Michael Hogan (Gaelic footballer) explained

Code:Football
Sport:Football
Michael Hogan
Irish:Mícheál Ó hÓgáin
Birth Date:27 October 1896 [1]
Death Date: (aged 24)
Death Place:Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland
County:Tipperary
Province:Munster
Club:Grangemockler
Clposition:Center Field
Counties:Tipperary
Icposition:Right Full Back
Icyears:1910s–1920
Birth Place:Tipperary, Ireland

Michael Hogan (27 October 1896 – 21 November 1920) was a Gaelic footballer and one-time Captain of the Tipperary county team. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers and was born in the Grangemockler area of County Tipperary. He was the only player shot dead (along with 13 spectators) by the Royal Irish Constabulary at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday during the Irish War of Independence.[2] The Hogan Stand at Croke Park is named in his memory.

Bloody Sunday

Hogan took part in a challenge match between Tipperary and Dublin at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920. The day before, he travelled on the train with the other members of the team. A number of the players, including Hogan, became involved in a fight with soldiers from the Lincolnshire Regiment before throwing them from the train. On arrival at (Kingsbridge) Heuston Station, they quickly went their separate ways anticipating arrest. Michael and Thomas Ryan, the two IRA members on the team, decided to stay at Philip Shanahan's pub in Monto that night, rather than Barry's Hotel as planned. There they learned that 'there was a 'big job coming off' the following day, but were unaware of the details. The following morning, Phil Shanahan informed them of the shooting of British agents. Ryan claims that Dan Breen advised them it would be better not to attend the match, but instead to return to Tipperary.[3] During the match, Black and Tans entered Croke Park and opened fire on the crowd. Hogan was one of the 14 people killed. Tom Ryan, a young spectator from Wexford, entered the pitch to pray beside the dying Hogan and was also fatally shot.[4] Another player, Jim Egan, was wounded, but survived.

The Hogan Stand at Croke Park, built in 1924, is named in his memory.[5]

Personal life

Hogan was the brother of Major General Daniel (Dan) Hogan, who was Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces in the 1920s. His family were close friends of the Browne family, also from Grangemockler, that included the late Cardinal Michael Browne, Monsignor Maurice Browne (aka Joseph Brady), and Monsignor Pádraig de Brún, who later wrote that "he had identified Mick Hogan at the military inquiry to spare his brother Tom the ordeal."[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Irish Genealogy.
  2. News: Debunking some of the myths around Bloody Sunday. RTE. Dr Siobhán Doyle. 18 November 2020. 21 November 2020.
  3. http://www.tipperarylibraries.ie/ths/thj1991.htm Ryan, Thomas, Lt. Col., One Man's Flying Column; Tipperary Historical Journal; 1991
  4. News: Bloody Sunday 90th anniversary commemorated . 4 July 2012 . South Tipp Today . 1 December 2010 . https://archive.today/20130217191227/http://www.nationalist.ie/news/local/bloody-sunday-90th-anniversary-commemorated-1-2369085 . 17 February 2013 . dead .
  5. O'Halpin, Eunan & Ó Corráin, Daithí (2020), The Dead of the Irish Revolution. Yale University Press, pg 229
  6. News: 'They have murdered you but they cannot kill your soul': Historic letters shed new light on Bloody Sunday. Irish Independent. Louise Hogan. 14 November 2020. 21 November 2020. One of the more poignant letters came from Margaret ‘Baby’ Browne, who later married the politician Seán MacEntee and went on to become a university lecturer. The Brownes, who included Monsignor Maurice (Moss) Browne and Cardinal Michael Browne among its ranks, were close friends of the Hogan family. ... Another of the Browne family, Fr Patrick Browne, better known in later life as the poet and academic Monsignor Pádraig de Brún, wrote how he had identified Mick Hogan at the military inquiry to spare his brother Tom the ordeal..