Michael "Galloping" Hogan was an Irish rapparee or brigand following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.[1]
He was born in the parish of Doon, at the foot of the Slieve Phelim hills in East Limerick, and was possibly a relatively wealthy landowner before becoming a rapparee.
Under his guidance in 1690, Patrick Sarsfield and 500 Jacobite troops blew up the Williamite siege train at Ballyneety, County Limerick.[2] One eyewitness account says that Galloping Hogan was given the honour of lighting the fuse.[3]
The Williamite war continued until the Treaty of Limerick was signed in October 1691. But Galloping Hogan refused to accept the treaty and carried on the struggle for a further six months before leaving Ireland from Cork in late Spring of 1692 with the last contingent of Wild Geese.
He went to France, where he became a general. In 1706 he was forced to leave France as he reputedly killed a fellow officer in a duel in Flanders. He fled to Portugal, where he continued his military career. Years later he ended his career as a senior officer in the Portuguese army.[4]
In May 1712 he contributed to the victory of the Portuguese Army against the Spanish at the battle of Campo Maior, Portugal. He remained in Portugal until his death, and reared a family whose descendants still live in Portugal.