Eamonn Casey

Bishop who became embroiled in scandal Born: April 23, 1927; Died: March 13, 2017 EAMONN CASEY, who has died aged 89, was an Irish bishop who gained worldwide notoriety after it was revealed he had secretly fathered a son with a divorcee and had later organised payments to her from diocesan funds.

The scandal, which broke in 1992, came as a great shock to many who knew him. Casey had always been a passionate campaigner for the poor – in 1966, he helped found the homeless charity Shelter and later became its chairman – and he appeared in the groundbreaking dramadocumentary Cathy Come Home, about a young couple’s descent into poverty. In a secret irony, he also spoke out against fathers who did not live up to their responsibilities for their children.

Born in Firies in County Kerry, he was one of 10 children –his father was the manager of a creamery – and was educated at St Munchin’s College in County Limerick and studied for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth.

Ordained a priest in 1951, he worked as a curate in Limerick and later in Slough, where he ministered for Irish immigrants, before becoming involved in the campaign to end homelessness. He was popular as the head of Shelter and showed great flair for raising money – and awareness.

In 1969, he was appointed Bishop of Kerry before taking on the larger and more high profile diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh in 1976.

A couple of years previously, 26yearold divorcee Annie Murphy and the cleric had an affair when she had left the US to stay in Ireland following the break down of her marriage. The couple had a mutual friend.

The relationship and the birth of son Peter was to remain a secret for 18 years and emerged along with the scandal that the bishop had been making undisclosed payments to the US for years.

Casey was seen as a charismatic and respected cleric who was regarded in some circles as being progressive but he is said to have wanted Peter put up for adoption.

He fled Ireland for the US as news of the scandal was to break and he went to Rome to resign his role as the head of the Galway Diocese. Ms Murphy later wrote a book about the affair, Forbidden Fruit.

Rumours about the affair had been circulating for some time in the early 1990s and Peter had been pressing for his father to make a public acknowledgement of their relationship. The crunch came when Casey resigned as a bishop while in Rome in May 1992, although the official statement said only that he had resigned for personal reasons.

The affair was not the only colourful aspect of Casey’s life – he also liked fast cars and crashed several in his time. He was also banned for drinkdriving in 1986 and made a public confession to his flock.

After the scandal around his relationship with Ms Murphy broke, Casey essentially disappeared from view, spending some time in Mexico before taking up a role as a missionary in Ecuador. Bishop Casey was at the funeral of his murdered friend Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador when the service was interrupted by bombs and shooting and 50 mourners died.

In the late 1990s, Casey began working in the parish of St Paul’s in Staple field, Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

He retired to Ireland in 2006 and on his return he made his first public statement on the affair in 14 years and apologised. He had been living in the small Galway village of Shanaglish until he had to enter a care home.

Father Diarmuid Hogan, of the Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh, said Bishop Casey had died peacefully in Carrigoran Nursing Home, County Clare where he had lived for six years.

The Catholic Church said the highlight of Bishop Casey’s time in Galway was organising Pope John Paul II’s visit to the city in 1979 and the youth Mass for more than 300,000 people.

He was also said to be forthright, opposing US President Ronald Reagan’s visit to Ireland in 1984 because of American foreign policy particularly in Central America.

In his long career, Casey also served as a priest in Limerick city, pioneered housing aid for Irish emigrants in the 1960s and was the first chairman of the aid agency Trocaire.

Casey’s time as the head of the agency was controversial, with the US Government accusing it of being antiAmerican.

Bishop Casey also set up special finance schemes to help parishes in Galway borrow at lower costs and supported outreach services for travellers and prisoners.

Casey had been Alzheimer’s Disease.

Archbishop Eamon Martin said: “It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Bishop Eamonn Casey.

“I wish to sincerely acknowledge the contribution of Bishop Casey to the work of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference over 23 years during his time as Bishop of Kerry and as Bishop of Galway.” suffering from