Fergus P Egan

The Coin and the Key Fergus P Egan

On Wednesday 02 August 1950, Canon Paul Anthony MacMorrow is discovered lying injured inside St. Bawn's Church. He speaks a few words - 'a coin' and 'a key'. Are these clues that will lead to his assailant? He falls unconscious and dies within minutes.

Why would anyone kill a harmless old priest in a quiet rural haven in the west of Ireland? Detective Inspector John Patrick Murphy, 'Murf', searches for evidence and motives in the parish and the town. Later he learns of a related incident many miles away at the border. When a foreign connection is uncovered, the Royal Ulster Constabulary becomes interested, and so does 'London'. Has the Cold War arrived at the doorsteps of a quiet country church in remote County Mayo?