With the anonymity came no tax or national insurance deductions. True identities were not divulged, so 'Eamonn Andrews' could be working on a hundred different sites in one day. In the wider construction industry of that time, it was common for there to be a verbal agreement about pay, often by the hour and in cash, with nothing being signed. In this era of little regulation, the labour the Murphys took on was 'on the lump', that is, hired directly off the street. From this yard, Murphy employed thousands of men and soon made a mark in brick and concrete on the London scene. Inside the office were two beehives, a gift from a Kerry friend, a reminder of the swarming industriousness of the firm. John Murphy leased a large yard in Kentish Town, north London, where for a long time he was one of the first to arrive each morning, and even in later years was to be seen sweeping the yard, his large builder's hands protruding from an ill-fitting suit. The green Murphy's men tended to work at ground level or above, while the greys worked underground. Those vehicles that were painted green were the vans of John Murphy, and those that were grey belonged to Joe. They worked together for 10 years, before splitting into 'the Green and the Grey'. He was followed to England by his brother Joseph, who died a tax exile in Guernsey in 2000. By 1946, he was an ambitious builder who had seen an opportunity. During the second world war, he was contracted to remove obstacles from the English Channel, and from this he developed larger contracts, becoming involved in airfield construction. He left a depressed Ireland in search of work, disembarking at Holyhead in the late 1930s. Murphy was born into a large family in Loughmark, near Cahirciveen in County Kerry, Ireland speculation surrounds his date of birth, which is thought to have been in 1913. At the time of his death he was one of Britain's wealthiest men, worth around £190m, and a yearly fixture on the Sunday Times Rich List, but he was also notoriously secretive, and an air of mystery surrounded him to the end. His company, J Murphy and Sons, was responsible for countless major construction projects over many decades, from second world war runways, through to preparations for the London 2012 Olympics. Among those who might employ such men was John Murphy, who has died aged 95. Mud-stained construction lorries would park in the street, while agents or sub-contractors made their selections judging by fitness and strength, they scooped up labourers to work on sites at Heathrow airport or the Isle of Grain power station in Kent. They had left Ireland, where unemployment was rife, in search of a job. In the tradition of an Irish hiring fair, the men who stood on the grim pavements of Camden Town and Cricklewood Broadway in the early mornings of the 1950s and 60s were looking for a day's work.

In the house in a heartbeat john murphy