After a visit to west Cork and an encounter with a disused phonebox, one Dublin man found a new passion - and a new lease of life.
Paul Murphy was “a bit lost” in 2016 and was suffering from depression and anxiety following the loss of his job in the security industry after 30 years.
Then he came across an old phone box in a “sorry state” while on a family trip to west Cork.
“I had a passion for the antiques and restoration and it kept me going,” Murphy explained.
Inspired by his own memories and a woman speaking in an online video about the past importance of phoneboxes in Ireland, Murphy purchased one through a website.
He recalled the woman talking about “running down every Friday evening to the phonebox to get a phone call from her boyfriend; he was working away, I think in England”. She “stood outside that phonebox waiting for it to ring. People wouldn’t understand that now”.
Murphy said old Irish phoneboxes were very difficult to find as many were “smashed up”.
“The need for them is gone but I just think they have a beauty and a memory there for people,” he said.
After buying the phonebox, Murphy spent the next two months restoring it. “I didn’t know if I could finish it because it was a big job and it was a lot of work that I hadn’t done.”
By Christmas, the restoration was done and Murphy was touched by the support he received.
“The amount of people that were calling into me and giving me praise and support and saying how lovely it was and what a great project it was. It really uplifted me.”
The following February Murphy appeared on the Late Late Show to compete in a restoration contest where he repaired a set of old cinema seats.
There he met Niall Mullens of Niall Mullens Antiques in Dublin. The antiques dealer offered Murphy a job in his shop where he has been working since.
Murphy said that since buying that old phonebox two years ago, his life has “totally changed”.
“It gave me great confidence to move on with my life and start something different and I have.”
The first phonebox he worked on was sold at auction and now sits in a back garden in Dundalk, Co Louth. His second endeavour - an English version - sits in Murphy’s own garden, while he works on a third restoration.
“It’s given me purpose and a smile on my face, and happiness.”