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Eamonn Casey (24 April 1927 – 13 March 2017) was an Irish
/ref> His resignation in 1992, after it was revealed he had had an affair with an American woman, Annie Murphy, was a significant event in the history of the Irish Catholic Church.
Subsequently, several women accused Casey of sexual abuse, with two receiving compensation following a High Court trial. One of the women, his niece Patricia Donovan, alleged in 2019 that she was repeatedly raped by Casey when she was five years old and was sexually assaulted by him for more than a decade. Writing in The Irish Times, historian Diarmaid Ferriter described Casey as "a sexist hypocrite", The Herald reports that he "liked fast cars... and was banned for drink driving", and numerous outlets reported on his fraudulent use of church funds amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Casey was a co-founder of the British housing charity Shelter while chaplain to the Irish diaspora in London in the 1960s.
He held this position until 1976, when he was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and apostolic administrator of Kilfenora. While in Galway, Casey was seen as a progressive. It marked a change in the diocese, which had been led by Michael Browne (Bishop from 1937 to 1976), known for his conservative approach.
Casey held a prominent position within the Irish Catholic hierarchy during his tenure, and served as bishop until his resignation in 1992. He was a friend and colleague of another highly prominent Irish priest, Father Michael Cleary.
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He was a vocal supporter of the Dunnes Stores' staff who were locked out from 1982 to 1986 for refusing to sell goods from apartheid South Africa. However, Dunnes striker Mary Manning wrote in her memoir Striking Back that when the strikers initially asked Bishop Casey for support, he replied with a letter declining to support the strike and criticizing the idea of economic sanctions against South Africa.
At a conference for Cherish, an Irish Catholic charity established to support unmarried mothers, Casey said, "It is difficult to understand how the total rejection of their child . . . could be reconciled with Christian love and forgiveness.". Yet of his own son, he told Murphy: "He is not my son. He's entirely yours now."
Casey was ordered by the Vatican to leave Ireland and became a missionary alongside members of the Missionary Society of St. James in a rural parish in Ecuador, whose language (Spanish) he did not speak. During this time, he travelled long distances to reach the widely scattered members of his parish but did not travel to meet his own son. After his missionary tenure was completed, Casey took a position in the parish of St. Paul's in Haywards Heath.
In 2005, Casey was investigated in conjunction with the sexual abuse scandal in Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora diocese, and cleared of any wrongdoing. In 2019, it emerged that Casey had faced at least three accusations of sexual abuse before his death, with two High Court cases being settled. The Kerry diocese confirmed that it had received allegations against him, that Gardaí and health authorities had been informed, and that the person concerned was offered support by the diocese.
Casey was succeeded by his secretary, James McLoughlin, who served in the post until his own retirement on 3 July 2005.
He returned to Ireland in 2006 with his reputation destroyed and was not permitted to say Mass in public.
One of the women was his niece Patricia Donovan, who alleged in 2005, and again in 2019, that she was raped by Casey when she was five years old and assaulted sexually by him for more than a decade.
Casey was removed from public ministry by the Vatican in 2007, following a number of such allegations. But this was not publicly revealed and Casey retired from ministry in a normal way and lived out the last ten years of his life untroubled. He denied all the allegations against him, and State prosecutors were aware of them but did not press charges.
In 2025 however, Casey’s remains were disinterred from Galway Cathedral and returned to his family.
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