Boetius MacEgan ( ga, Baothnalach Mac Aodhagáin; died May 1650) was a 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic Bishop of Ross. Carrigadrohid Castle

He was born in the barony of

Duhallow Duhallow () is a barony located in the north-western part of County Cork, Ireland. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used in the administration of justice and the raising ...

in north-west County Cork and educated in France and Spain. He returned to his native Munster as a Franciscan friar in the 1630s and was promoted to several positions of importance in the Franciscan order. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the

Confederation of Kilkenny Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

, which controlled most of Ireland between the 1641 uprising and the Cromwellian conquest of 1649. In 1645 a new Papal nuncio landed in Ireland with arms and funds to support the rebellion and befriended MacEgan, appointing him chaplain general of the Ulster forces. In this capacity MacEgan accompanied the Confederation forces on many campaigns and was present at the Confederation victories at the

Battle of Benburb The Battle of Benburb took place on 5 June 1646 during the Irish Confederate Wars, the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought between the Irish Confederation under Owen Roe O'Neill, and a Scottish Covenanter and Anglo-I ...

in 1646, Limerick and Kilkenny. In 1646 he was proposed as bishop of Ross by the nuncio himself and consecrated at Waterford in 1648, but probably never gained access to his see, which remained under Protestant control. On Cromwell's landing in 1649, MacEgan became very active in rallying the Confederation forces and organising defensive measures. He then joined David Roche's force of untrained men who were intending to relieve the siege of Clonmel. They were however intercepted near

Macroom Macroom (; ga, Maigh Chromtha) is a market town in County Cork, Ireland, located in the valley of the River Sullane, halfway between Cork city and Killarney. Its population has grown and receded over the centuries as it went through periods of ...

by the seasoned cavalry of

Lord Broghill Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery (25 April 1621 – 16 October 1679), styled Lord Broghill from 1628 to 1660, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England at various times between 1654 and 1679. Boyle fough ...

and put to flight. MacEgan himself was captured and taken the following day to the walls of

Carrigadrohid Carrigadrohid () is a townland and village in the parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, oft ...

castle, which was occupied by Confederation forces, and told to call on them to surrender. He chose instead to exhort them to hold on and as a result was hanged from a nearby tree. The garrison surrendered shortly afterwards. MacEgan's body was later buried in the local churchyard at Aghinagh.

Sources

Boetius MacEgan, Bishop of Ross By Father CANICE MOONEY, O.F.M
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacEgan, Boetius 1650 deaths 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross Year of birth unknown