About

Patrick Ó. Murphy is a resident of the Sacred Heart neighborhood, and among the fifth generation of Murphys to call Lowell home.

Patrick is the son of longtime Lowell teachers Joan and Dan Murphy, and the grandson of Grace and the late William Bovitz and of the late Helen and George B. Murphy, a former Lowell city councilor and state representative. With his twin brother Daniel, he trained for several years as an amateur boxer at Ramahlo’s West End Gym on Lawrence Street. His sister, Gráinne, is a well-known Irish fiddler and attorney in New York City.  Following his sister and with his brother, Patrick graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover on a four-year scholarship.  He has worked throughout the Merrimack Valley since the age of sixteen with cousins Dan O’Connor and Joe Donlan as a laborer and now as a brick- and stonemason. Patrick has, through scholarships and his own labor, attended American University, Trinity College Dublin and Tufts University.

In the fall of 2009, Patrick won an upset to fill a City Council seat once held by his grandfather over half a century before.  Outspent by his colleagues because of his refusal to take donations, Murphy relied upon a relentless campaign style, taking his thoughtful message door to door to thousands of homes. Honoring a campaign promise, Patrick did not accept the councilors’ stipend or the health, pension and other benefits offered by the city.  After a productive first term, Patrick improved upon his previous finish and was elected on the first ballot to serve as the Mayor of Lowell.

Mayor Murphy has previously served as Chair of the Environmental Committee and the Railroad Issues Subcommittee, as well as a member of the Economic Development, Education, Flood Issues, Housing, Youth Services and Zoning Committees.  Last term, he was appointed as the Lowell City Council’s representative to the regional North Middlesex Planning Commission. As mayor, he now serves as Chair of the School Committee, and has chosen to remain Chair of the Environmental Subcommittee.  He is also a board member of Community Teamwork, Inc., the Lowell Plan, and Mill City Grows.