It is unusual for church authorities anywhere to disturb the remains of the deceased, not least a deceased bishop. The decision by diocesan authorities in Galway to remove the remains of Bishop Eamonn Casey from the crypt in Galway Cathedral to the care of his family is thus a rare event – and the length of time it took to reach it shows how delicate it was.
The decision came in response to the furore which followed the broadcasting a year ago by RTÉ One of the documentary, Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, made in association with the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper. It recalled how four people independently accused Bishop Casey of child sexual abuse and a separate child safeguarding concern was also recorded against him. The significant public reaction led to the diocese commencing a period of consultation on what to do.
The explanation given for the removal of the remains from the crypt at Galway Cathedral was somewhat opaque. “Significant consensus emerged around the unique role of a cathedral as a place of unity rather than division, healing rather than hurt and peace rather than disquiet,” said a short statement from Galway’s diocesan authorities on Saturday. And so Casey’s remains were removed to the care of his family.
The statement noted how “the continued resting of the mortal remains of Bishop Eamonn Casey in the crypt of the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, Galway, was a deeply felt matter that affected many people in different ways”.
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It referred to another statement issued by the diocese in July last year, following the programme, when it appealed “for time and space” to allow “for appropriate reflection and consultation” on the issue.
[ Garda will not reopen Bishop Eamonn Casey investigationOpens in new window ]
The documentary included an interview with Bishop Casey’s niece, Patricia Donovan. In her first television interview, she outlined in detail the abuse allegations she first made against Casey in November 2005. These were investigated by gardaí at the time – who questioned Casey – but no charges were brought.
Casey, who fathered a child with Annie Murphy in the early 1970s, denied all accusations of child sexual abuse made against him.
Before he died in 2017 it was known that he faced such allegations involving three girls. An Garda Síochána and the church authorities were notified by the Limerick diocese after it received the complaints in 2001, 2005, and 2014.
One involved Ms Donovan, another involved the late Ellen Murphy, and the identity of the third woman has not been revealed. After his death another woman made an allegation of child sex abuse against him, and a child safeguarding matter concerning him also came to light.
[ Bishop Eamonn Casey’s remains removed from Galway cathedralOpens in new window ]
The programme disclosed that Ms Murphy alleged Casey abused her in the 1950s when she was 15 and at St Joseph’s reformatory in Limerick, where he was chaplain. In 2001 she initiated High Court proceedings against him and also applied to the Redress Board, set up to compensate people who had been in residential institutions as children.
She received €40,000 in redress and dropped her High Court action. She made no formal complaint to the gardaí about her alleged abuse by Casey.
In 2019, two years after Casey died, Limerick diocese paid €100,000 to a woman over alleged abuse by Casey when he was curate at St John’s Cathedral in Limerick between 1955 and 1960.
Canon lawyer Fr Aidan McGrath told the programme that “disciplinary measures” had been taken by the Vatican where Casey was concerned. “Whether they were punitive or not, I would doubt it. An allegation, ultimately, until there’s evidence to back it up, is not proof. Until he’s proven guilty of something he’s given the benefit of the doubt. And it looks as if that’s what happened,” he said.
However, for most of his later years Casey was suspended from public ministry by the Vatican.
His funeral Mass at Galway Cathedral in March 2017 was concelebrated by 11 bishops and 61 priests with more than 1,600 people in attendance, including President Michael D Higgins.
