# Eugene Egan

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**Eugene Egan** (**Owen McEgan** and other variants) (died 1603) was a Catholic apostolic vicar in Ireland, designated [bishop of Ross, County Cork](/source/Bishop_of_Ross%2C_County_Cork), closely involved with the uprising of the [Nine Years' War](/source/Nine_Years'_War_(Ireland)).

## 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](/source/Hugh_O'Neill%2C_2nd_Earl_of_Tyrone) in February at [Tipperary](/source/County_Tipperary), and co-operating with [Florence MacCarthy Reagh](/source/Florence_MacCarthy_Reagh).[1][2]

Tyrone and Florence MacCarthy sent Egan to Rome in quest of an [excommunication](/source/Excommunication) for all that did not rebel. One result was that the [Jesuit](/source/Jesuit) Luigi Mansoni was appointed [papal nuncio](/source/Papal_nuncio) to Ireland. Egan then gained access to the Spanish court at [Valladolid](/source/Valladolid), travelling there with Mansoni, and influenced [Philip III of Spain](/source/Philip_III_of_Spain), in the direction of sending men and money to support the rebellion which Tyrone had raised in the south of Ireland. [Pope Clement VIII](/source/Pope_Clement_VIII) summoned Egan back to Rome, appointed him apostolic vicar, created him D.D., and conferred on him livings in [Munster](/source/Munster).[1][2]

Egan arrived at [Kilmakilloge](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kilmakilloge&action=edit&redlink=1) in [Kenmare Bay](/source/Kenmare_Bay) in June 1601, in a ship bringing troops and finance from Spain. The [4th Spanish Armada](/source/4th_Spanish_Armada) was sent in September and Spanish troops made landfall. At [Kinsale](/source/Kinsale), [Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy](/source/Charles_Blount%2C_8th_Baron_Mountjoy) invested the town held by the Spanish. The Irish rebels under Tyrone [were then defeated outside the town](/source/Battle_of_Kinsale), and the Spanish in Kinsale were forced to surrender.[1]

Egan's career ended in an encounter with English soldiers under [William Taaffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Taaffe&action=edit&redlink=1) in [Carberry](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Carberry&action=edit&redlink=1) on 5 January 1603, where he was killed. He was buried in the convent of [Timoleague](/source/Timoleague), in the diocese of Ross, and a small cross was placed above his tomb.[1][2] 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.

## See also

- [Catholic Church in Ireland](/source/Catholic_Church_in_Ireland)

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-3) [Lee, Sidney](/source/Sidney_Lee), ed. (1893). ["MacEgan, Owen"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/MacEgan,_Owen). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 35. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ODNB_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ODNB_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ODNB_2-2) Clavin, Terry. "McEgan, Owen". *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/17480](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F17480). (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)

**Attribution**

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Lee, Sidney](/source/Sidney_Lee), ed. (1893). "[MacEgan, Owen](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/MacEgan,_Owen)". *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 35. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

[Portals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents/Portals):
- [Biography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography)
- [Catholicism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Catholicism)
- [Ireland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Ireland)

Authority control databases: People Ireland

v t e Roman Catholic bishops of Cork or Cloyne or of Ross 1540–1693 Cork and Cloyne Lewis Macnamara John O'Heyne Dominic Tirrey Roger Skiddy Nicholas Landes Edmund Tanner Dermot McCraghe James Miagh Robert Miagh William Tirry Robert Barry Peter Creagh Ross Maurice O'Hea Thomas O'Herlahy Bonaventura Naughton Eugene Egan Florence MacCarthy Robert Barry Boetius MacEgan Eugene Egan 1693–1747 Cork and Cloyne† John Sleyne Donagh MacCarthy Thaddeus McCarthy 1747–1850 Cork Richard Walsh John Butler Francis Moylan John Murphy William Delany Cloyne and Ross John O'Brien Matthew McKenna William Coppinger Michael Collins Bartholomew Crotty David Walsh Timothy Murphy 1850–1958 Cork William Delany Thomas Alphonsus O'Callaghan Daniel Cohalan Cornelius Lucey Cloyne Timothy Murphy William Keane John McCarthy Robert Browne James Roche John Ahern Ross William Keane Micheal O'Hea William Fitzgerald Denis Kelly James Roche Patrick Casey Denis Moynihan Cornelius Lucey 1958–present Cloyne John Ahern John Magee William Crean Cork and Ross Cornelius Lucey Michael Murphy John Buckley Fintan Gavin †During this period the bishops were also apostolic administrators of Ross

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eugene Egan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Egan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Egan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.