Born in Clones, he emigrated to America in his early twenties and settled in Florida. He practiced law and in 1861 he was a member of the State Secession Commission. Later he handled all military affairs pertaining to Florida's role in the Confederacy.

From April to October 1862, he commanded the Department of Middle and Eastern Florida with the rank of Brigadier General; later his command was reduced to the District of East Florida. His troops were thinly scattered throughout the district, waging an arduous campaign to protect portions of the Atlantic Coast from the U.S. Navy. In February 1864, three brigades under his direction made a stand near Olustee against 5,500 Federals under Brigadier General Seymour, which were sweeping inland after an amphibious landing at Jacksonville.

On the 20th, Finegan skillfully deployed his 6,500 troops against the front and flanks of the enemy and after a four-and-a-half hour fight, put Seymour to flight. For chasing the Union troops to their base of operations on the Atlantic Coast, Finegan and his soldiers won the Thanks of the Confederate Congress.

Three months later, Finegan was transferred to Virginia where he led a consolidated brigade of Floridians in Brigadier General William Mahone's Division of the III Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. On the morning of June 4, 1864, the command plugged a gap in the right flank of the Confederate army at Cold Harbor and then assisted another force in repulsing troops of the II Corps, Army of the Potomac. That evening, they repulsed another assault, this one being against their skirmish line.

Finegan's brigade performed with similar ability in many engagements in the Petersburg Campaign, but in the winter of 1864-1865, the brigade suffered heavily from desertions. Two weeks before General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Finegan was returned to Florida where he finished out the conflict.

With the coming of peace, he returned to his law practice and was a member of the Florida Senate. He spent his last years in Rutledge, Florida, where he died October 29, 1885.

Also:

The Not as Famous: Gen. Thomas William Sweeny

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