Aengus Finucane (26 April 1932 – 6 October 2009) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

missionary of the Spiritan Fathers order, who organized food shipments from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to the Igbo people during the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

. His younger brother

Jack Finucane Jack Finucane (1937 – 7 June 2017) was a Roman Catholic missionary of the Spiritan Fathers order, who with his brother Aengus Finucane, organized food shipments from Ireland to the Igbo people during the Nigerian Civil War. He was a co ...

also became a Holy Ghost priest, and a sister of theirs became a nun.

Biography

Early life

Finucane was born on 26 April 1932, in the city of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. He was educated by the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened i ...

until 1950. He joined the Holy Ghost Fathers in

Kimmage Manor The Holy Ghost Missionary College, in Kimmage in Dublin, colloquially known as Kimmage Manor, is Holy Ghost Fathers(Spiritans) institution that has served as a Seminary training missionary priests and spawned two other colleges the ''Kimmage Mission ...

, and studied Philosophy, Theology and Education in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

, in

Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located in Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Cardinal Paul Cullen. History The College was founded in 1859 by the then Archbish ...

, in 1958.

Career

Finucane contributed humanitarian aid during the

(also known as the "Nigerian-Biafran War"), from 1967-1970. The Nigerian government had blocked food supplies to the successionist state of

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

causing starvation in the country. This was reported on international television stations and received worldwide condemnation. In an effort to save the population from starvation, Finucane organized food to be sent through makeshift airstrips, including one at

Uli Uli may refer to: *Uli, Iran, a village *Uli, Anambra, a town in Nigeria * Uli I of Mali * Uli (design), by the Igbo people of Nigeria * Uli figure, from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea *Uli (food), a rice-based food * ISO 639 code for the Ulithian ...

, Bafaria, and cargo trips with other Dublin-based workers. This led to the formation of the organisation Concern Worldwide in 1968. Finucane worked with Concern for 41 years and viewed his mission as "love in action". Finucane was banished from Nigeria in January 1970. Following this, he gained a diploma in

development studies Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the e ...

and a

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

poverty studies from the

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

. In 1971, he was again giving food supplies to the population during the operations which were ongoing in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and flew often with

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

during the drop-offs. The

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR) invited Finucane to lead a survey of people displaced in Southeast Asia. During the 1980s and 1990s Finucane led aid agency Concern Worldwide, becoming involved in the response to famine in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Rwanda. While in Somalia, he was in a convoy that was attacked which resulted in the death of nurse Valerie Place.

Published biography

Finucane's biography, ''Aengus Finucane: In the Heart of Concern'', written by

Deirdre Purcell Deirdre Purcell (born Dublin 1945) is an Irish author. Purcell is a former Abbey Theatre actress, who has played as Christine opposite Donal McCann in '' Drama at Inish'', Miss Frost in the stage adaptation of ''The Ginger Man'', and Pegeen Mike ...

was published by

New Island Books New Island Books is an independent Irish publisher of literary fiction, poetry, drama, biography, and books on politics and social affairs. History It was founded as ''Raven Arts Press'' in 1977 by Dermot Bolger. In 1982, Raven Arts closed and w ...

in January 2015.

Death

Finucane died of cancer on 6 October 2009 in a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Spiritan Fathers' nursing home in

at the age of 77. His funeral was held at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Kimmage and was attended by hundreds. The Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

and Minister for Overseas Development, Peter Power dubbed him as a "tireless force for good across the globe for more than four decades". Finucane is buried at Dardistown Cemetery, in the Spiritan plot.

References

External links

''Aengus Finucane in 'Miscellaneous Limerick People' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finucane, Aengus Holy Ghost Fathers Irish Spiritans Irish Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish anti-poverty advocates Irish humanitarians People of the Nigerian Civil War Christian clergy from Limerick (city) 1932 births 2009 deaths People educated at Rockwell College Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Roman Catholic missionaries in Nigeria Irish expatriates in Nigeria Burials at Dardistown Cemetery Alumni of University College Dublin