Eugene Egan (Owen McEgan and other variants) (died 1603) was a Catholic apostolic vicar in Ireland, designated

bishop of Ross, County Cork The Bishop of Ross ( ga, Ross Ailithir; Corco Loígde; la, Rossensis) was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the town of Rosscarbery in County Cork, Ireland. The title is now united with other bishoprics. In the Church of ...

, closely involved with the uprising of the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

Life

Egan obtained the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity from a Spanish university. In 1600 he was in Ireland actively encouraging rebellion, meeting

Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone Hugh O'Neill (Irish: ''Aodh Mór Ó Néill''; literally ''Hugh The Great O'Neill''; – 20 July 1616), was an Irish Gaelic lord, Earl of Tyrone (known as the Great Earl) and was later created ''The Ó Néill Mór'', Chief of the Name. O'Neil ...

in February at Tipperary, and co-operating with

Florence MacCarthy Reagh Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. Tyrone and Florence MacCarthy sent Egan to Rome in quest of an excommunication for all that did not rebel. One result was that the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Luigi Mansoni was appointed papal nuncio to Ireland. Egan then gained access to the Spanish court at Valladolid, travelling there with Mansoni, and influenced Philip III of Spain, in the direction of sending men and money to Kinsale in 1601, to support the rebellion which Tyrone had raised in the south of Ireland. Pope Clement VIII summoned Egan back to Rome, appointed him apostolic vicar, created him D.D., and conferred on him livings in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. Egan arrived at Kilmakilloge in

Kenmare Bay Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the Anglicisation, anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. Location Kenmare is located at the hea ...

in June 1602, in a ship bringing troops and finance from Spain. Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy had enjoyed success in the field against Tyrone's rebellion, and Kinsale was closely invested. The rebel forces grew. Egan's career ended in an encounter with English soldiers under

William Taaffe William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

in Carberry on 5 January 1603, where he was killed. He was buried in the convent of

Timoleague Timoleague () is a village in the eastern division of Carbery East in County Cork, Ireland. It is located along Ireland's southern coast between Kinsale and Clonakilty, on the estuary of the Argideen River. Nearby is the village of Courtmacsher ...

, in the diocese of Ross, and a small cross was placed above his tomb. A breviary (printed in Venice in 1600) apparently held by Egan when he was killed is now at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Rel.e.60.2). It contains a note apparently in the hand of Sir Thomas Stafford, who came into possession of Egan's books, and was later in the library of John Hacket, Bishop of Lichfield & Coventry, who bequeathed it to the Library in 1670.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Eugene Year of birth missing 1603 deaths 16th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Apostolic vicars 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Place of birth missing

Life

See also

Notes