He was a prolific writer and had a long and successful career as a Catholic journalist, literary critic, and novelist.

He received his secondary education from Brothers of the Christian Schools (FSC) at the newly opened LaSalle College.

His father urged him to pursue a career in law, but Egan instead began to contribute to The Saturday Evening Post magazine.

[2] He was a friend of US President Theodore Roosevelt, and introduced him to William Butler Yeats at a White House lunch.

[4] Egan resigned his professorship and left academic life when President Roosevelt appointed him United States Ambassador to Denmark.

[3][4] His appointment was a reward for his services as an unofficial contact with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church about Church-State problems in the Philippines and other countries.

[10][11] Egan published poetry in Ave Maria, Sacred Heart Messenger, The Century, and The Saturday Evening Post.

He published twelve novels, including The Disappearance of John Longworthy (1890), The Success of Patrick Desmond (1893), and The Vocation of Edward Conway (1896).