Eamonn Coogan (30 November 1896 – 22 January 1948) was an Irish

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

politician, barrister and Deputy Commissioner of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

Early life

He was born in

Castlecomer Castlecomer (Irish: ''Caislean an Chumai'' meaning "the castle at the confluence of the waters") is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At the ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, the only son of Timothy Coogan, a shopkeeper, and Bridget Coogan (née Joyce). He was educated at Castlecomer national school;

St Kieran's College St Kieran's College (Coláiste Chiaráin) is a Roman Catholic secondary school, located on College Road, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History St Kieran's College was founded in Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory in 1782, after the pass ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

; St Mary's College,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

; and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

. He was an active member of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...

and later the

National Volunteers The National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' role in World War I. Origins The Nati ...

, he declined the offer of a scholarship to the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in 1918 due to his political commitments. He was Vice-principal of the Technical Institute, Athlone from 1918 to 1919, and was principal of the Limerick School of Commerce and vice-principal of the Technical Institute, Limerick from 1919 to 1920. He was friends with

David Neligan David Neligan (14 October 1899 – 1983), known by his soubriquet "The Spy in the Castle", was a crucial figure involved in the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and subsequently became Director of Intelligence for the Irish Army after the ...

Eoin O'Duffy Eoin O'Duffy (born Owen Duffy; 28 January 1890 – 30 November 1944) was an Irish military commander, police commissioner and politician. O'Duffy was the leader of the Monaghan Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a prominent figure in ...

was best man at his wedding.

War of Independence

During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, Coogan and another man were ordered by

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

to kill two young women who had been passing on information to the police. Coogan did not shoot them because he thought they were "very young and very beautiful". On the British government's suppression of the Technical Institute in May 1920, he spent some time organising Volunteers in Kilkenny before joining colleagues from the Limerick Technical Institute in the Dáil department of local government in September 1920. During this time he also served on the intelligence staff of the Volunteers.

Garda career

Following the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

he served for a short time under the provisional government with the Department of Finance before being appointed assistant commissioner of the Civic Guards on 1 September 1922, and later deputy commissioner on 1 January 1923. At the Garda headquarters Coogan was one of the few senior-ranking officers who had not served with the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

. Set the task of supervising the distribution of the force around the country, he also had charge of the Garda educational syllabus. After the sacking of Chief Superintendent Dave Neligan in December 1932, Coogan took over responsibility for the special branch but in February 1933 he relinquished the post on the appointment

Eamon Broy Eamon Broy (also called ''Edward Broy''; 22 December 1887 – 22 January 1972) was successively a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, the Irish Republican Army, the National Army, and the Garda Síochána of the Irish Free State. He serv ...

. In March 1933 Coogan was passed over for promotion to the rank of commissioner in favour of Broy, and in 1934 he was transferred to the administrative branch. In autumn 1934 he took up the study of law and won the Swift MacNeill memorial prize and graduated BA (legal studies) and LLB from the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

in 1937. He was fluent in Irish, and among his responsibilities were the encouragement of the Irish language in the force, and the conduct of all matters relating to the Irish-speaking divisions of the gardaí in Donegal, Galway, and Kerry. He had been fired as Deputy Garda Commissioner in 1936 after an altercation with the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' but he remained in the force and held the rank of

chief superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Su ...

until he was forced to retire in 1941, following an incident in the foyer of the Gresham Hotel when an American tourist was assaulted.

Political and legal career

Following his sacking he worked as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and as the general secretary of

. He was called to the bar in 1941, and built up an extensive practice during the short period before his entry into politics. He was elected a member of

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

borough council in August 1942. He was elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

constituency at the 1944 general election. He died during the 1948 general election campaign, and polling was postponed in his constituency of Carlow–Kilkenny..

Death and personal life

He married Beatrice Toal in 1928. The family resided in

Monkstown, County Dublin Monkstown (), historically known as ''Carrickbrennan'' ( gle, Carraig Bhraonáin), is a suburb in south Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is on the coast, between Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire. The lands of the Carrickbr ...

. They had three children, one of whom was the historian Tim Pat Coogan. Eamonn Coogan died on 22 January 1948 at the Meath Hospital, Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coogan, Eamonn 1896 births 1948 deaths Fine Gael TDs Members of the 12th Dáil Politicians from County Kilkenny Irish barristers Garda Síochána officers Alumni of University College Dublin Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members