William Keegan was baptized in Edenderry on May 15th, 1821. Parents, Michael Keegan and Maria Dillon. Sponsors, George Smullen and Margaret English. The Keegan’s came from the townland of Rathmore just outside Edenderry. Over the course of his life many newspaper reports mention his birth year as 1824 which was incorrect.
William Keegan Baptism ,1821.
The family moved to the US in the late 1820s or early 1830s. Parents William and Maria along with five children. Thomas, John, William, Elizabeth, and Mary. The oldest Thomas was around fifteen years old at the time and the youngest Mary was only two or three.
The family lived in Brooklyn and William attended local schools until he entered St. Johns College in The Bronx in the early 1840s. When John Hughes, coadjutor bishop (later archbishop) of New York, established St. John’s College on June 24, 1841, he considered it a “daring and dangerous undertaking”—not least because he initially lacked the funds to purchase the land where he saw a great university taking root.
In 1907 St. Johns was renamed to what is now the well-known , Fordham University.
Fordham’s first President was Rev. John McCloskey who would go on to become the Archbishop of New York and the first American born Cardinal. McCloskey also had a connection to Edenderry .McCloskey’s father died when he was ten years old and he became the ward of Cornelius Heeney, a wealthy merchant in New York at the time . Heeney spent his youth in Edenderry and worked for the Fullard family in their distillery. He emigrated in 1784 at the age of twenty-eight. It was Heeney’s guidance and financial support which helped McCloskey and no doubt he was involved with the young William Keegan at the time. Heeney passed away in 1845 at the same time Keegan was attending Fordham.
William Keegan graduated from Fordham in 1849 and took up teaching role in the University. He remained in this role until 1853 also pursuing theological studies. He was recognized as an authority in the provincial councils of the church.
He was ordained in 1853 by Cardinal Bedini in Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Cardinal Bedini at the time was Papal Nuncio to the United States. Immediately after his ordination he was appointed the assistant pastor of the Church of the Assumption in Brooklyn. At the time the pastor of Assumption Church was Father David Bacon . In 1855 when Father Bacon was appointed the first Bishop Portland Maine, Father Keegan was promoted .
Assumption Church Baptism Book 1878.
Under his leadership, a schoolhouse was built at the corner of Pearl and York streets. The school opened in 1858 and was the second school in all of Brooklyn. Lay principals and teachers administered it until 1868 when Father Keegan obtained the services of the Sisters of Charity. Then in 1882, the Franciscan Brothers came to take responsibility for the boys’ department of the school.
Soon plans were made to enlarge the church. However, a fire broke out in a nearby lead factory and its flames spread to the roof of Assumption church destroying the roof, but the main portion of the building was saved. As the repairs were being made, the church building was extended.
In 1867 Rev. Keegan along with Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn made a trip to Rome to attend the grand council of church dignitaries at the invitation of Pope Pius IX. Rev. keegan also visited Ireland and Edenderry on this trip. He spoke about it at the St. Patrick’s Society annual event in 1868. He was the Chaplain of society at the time. His speech was printed in The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper article on March 18th, 1868. Partially transcribed below.
“I thought before leaving America last May that my affection for Ireland was already dead , and that the love of Ireland had well nigh faded from my soul .But the moment that I gazed on the green shores of Erin , the instant my feet trod the sacred haunts of my childhood .I said to myself: Breathes there a man with soul so dead that never to himself hath said this is my own , my native land .
I found in Ireland everywhere the most widespread squalor and misery. It would make the most hard-hearted sick to see the squalor of young and old. Turning your eye upon the country you would see the most luxurious harvest waving o’er the soil. The finest beef and mutton, and the best vegetable crops in Europe are there in abundance and yet the poor are starving. This meat and vegetables are raised and transported away from Ireland, to feed and strengthen the most cruel and relentless enemy of Ireland.The man who raises his voice to that cruel old step-mother England and the man especially who with strong arm strikes a link from the chain that fetters Ireland .I care not what may be cast on him by others .He shall at least have my prayers and sympathy .Would to god some George Washington rise up in Ireland and in that moment the genius of Ireland would stand up erect and free , and take her place among the nations of the earth”.
Rev. Keegans rousing speech was greeted with a resounding applause. When both men returned to New York from their trip they were welcomed by clergy and parishioners as seen on the report on the paper from August 1867.
In 1878, Father Keegan established a “first” when the Assumption Literary Institute was built at 96 and 98 Jay Street as the first parochial hall in the diocese, it contained a billiard room, bowling alley, lecture room, and stage. The same year Father keegan celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination in the new parochial hall. Then Mayor of New York James Howell attended the event along with other dignitaries from the city.
In 1880 he was appointed the Vicar General of the Diocese of Long Island by Bishop Loughlin the first Bishop of Brooklyn. In this role he became the principal deputy and representative for Bishop Loughlin, exercising executive authority over the day-to-day administration and pastoral care of the diocese. He also remained with his beloved parish at the Church of the Assumption.
He continued his work throughout the 1880s within Assumption parish and his involvement with the diocese as Vicar General. He was known for his energy and strength. One newspaper described him as having “An unusually strong physique and a sturdy frame with great vitality.”
On Sunday, the 4th of May 1890 Father Keegan said the morning mass in Assumption Church as usual although he had been ill for a week or more. The following day his doctor visited and confirmed he had pneumonia. Over the course of the next few days his condition became worse. He passed away on May 10th, 1890.
His funeral at the time was described one of the most remarkable funerals in the history of Brooklyn. Thousands lined the streets and packed the church.
The Reverend Joseph O’Connell a lifelong friend of father keegan stated in his eulogy .”Father keegan was an orator too and its well evidenced in his speeches before St. Patrick’s Society of which he was chaplain .What shall I say of his charity ,his laugh was sunshine .No man ever knew him to enjoy a joke more and he was an example of the old Irish saying a man is as old as he feels .When his cheery voice spoke the stricken man lifted up his face and smiled . He was the most charitable man I ever knew”.
He was laid to rest in the family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn.
The following year a magnificent tablet was installed inside the Assumption Church in memory of Father keegan.
In 1907 the parish buildings were taken over by “eminent domain” for the construction of the Manhattan Bridge. The parish received $125,000 for the church property. Part of this was used to purchase four lots on Cranberry Street and four lots on Middagh Street.
Ground was broken in August 1908, and on December 20, 1908, Bishop McDonnell laid the cornerstone of the new church. The church exterior is in Italian-Renaissance style, and its interior with its round columns and curved dome ceiling is Romanesque. It was dedicated on August 15, 1909. Thankfully the keegan plaque was transferred from the original church to the new one . It was placed on the wall in the vestibule just inside the main entrance.
The man from Edenderry had touched the lives of thousands. If it wasn’t for his premature death in 1890, he would have been appointed the second Bishop of Brooklyn in 1891 when Bishop Loughlin passed away.
When Father Keegan’s work began in Brooklyn the population of the diocese was twenty-six thousand. When he passed away in 1890 that number was over a quarter of a million. A remarkable man who lived a remarkable life.
Rev. William Keegan . 1821-1890.
