The Hogans: Brothers in farming, freedom, religion and GAA history

“The two Tipperary players laying on the pitch were Mick Hogan from Grangemockler and Jim Egan from Mullinahone. Jim Egan came to his feet covered in blood, walked towards the crowd and said to a priest, Father Crotty, ‘Mick Hogan is dead – could you go to him?’ It was Hogan’s blood that stained Egan.

– Extract from James Gleeson’s book Bloody Sunday

To mark the 100th anniversary of this pivotal moment in Irish history, Irish Country Living spoke with Mick’s grandniece Louise Hogan, who works for Glanbia Ireland and Grangemockler locals, Al Murray and Bernard Fogarty. All are intent on ensuring Michael’s anniversary is marked appropriately despite COVID-19.

Michael Hogan was born on a dairy farm in Aughavaneen, just outside the small village of Grangemockler in south Tipperary in 1896. In the recently launched book commemorating this small village’s history, Louise describes her family at the time: “It was a nationalist household where life centred on the farming season, education was prioritised and sportsmanship played a prominent role.”

After Michael was killed, it was his brother Paddy, Louise’s grandfather, who was only 14, who took on the farm. She explains how Mick’s death was a major blow to the family particularly his mother Margaret, who lost her husband two years previously, and Mick was working the farm.

Paddy had two sons, Michael and Eamon – Louise’s father. Her late uncle Michael spent his life farming and preserving the family homestead and history with a great sense of honour, while Eamon joined An Garda Síochána. He moved to Tullow in Co Carlow where he lived with his wife Rosaleen and their children Elaine, Leonard and Louise. Always interested in agriculture and farming, Louise studied journalism in DCU before going on to edit the Farming Independent.

The family always had a strong interest in the GAA and the name will forever be intertwined with the association as the Hogan Stand, after all, was named after Mick.

“The family didn’t often talk about their history as that was the way it was in those times.” She credits the Grangemockler community that worked hard to “keep his name alive throughout all the years.”

Brothers in arms

There is a COVID-19 checkpoint parked outside the parish hall in Grangemockler where I am meeting Al Murray and Bernard Fogarty. One hundred years before, at Michael Hogan’s funeral, his brother Dan sat on a horse and cart, close to where the squad car sat that day, with a pistol in his lap, hidden from view under a blanket.

He was probably not alone in taking such action, considering that the when the remains of his brother arrived by train to Clonmel, the station was surrounded by members of the RIC and the Black and Tans. Dan was a well-known figure at that stage in the Irish volunteer movement and he rose swiftly through the ranks to become chief of staff of the Irish army.

Brothers in sport

Three days before, one of the most significant events in the Irish War of Independence, marked a decisive turning point in the Irish War of Independence between the British forces and the IRA. This day became known as Bloody Sunday.

Early in 1920, GAA activities ground to a halt but by October there was a brief revival of inter-county fixtures. It is often thought that the match on Bloody Sunday – Dublin versus Tipperary – was an all-Ireland but Al tells us “it was a challenge match to support the dependents of the IRA who had been killed or imprisoned. The All-Ireland for that year was played the following March by the same two teams. The last time Tipperary won a football All-Ireland actually.”

Michael Hogan left the farm on Saturday to travel with his team mates to Dublin. And they did hear that night, something was afoot for the following day. In the early hours of Sunday morning, 21 November 1920, 16 British intelligence agents were shot dead and five were wounded in Dublin by Michael Collins’ IRA “squad.” Despite efforts to cancel, the match went ahead that evening and thousands gathered at Croke Park to get their GAA fix.

Based on research she conducted for the GAA history book, Grangemockler & Ballyneale 1885-2020, Louise describes the attack: “The competition was fierce and the game was in full swing when the Black and Tans suddenly appeared atop the wall. They had used ladders to scale them and were now dropping down on the football grounds. They lined up and without warning, rifle and machine gun fire burst down on the defenceless crowd.”

Michael Hogan, along with 13 spectators, including two children, lost their lives, and more than 60 were injured. A day that changed the course of Irish history. “It was a very traumatic event for the rest of the team. Most of them were from the surrounding parishes and would have known each other well.”

Brothers in cloth

The legacy continued after Dan’s departure to America and Michael’s death with their brother Tom who joined the Christian Brothers at the age of 13. As a teacher, Brother Tom Hogan became a highly influential force in driving football and hurling among student in secondary schools. To this day, the All-Ireland colleges’ Gaelic Football championship continues to be played in his honour.

A worthy commemoration

“Although the book has been talked about for years, this (commemoration) was kickstarted about three and half years ago with the setup of two committees; the statue committee and the book committee,” Bernard Fogarty tells Irish Country Living.

Bernard is the chair of the statue committee as well as the GAA club in the parish of Grangemockler and Ballyneale. Al Murray sits on both committees and tells us about the launch of the book which is now all but sold out. “It was really important to us that the families of those that were there that day were involved, such as Michael’s grandniece Louise.”

The book was launched in the church in Grangemockler following mass for the deceased.

“We had 50 invited guests to the launch, so the church was the only place with enough space with the COVID-19 regulations. We streamed it live and it literally went all over the world.”

Since the committees first met, huge work has gone into getting the commemoration organised. Bernard assures us that there is a lot more to getting a statue erected than one might think between the planning permission, raising the money and the tender process.

The committee is grateful for the support of Leader but also the county council and local fundraising as without that, like so many things in Ireland, he says “it just wouldn’t have happened.”

A statue will still rise

Bernard and Al express their disappointment that the planned unveiling won’t happen as envisaged.

“The plan was to have the statue launched on 22 November but with COVID-19, we don’t know what will happen now. There will be a statue launched. We just can’t do it the way we wanted to do it.”

However, I think that Tipperary playing in a Munster football final, in the white and green jersey of Grangemockler, on that day the stature should have been launched in fanfare will go some way towards easing the disappointment felt by the parish. Hon Tipp.

The GAA Museum at Croke Park launched a poignant commemorative events series to mark the centenary of Bloody Sunday. The programme includes talks, tours, a new exhibition and a community programme running until the end of the year. Unfortunately at the time of writing, the GAA Museum is closed due to COVID-19 but it hopes to be open again in the near future. www.crokepark.ie/BloodySunday.

Al Murray explains why the Tipperary team on the day were wearing the green and white jerseys of Grangemockler. The story goes, according to Al, “In 1920, there were no recognised colours for counties. Whichever club team won the championship in the county that year, their colours were used as the county colours. Now to be fair to them, it was actually Fethard that were the county champions that year, but their jerseys were in bad condition and the Grangemockler ones were newer so it was decided that they would be worn.”

If you want to purchase a replica jersey, you can get one from Kieran Bergin sports in Clonmel https://www.kieranberginsports.com/

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