Jack Finucane (1937 – 7 June 2017) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

missionary of the Spiritan Fathers order, who with his brother

Aengus Finucane Aengus Finucane (26 April 1932 – 6 October 2009) was a Roman Catholic missionary of the Holy Ghost Fathers, Spiritan Fathers order, who organized food shipments from Ireland to the Igbo people during the Nigerian Civil War. His younger b ...

, organized food shipments from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to the

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and historically also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', / / ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Their primary origin is fo ...

during the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

. He was a co-founder and leader of

Concern Worldwide Concern Worldwide (often referred to as Concern) is Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency. Since its foundation in 1968 it has worked in 50 countries. According to its latest annual report, Concern helped 28.6 million of the world's poor ...

, a global aid agency.

Biography

Early life

Finucane was born in 1937, in the city of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, along with his twin brother. He was educated by the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

. He joined the Holy Ghost Fathers and was ordained in 1963. He taught for a time in Rockwell before going on missionary work to Africa. Following his work in Nigeria, he worked in the United States and studied in San Francisco for a Masters in Education.

Concern Worldwide

Jack was sent to Nigeria, and, along with his brother Aengus, he was involved in the provision of

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

during the

, and the founding and creation of Concern Worldwide. He was expelled from Nigeria along with the other Spiritans and returned to Ireland. In 1973, he was posted to Bangladesh, during the war of independence with (West) Pakistan. Jack worked with Concern in Ethiopia during the 1984 famine. He advised

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

and in 1985 showed

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

around on his first visit. Bono referred to Jack as the John Wayne of aid workers. Returning to Dublin in 1991, he became a regional director for Concern Worldwide, until he officially retired in 2002. He went in 2004 to Sudan during the Darfur conflict. In 2005, he headed up Concern's relief efforts in Sri Lanka following the tsunami.

Death

He died suddenly in

Kimmage Manor The Holy Ghost Missionary College, in Kimmage in Dublin, Ireland, colloquially known as Kimmage Manor, is a Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans) institution that has served as a Seminary training missionary priests and spawned two other colleges the '' K ...

, on Wednesday 7 June 2017, and is buried in the Spiritan plot in Dardistown Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finucane, Jack Holy Ghost Fathers Irish Spiritans Irish Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish anti-poverty advocates People of the Nigerian Civil War Christian clergy from Limerick (city) 1937 births 2017 deaths People educated at Rockwell College Roman Catholic missionaries in Nigeria Irish expatriates in Nigeria Burials at Dardistown Cemetery