Murphy’s Cafe, Ederney, which has get a new lease life
ONE of Ederney’s best known buildings is on track to get a new lease of life.
‘Murphy’s Cafe’, as it is locally known was formerly tea rooms and a tobacconists and was a centre point for the people of the village.
The building was a hub of activity on Ederney Fair Days and later in the monthly Market Day during 1960s and 1970s. It was also used by the local St Vincent de Paul Society for their meetings for decades and food hampers were stored in the cafe part for distribution to those in need especially at Christmas time.
In a partnership with the owners of the building, Ederney Credit Union, the Ederney Community Trust applied for £19,700 funding from the Heritage Lottery to carry out studies into the potential for the redevelopment of the early Victorian building.
The project was awarded funding not just because the historic value of the building but because of its link to Pat Murphy who was a local historian, well-known character and raconteur and lived in the building maintaining its features and character until his death.
Commenting on the award, Martin Monaghan, chairman of Ederney Community Development Trust said: “We are thrilled to have received support from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out these initial studies which hopefully will lead to the future redevelopment of the building. This was very much a partnership application with Ederney Credit Union and we thank them and local historian, Leo Mulligan, who provided much of the historical information for the application.”
The building is described by the Department of the Environment as having ‘rarity value’ and holds many of the original features with the valuer’s report going on to say that
“It is unusual for commercial buildings of this quality to have survived almost intact.”
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