Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1890-1991 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
67pp
Context area
Archival history
Kerby A. Miller created his transcript of this letter from the original manuscript held in the National Library of Ireland [call number MS 3254].
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Materials pertaining to a letter written on 29 July 1890 by Father James Keegan, St. Louis, to John Glynn, evidently the editor of a Connacht newspaper.
Per Kerby A. Miller: ‘According to the record of his priesthood, a copy of which was obtained from the St. Louis Archdiocesan Archives, the above [Racullin, near Cloone, County Leitrim] was the birthplace and home address of Fr. James Keegan… …Keegan was born on 5 January 1859. I presume he was educated in Calow College seminary (rather than at Maynooth), for he was ordained a priest at Carlow Cathedral on May 14 or May 19, 1883. I presume as well that he was ordained specifically for the American mission, for he appears in St. Louis, MO, in 1884. Between 1884 and 1894 Keegan was assistant parish priest at, first, St. John's parish church and, second, at St. Malachy's parish church in St. Louis. Sometime in 1893 he went home to Co. Leitrim to recuperate his health -- or to die, for he passed away [TB would be my guess] at his parents' home in "Rocullin," Cloone Parish, on January 5, 1894.’
The series includes: Miller’s biographical notes and research plan regarding Father Keegan; transcripts of the Keegan letter; correspondence between Kerby A. Miller, David N. Doyle, and various researchers and St. Louis Catholic organisations attempting to find further information on Keegan; Irish census data mentioning the Keegan family; and photocopied extracts of publications regarding Catholicism in St. Louis including a history of St. Malachy’s Church.