Séamus Hegarty

Cill Charthaigh in County Donegal birthed Séamus Hegarty in 1940, the small brusque man who later carried the heavy crosses of Raphoe and Derry. He spoke three languages fluently and built schools before he built cathedrals, yet history remembers him for the abuse scandals he faced rather than the children he taught. A professor once called him a cross between Mussolini and the Child of Prague, capturing both his fire and his fragility. The village gave the Church a stern shepherd; the Church gave back a man broken by the sins of others.