Boetius Mac Aodhagáin

Boetius Mac Aodhagáin (1734–1798), aka Boetius Egan, was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland.

Styles of Boetius Egan
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Grace or Archbishop

Mac Aodhagáin was born near Tuam, Ireland, to a family owning large estates in the County Galway. His family was reduced in position and means, and British penal laws made it then difficult for an Irish Catholic to receive Catholic education at home. At some point, he went to France to be trained as a priest. Mac Aodhagáin attended the College of Bordeaux, there, which had been founded by Irish exiles and endowed by queen Anne in the seventeenth century.

After his ordination Mac Aodhagáin returned to Ireland and served as a priest until he was appointed Bishop of Achonry in 1785. Two years later he was appointed Archbishop of Tuam. Accustomed during his whole life in Ireland to the barest toleration of his religion, he welcomed the Catholic Relief Act of 1793, and hastened to express his gratitude to king George III. When Maynooth College was founded in 1795, he became one of its trustees.

One of his last public acts was to sign an address to the Irish viceroy, Lord Camden, condemning the revolutionary associations then in Ireland. In this address Mac Aodhagáin described George III as "the best of kings" and the Irish Parliament as "our enlightened legislature".

See also

• Mac Aodhagáin

Sources

•  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Boetius Egan". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.