was attacked. I felt his intercession that night.
Our Lady of the Rosary is the Patroness of Ăglaigh na hĂireann / The Irish Defence Forces, and my Rosary beads was beside me in my car. Above my head, a visor-clip with my Guardian Angel witnessed the proceedings, and I survived the potentially fatal assault. I had excellent âtop coverâ and I was going nowhere that night.
I had excellent ground cover too. Pte Shanahan, the gate-policewoman, was the first to witness the violent attack, before Pte Geraghty, the armed guard on the beat at the time of the incident, alerted the other members of the guard team.
Cpl Padden took charge and, along with Pte Geraghty, approached the scene, shouted verbal warnings, and fired warning shots, before the courageous soldier physically took down the assailant, notwithstanding the potential harm to himself. Others ran to the scene to assist with the detention of the attacker, and to stem the flow of blood from my severed arms with expert first-aid treatment and welcome reassurance.
Along with the divine âtop coverâ, I had exceptional âground coverâ too, and I am forever grateful to those who saved my life that night. In time, I expect that the Defence Forces will recognise the courage, bravery and gallantry of those who were intimately connected to the horrific events of that fateful night.
In the weeks following the attack I was blessed to have the support of so many friends in DĂșn UĂ MhaoilĂosa: soldiers who assisted me at home, medics who dressed my wounds every day and accompanied me to hospital appointments, doctors who covered all angles in ensuring that my recovery was on the right track, chefs who prepared and cut my food for me into bite-sized pieces so that I could maintain the dignity of feeding myself, and others who looked out for my well being and who did everything they could to help me get over the attempt on my life.
While acknowledging our honourable soldiers, it would be remiss of me not to mention the professionalism of so many others who were involved: the GardaĂ (including the Armed Response Unit and the detectives), the ambulance paramedics and advanced paramedic, the hospital staff in the Emergency Room, X-ray staff, porters, surgical and plastics teams, theatre and ward staff, and the other support staff.
The physiotherapists also played a major role in helping me to regain use of my left hand, in particular. Not all heroes wear capes; most of them wear ordinary uniforms to work every day and I, for one, am eternally grateful for them.
My family and friends, and the local community in Renmore, while shocked and angry about what happened, were outstanding in their care and support. I regret that, to this day, I still have not seen, never mind respond to, many of the thousands of encouraging messages that have come my way.
So, what has changed now? How has this impacted my life? As one could imagine, I was unable to celebrate Holy Masses for almost three months after the attack, and I could not drive either, due to my injuries and the loss of my car. I am more cautious about whom I open my car window to nowadays.
As I approach the barracks, which is my home, I am cautious about potential dangers lurking in the area, especially when I am walking. Now, when I go to our Garrison Church every night to pray and to prepare for the following morningâs Mass, I lock the door behind me and am extra-vigilant when leaving the church into the darkness outside.
In truth, the whole military environment has changed, not only in our barracks but in all our installations. The attack on me wasnât personal so I donât feel particularly vulnerable, but, with good reason, I cannot rule it out from happening again. Sometimes, when one man fails in a mission, another takes up the mantle and, with that in mind, I will probably never fully feel free.
On the advice of many friends and comrades, I have undertaken counselling sessions, which, along with my physiotherapy, is ongoing. I have not regained the strength in my left arm that I previously enjoyed and I have lost sensation in much of my left forearm.
Your Honour, I am of a certain age now. I have done first aid and ambulance work with the Order of Malta for over forty years. I have been a priest for almost twenty-nine years and in the army for over eleven years. Out of all the members of our Defence Forces, I was best placed to take the knife that night.
I feel that I can contextualise the events of 15th August in my life in a way that would be much more difficult for a young soldier starting out in adulthood. And I thank God every single day that the knife tore through my skin, and not through the body of one of my comrades. I consider it an honour and a privilege to carry those scars until my dying day.
As a man of faith, I am in the business of forgiveness, and I offer to you, the young man standing accused before me, the forgiveness that will hopefully help you to become a better person. I believe you are 17 now, so you will hopefully have another 80 years of living on this earth.
In this, the Churchâs Jubilee Year of Hope, my hope and prayer is that you will use whatever resources are put at your disposal, in prison or beyond, to learn a better way of living and that you will use your energy and your talents to make our world a better place for all people to live.
Life is for living and for loving, and I promise you, your life will find its ultimate joy when you live honourably and love generously.
Your Honour, we all have to take responsibility for our actions and while I can personally forgive my attacker, the fact remains that he has committed an appalling crime. He has offended our State; he has offended the Irish Defence Forces and he has offended every soldier who has walked through the gate of our barracks, because it could have been any one of them who was stabbed.
Every crime warrants an appropriate punishment and every sentence should serve as a deterrent to others from perpetrating similar crimes. It falls to you to give sentence in this case, and, assuming that it will be custodial, length of years is not what interests me.
My only desire is that the young man before you would learn to see the error of his ways and, when the time comes, return to society to make a positive contribution to the world as a wholesome, happy, and loving person.
I am just an ordinary priest and, while I am honoured to bear the wounds that scar my skin, I would be much happier to have avoided the limelight of this process. May it please the Lord above that the events which have led us to today may educate us all about the over-arching need for love, forgiveness and hope in our world.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
