Limerick Diocese open to taking Bishop Eamonn Casey’s remains

Donal O'Regan, 17 Aug


LIMERICK Diocese is willing to take the remains of Bishop Eamonn
Casey for burial, revealed the Daily Mail this week, but the diocese
has stressed that this decision is not up to them.

The newspaper also revealed that Bishop Casey’s death notice has now
been removed online, in line with protocols set out by the Church for
clergy removed from ministry due to credible allegations of child
sexual abuse.

The RTE documentary, Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, in association with
the Irish Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail news editor Anne Sheridan,
formerly a reporter with the Limerick Leader, aired last month.

It revealed that the former Bishop of Galway had been removed from
ministry by the Vatican before 2006 and that the ban was reiterated to
him in 2007 after they received multiple allegations of abuse.

Galway Diocese had multiple allegations of child sexual abuse against
Bishop Casey on their files when a decision was taken to inter him in
the crypt of Galway Cathedral following his death in March 2017.

The Vatican has stressed that they did not get involved in any
decisions left to the “local level”.

The programme prompted calls for his removal from the hallowed grounds
of the crypt, where other deceased bishops of the diocese have been
buried.

The diocese reiterated their previous statement from July 27 last,
which outlined: “The interment of the remains of Bishop Casey in the
crypt beneath Galway Cathedral is a very sensitive issue that deeply
affects people in different ways, and which has different facets. The
interment of Bishop Casey in the Cathedral crypt now requires a period
of careful consideration and consultation, which has already begun.

“Time and space are required to adequately and appropriately bring this
undertaking to completion. We will not be making any further public
comment until we are in a position to provide an update,” the diocese
said.

Sources have said that a burial in Limerick, where several of his
family members have been laid to rest, would be a more appropriate
interment.

When asked by the Mail if the Limerick Diocese would be willing to
accept his remains to the diocese where he first served in the 1960s, a
spokesman said: “This is not a matter for Limerick Diocese to decide
but in the event that all relevant parties were to make such a
decision, Limerick Diocese would fully cooperate to facilitate such a
move.”

Bishop Casey’s late sister Josephine ‘Patsy’ Donovan (nee Casey) was
buried in Kilmurry cemetery in Limerick in February 2007.

His brother, also a priest, Fr Michael Casey, who had served in south
Perth in Australia for many years, died aged 97 in September 2022 and
he was laid to rest in Mount St Lawrence cemetery in Limerick.

Bishop Casey’s nephew, Fr Michael Donovan, also an alleged abuser who
was removed from ministry, was also buried in Limerick in 2018.

READ MORE: Diocese ‘reflects’ on Bishop Eamonn Casey's burial in crypt

While Bishop Casey was born in Firies, Co Kerry, his family later moved
to Adare, and he was first ordained a priest for the Limerick Diocese,
and maintained strong links with the county throughout his life. His
father was a creamery manager.

Of the five child abuse allegations made against Bishop Casey, which
allegedly occurred over four decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s and
in every Irish diocese where he served, three relate to the Limerick
diocese.

Bishop Casey consistently denied all the allegations against him. He
was never charged or convicted of any sexual crimes and remained a
bishop until his death.