Bishop who resigned after fathering child dies aged 89

The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, led tributes to the former Bishop of Galway, Eamonn Casey, who died this week aged 89.

Bishop Casey stood down in May 1992 after it was revealed he was the father of a teenage son, born to an American woman, Annie Murphy, in 1974.

He tendered his resignation to the Pope as questions were raised over his use of £70,000 of diocesan funds to support his son, Peter. The charismatic prelate, who was instrumental in the setting up of the aid agency Trócaire, then fled the country. He remained in exile for 14 years, serving initially as a missionary priest in Ecuador. In 1998, he moved to the diocese of Arundel and Brighton where he was involved in parish ministry and hospital chaplaincy.

Bishop Casey was appointed director of the Catholic Housing Aid Society in 1963 and in 1966 he founded the Shelter charity for the homeless. President Higgins said as chairman of Trócaire, Bishop Casey encouraged the organisation to become a leading NGO campaigning for justice and responding to humanitarian distress. He recalled how the bishop attended the funeral of Archbishop Oscar Romero following his assassination in El Salvador in 1980, where bomb and gun attacks on mourners left almost 50 dead.

Bishop Casey was reportedly the only bishop to leave the church to help the wounded. His funeral Mass was to take place in Galway Cathedral on Thursday this week. An appreciation by Sally O’Neill will appear in next week’s Tablet.