Denis Gargan

Monsignor Denis Gargan DD, VG was an Irish Catholic cleric, and educator, who served as St Patrick's College, Maynooth (Maynooth College).

Born in 1819 in County Meath, where his father Patrick Gargan was a farmer, he was educated privately then at the Diocesan School in Navan, entering Maynooth College in 1836. He was ordained for the priesthood in 1843, and was appointed professor of metaphysics at the Irish College in Paris. A distinguished scholar, Gargan was appointed professor of Humanity at Maynooth in 1845 and in 1859 Ecclesiastic History. He served as vice president from 1885 prior to becoming president in 1894, serving as president of the college during its centenary celebrations, he held this position until his death.

Gargan briefly was appointed in 1863 to the parish of Duleek, Co. Meath, but resigned and returned to Maynooth.

Gargan was awarded a number of Clerical titles such as Vicar General, and Monsignor over his career. He was a member of the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language and the Royal Historical and Archaeological Society of Ireland.

Gargan died aged 84 on August 28, 1903, and buried on September 1, 1903.

• The Ancient Church of Ireland By Denis Gargan, D.D., James Duffy Ltd., Dublin, 1864.
• The charity of the church, a proof of her divinity by Cardinal Gaetano Baluffi, (Introduction by Rev. Denis Gargan), M.H. Gill and Son, Dublin, 1885.