Jay Murray was born in Galway, Ireland on November 02, 1943. He is much loved and will always be remembered by all his friends and family.

Eulogy to Jay Murray.
A mighty Man,
A giant
A Gentleman
A Legend
From his son Michael
4th December 2015

Dad, Jay, Fardy, Grandpa, will stay in our memories forever more. He was such a big part of everyone’s life that the physical void left will be difficult to accept but we can all be assured that it will be filled by his spiritual presence for the rest of our lives. Indeed we all will continue to feel his presence and will feel comforted by that.

His unquenchable spirit whilst on the earth remained to his final breath but his body just could not keep up. But he is stronger now than ever and I feel that he will be helping, healing and supporting every one of us whilst we are on earth and when it is our time to leave. If any of us are stuck, needing guidance, advice or just some one to have a chat to I recommend that you close your eyes and ask Dad/Jay. You will be surprised firstly that he is there and particularly what you get back.

He was such a friend and mentor to everyone. He led by example and always preached that no one will come knocking on your door to hand you success, you have to go out and make it yourself. I grew up watching him do exactly that and I was so proud to be his son.
His ability to create something out of nothing in his ventures was legendary. He did not see problems – only solutions and during his working life he enriched thousands of people and helped change the world in such varied pursuits as construction, telecommunications, software and recycling. I already knew this but I have been astounded this week as it has been a revelation to me by the amount of heart warming messages we have received via social media, phone calls, texts and emails from all corners of the globe.
Of course he is know globally for all of the successes but he is not necessarily associated with coming from the humble beginnings in a small East Galway farm. This alone demonstrates what he was made of.

Of course non of these ventures would have been successful without the love, support and strength of his wife Alice who he loved with all of his heart and had a deep and long standing friendship that was so evident to us all. Despite not being here physically this incredible love and friendship will continue.

His love of the sea and his passion for boats was a very big part of his life. He enjoyed nothing more than when he had his family and close friends on board touring around anywhere in the world he fancied. This passion began with a 22 foot wooden boat which we all amusingly called Super Seven. This was quickly followed by Versatility then up to the larger craft Adventurer, Lady of Bahia, Winterwood and then on to Anam Cara and Anam Cara II. We all had such good times with Mum and Dad on these varied vessels and it did not matter what type it was. In fact I believe that the smaller boats were his favourite.

His true love though was to have his whole family around the dinner table, after he had cooked whatever on the BBQ in hail rain or shine, him sat at the top of the table with all of us laughing, joking, singing, teasing and story telling. Indeed this was all of our favourite times and we are all emulating this with our own family units. I believe that every time we sit for these occasions in the future he will be with us just as happy and amused as he has been in the past.

His and my Mum’s generosity to others was also legendary and very much part of his life from very early on. The amount of times I witnessed him helping others with encouragement, support, advice and financial input was amazing. Of course there were time he was generous with people when he did not necessarily have the resource himself. More amazing was the fact that he never expected anything in return and in most cases did not get anything in return but I think that this one trait made him the Legend that he is and will remain to all of us and all of the recipients of his generosity.

It will take a little while for us all to rally and come to terms with him no longer being the larger than life physical presence in our worlds but we can thank God he is out of pain and can breath easy again but know that he is ever present spiritually and I suspect will be with us more now than ever.

The way my father lived his life was an excellent example and taught me a lot about being a husband, father and man. It is hard to imagine what life will be like going forward without his guidance and support but am assured that if I learn how to tune into him will quickly realise that he has not gone at all.

We are here today to say goodbye to his physical presence that we all will miss but we must rejoice that his spiritual presence will remain with each of us into the next life.

Of course a big part of Dad’s life was his children’s Spouses. This journey began in 1993 with Andrea, then Dean, Peter, John and Ryan entered his life. He had so much time and love for you all and enjoyed every minute of he spent with you. As with his children and grandchildren he had no favourite and as far as he was concerned each one equal game to test theirs and his intellectual capability.

I will finish with his greatest life love and we all here know what that is – his grandchildren. He so often mentioned how he would love to see all of the lads getting into trouble and having a pint together – particularly after a rugby match and all of the girls running the world. He had a passion to see women being treated equal to men.
It particularly amused him when you were doing something naughty or in the eyes of your parents - wrong as his view was that was a sign of health and happiness. To close I will say to all of the grandchildren that all you have to do is close your eyes and talk to Fardy any chance you get and he will talk to you.

Thanks dad for everything and for still being with us.