Philip Muldoon

Philip Francis Muldoon also known as Phil Muldoon (3 May 1897 – 9 June 1979) was a clerk, police officer and prison warden who spent much of his life in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Early life Muldoon was born is Mount Barker, South Australia and was the son of John Joseph Muldoon, a migrant from Ireland, and Mary Jane née Peake who was also born in Mount Barker. He was the tenth of thirteen children. This proved to be a serious illness and was nearly fatal and, for medical reasons, he was transferred to Alice Springs where he worked for the police station there.

In Alice Springs he was able to greet Bertilla and their son, Brian Vincent, when they arrived on the first passenger train to arrive in the town in August 1929. Because of his health Muldoon had been given the choice to be transferred to Canberra but chose to remain in the Northern Territory.

His second child, Patricia Anne, was born in Alice Springs, at Adelaide House in 1937. He worked there alongside Bertilla who was the unpaid matron and cared for the female prisoners.

During the Muldoons' management, the gaol had a reputation for being neatly maintained and the pair led the creation of substantial vegetable, fruit and flower gardens. Muldoon also constructed the first tennis court for people within the Alice Springs CBD, as the only other court was located at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, this court, with its ant-bed floor, was used by the prison population during the week and other residents of the town on weekends.

Former residents of the gaol talk highly of Muldoon and say that he was a kind man who treated all prisoners alike and Max Cartwright called him " most humane and dedicated Christian man thus created a model prison system".

Muldoon retired on 11 October 1958 due to his health and, in 1960, he received an Imperial Service Medal from the Queen.

Later in his life Muldoon wrote his memoirs, which were never published, and they were later found, by chance, at the Alice Springs tip and were later deposited at Library & Archives NT.

Muldoon and his wife relocated to Henley Beach, South Australia on 8 July 1964. Muldoon died on 9 June 1979 there. His wife, Bertilla, was also interviewed in 1981 (NTRS 226 TS 291).