Fr Pat Egan was born in Ballybrehony, Claremorris, Co Mayo to James and Mary Egan. He was educated in Ballyfarna NS and St Colman’s College, Claremorris, Co Mayo.
He came to Dalgan in 1953 when made his permanent aggregation as a Columban on 29th September 1957. He was ordained in St Columbans Dalgan Park on 21st December 1959.
Pat was assigned to South America in 1960 and spent the rest of his life there apart from a few brief commitments for ongoing education and promotion work in Ireland. His first appointment was to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he ministered to the ‘Apostolado del Mar’ from November 1960 to March 1963.
There he learnt Spanish and inserted himself into the of the life of the Church in Latin America which he served with dedication and enthusiasm for the next 56 years embracing the Church’s option for the poor, building of new Christian Communities, and the mission of evangelisation and empowerment of the laity.
Pat was asked to join our new Columban Mission in Chile in 1963 and was assigned to the parish of Santa Luisa de Marillac in the port town of San Antonio in the Archdiocese of Santiago. He was later assigned to the parish of ‘San Marcos’, on the outskirts of Santiago.
From 1967 until 1975, he was appointed to ‘San Gabriel’ on the western zone of the Archdiocese of Santiago, and then ‘San Luis Rey’ until 1985.
He took up the invitation to open a new mission in the desert in northern Chile and in 1986 after a sabbatical he was appointed to the parish of ‘Santa Cruz’ Vallenar where he was to minister for the next 11 years. There, among other pastoral commitments, he successfully developed the Married Deacon Programme for the Diocese of Copiapo and Lay Ministries.
After four years of promotion work in Ireland between 1988 and 2002, he returned to Chile to work in Santiago in the parishes of ‘Maria Misionera’, Renca until 2003 and then in the newly developing urban sprawl parish of ‘San Matías’ in Puente Alto.
He retired back to St Columban’s Dalgan in 2016 where he was able to connect with family and friends.
Pat, an avid reader of daily newspapers and of social, political and religious documents and articles. He had the ability to read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel and translate them into pastoral action.
Above all, Pat was a pastoral man, with a genuine interest in people, gentle, a sincere friend to many, and stood by people in time of need.
He died peacefully at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda on 17th July 2024.
May he rest in Peace.
