Author Timothy Egan Brings History to Life at Birmingham Lecture

On Wednesday, April 16, St. Sebastian’s was honored to welcome award-winning author Timothy Egan as the 2025 Birmingham Lecture Series speaker. Egan immediately felt at home at St. Sebastian’s as he himself had attended the all-boys Catholic Gonzaga Prep in Seattle. Today, Egan is a journalist, columnist and the author of ten books, including “The Immortal Irishman – The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero.” In introducing Egan, Joseph Sullivan ’25 remarked, “Our speaker today unearths buried stories from history and presents them in a captivating manner that could make anyone a history buff.”

In his lecture focused on “The Immortal Irishman,” Egan vividly details the life and times of Thomas Francis Meagher. While Meagher is not a household name, during his brief lifetime from 1823-1867 he shaped history on three continents: in his native Ireland advocating for his country’s freedom from England, in Australia as an exile prisoner, and ultimately the US where he made the decision to join the Union Army and form the Irish Brigade. Following the Civil War, Meagher served as Acting Governor of the new Territory of Montana. At the outset of his talk, Egan emphasized that “there is no such thing as boring history, there’s only boringly told history.” Based on the rapt attention of our students, Egan is a fantastic storyteller, and history came alive in his lecture. 

Head of School Brendan Sullivan then shared his personal story of how “The Immortal Irishman” was given to him by his mother and quickly became one of his favorite books. So much so, that he planned his 2019 Faculty Summer Sabbatical around Meagher’s life. Sullivan visited his ancestral Irish roots on the Beara Peninsula in southwest Ireland. Many of the Irish who worked the copper mines there ended up in the mines of Butte, Montana, the next leg of his sabbatical. Sullivan reminded our students that Meagher’s education was very similar to theirs at St. Sebastian’s. Meagher attended Clongowes Wood College, an all-boys Catholic school with an emphasis on reading, reason, and oration. Meagher used his education not to raise himself up, but to raise his people up and for causes he saw as important in Ireland, Australia, and the US. A great example for today’s Arrows.