Eamonn Casey

Eamonn Casey (24 April 1927 – 13 March 2017) was an Irish Catholic priest who served as bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh in Ireland from 1976 to 1992.

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.

Some news reports suggest that he publicly supported the Dunnes Stores' staff who were locked out from 1982 to 1986 for refusing to sell goods from apartheid South Africa.

[17][16] In 1992, it was reported that, despite the vow of chastity undertaken by Catholic clergy, Casey had had a sexual relationship in the early 1970s with American woman Annie Murphy.

By contrast, Murphy was determined to accept responsibility for her child, and she returned to the United States with their son, Peter, who was born in 1974 in Dublin.

[19] In order to continue the cover up of his affair with Murphy and his fraudulent activities, Casey refused to develop a relationship with his son, or acknowledge him.

Murphy published a book, Forbidden Fruit, in 1993, revealing the truth of their relationship and the son she bore by Casey and highlighting alleged systemic issues within the Irish Catholic Church.

[20] 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 .

[editorializing] After his missionary tenure was completed, Casey took a position in the parish of St. Paul's in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

[21] In 2005, Casey was investigated in conjunction with the sexual abuse scandal in Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora diocese, and cleared of any wrongdoing.