Patrick Murphy (giant)

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 8'10" and in some circles as much as 9'3". In about 1860, he was measured by Dr. Virchow as being 7'3.4" (222 cm) tall.[1]

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