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Patrick Murphy (1834–1862) was an Irish giant, born in County Down of parents James Murphy and mother Peggy (née Cunningham), who exhibited himself as a means of income. He originally worked on the docks in Liverpool, England and later became a waiter at a hotel. Because he was a man of extraordinary height, Murphy attracted crowds everywhere he went. He eventually decided that he could make an honest living being tall. He had always billed himself as being 8 ft 1.0 in (246.4 cm) and in some circles as much as 9'3". In about 1860, he was measured by Dr. Virchow as being 7 ft 3 in (222 cm) tall.[1]

In May 1857 the Emperor and Empress of Austria invited the towering native of Ireland to visit their kingdom.[2] On April 18, 1862, while he was on tour throughout Europe, he died of smallpox in Marseilles at the age of twenty-eight.[3]

References

  1. ^ Patrick Murphy, archived from the original on 2 June 2011, retrieved 3 October 2022
  2. ^ "Typhoid Mary and other curiosities in Irish biography". BBC. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Pilot, Volume 25, Number 30, 26 July 1862". Boston College Libraries. 26 July 1862. Retrieved 7 May 2022.


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