‘A giant amid his fellow priests’

OBITUARY: The late Fr Tom Keegan, Kilbeggan and Australia

THE death occurred in Australia on July 25 of Fr Tom Keegan, a Westmeath-born priest who spent nearly all his life Down Under.

Fr Keegan, 92, was a native of Kilbeggan, who attended school at Ballinagore National School, St Mary’s Christian Brothers, Mullingar, and St Theresa’s Carmelite College, Castlemartyr, County Cork. He was a son of John and Bridget Keegan and was one of four siblings to attain holy orders.

Fr Tom was predeceased by his brother Sean, TD for Longford-Westmeath between 1977 and 1982, Br Frank, Christian Brothers, Dublin, Nan Shine, Dill Ward, Ita Dunning and Bridie Lynam.

He is survived by two sisters, Sr Gemma, Sisters of Mercy, Tullamore, formerly Kilcormac, and Sr Theresa, Servants of Mother of God, Chapelizod, formerly Rome and Florence; and his sister-in-law, Mary Keegan, Kilbeggan.

Fr Tom was born on April 13, 1928 and entered the seminary at St Patrick’s College, Thurles. He was ordained on June 14, 1953 by Archbishop Jeremiah Kinnane at Thurles Cathedral and in November set out for Australia, where he worked at numerous parishes until his death.

He kept a diary of his journey on the ship which took him to Australia, and that journal of his month on board the Otranto is as fascinating as the life which followed it.

Among the 1,100 passengers who left from London for the 12,000-mile sea voyage via the Suez Canal were four other priests and 14 Presentation sisters.

While sailing through the Mediterranean, the ship stopped at Naples and Fr Tom attempted to telephone his sister Tessy, Sr Theresa, in Florence, but could not do so because he was told he would have to wait an hour.

His desire to keep in close touch with his family was a trait which lived with him for the near seven decades he spent ministering in Australia.

Along with the other priests, he was busy on board the Otranto with Masses and other activities and his membership of the sports committee resulted in him being invited to a cocktail party hosted by the ship’s captain.

After travelling across the Indian Ocean the vessel first made Australian landfall at Perth before Fr Tom disembarked at Adelaide on St Stephen’s Day.

On January 7 Fr Tom arrived in Toowoomba, Queensland and his first assignment was in Warwick, and he had spells in other parishes in the diocese over the many years that followed.

Once flights home became accessible, Fr Tom was a regular visitor to Ireland and he spent summers at Toarlisnamore, where he shared a house with his sisters, Sr Gemma and Sr Theresa, and his brother, Br Frank, when they were also on their breaks.

Morning Mass was celebrated in the house each day and the Sunday ceremonies often became extended family and community gatherings.

He was a keen follower of sport, especially Gaelic games, and attended as many matches as possible when he was home.

Fr Tom travelled widely throughout Ireland, crisscrossing the 32 counties, often with siblings and nieces and nephews as passengers, singing and telling tales of his time in Australia.

Queensland parishes with strange placenames like Cunnamulla or Irish-sounding ones like Killarney became familiar to his family at home and numerous relatives made the journey to Australia to visit him, a highlight being his 90th birthday in 2018.

His first appointment as a parish priest was in Cunnamulla in 1971 and after spells in Texas and Killarney, he moved to Holy Name, Toowoomba, where he remained.

Though Covid-19 restrictions were in place for his funeral, the service was streamed live and watched by Irish-based mourners.

The first reading at the Mass was recited in a video recording by one of his nieces, Geraldine Deegan, Ballinagore.

A friend and colleague of Fr Tom in the diocese of Toowoomba, Fr James Byrne, now resident in Donegal, paid a tribute from his Irish home, describing the deceased as a giant amidst his fellow priests, a man who lived out an exemplary faith life every day.

Fr Byrne said the Westmeath man was an exemplary pastor of his flock. “Years ago he was named regularly as the best visitor of parishioners in the diocese and this accolade was never challenged. His pastoral manner drew people into a special lasting intimate bond of friendship,” said Fr Byrne.

He said Fr Tom welcomed and helped the homeless and the poor, making his presbytery a drop-in centre where nobody was turned away.

Fr Tom Keegan died peacefully at Lourdes Home, St Vincent’s Care Services, Toowoomba. His funeral Mass, where the chief concelebrant was Most Rev Robert McGuckin, Bishop of Toowoomba, took place at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Toowoomba, on July 31, followed by burial at the Garden of Remembrance Cemetery. May he rest in peace.