Fintan (Morgan) Murphy graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, in 1930, and went to work for the New York Central Railroad. He entered the noviate at Saint Bonaventure Friary in Patterson, New Jersey, in 1934, professing temporary vows one year later. He made his solemn profession and was ordained a Catholic Priest of the Franciscan Order in 1938. He was commissioned a U.S. Army chaplain during World War II, serving in Africa and Europe. In 1944 the jeep in which he was riding hit a mine; the driver was killed instantly and Chaplain Murphy suffered serious back injuries that plagued him most of his life. After the war he taught at Siena College, Loudonville, New York, and ministered as a retreat director at Saint Francis Friary, Brooklyn, Massachusetts. From 1951 to 1961 he was pastor at Saint Stephen Parish in Croghan, New York, and at Holy Cross Parish in Callicoon, New York. His final years of ministry were at Saint Anthony Shrine, in Boston, Massachusetts.