The mythical Mr Hogan – Kinvara – 1909

New Zealand Tablet
Vol 27 Issue 21 – 27th May, 1909
GALWAY— A Myth (abridged)
Mr. William Moore, M.P., is a gentleman who takes a genuine delight in endeavouring to make the inhabitants of Great Britain believe that the wickedness of the people of Ireland, the country where he represents a constituency, is past imagining. No matter how pleasant or how peaceable the Irish Catholic may look, he is always, in Mr. Moore’s opinion, brewing mischief. Mr. Moore’s parliamentary life, therefore, consists of a daily array of questions as to what measures the Government have taken or intend to take in order to prevent this or that crime, or to punish this or that criminal. On Thursday, March 11, he enquired in tragic accents what the Government meant to do with Mr. James Hogan,- J.P., of Kinvara.
Mr. Hogan, he stated, was a plague in the community. He was a boycotter and oppressor, and had been inflicting suffering on innocent people. The law-breaker had been brought before the magistrates for his misdeeds, but being of his religious and political belief, they acquitted him. The Resident Magistrate had unavailingly protested against the scandal, and the County Inspector had urged the institution of further proceedings. The Attorney-General for Ireland had, however, refused to act on the suggestion, and the audacious Mr. Hogan, of Kinvara, was still at liberty.
Mr. Redmond Barry, amidst the laughter of the House, informed the-hon. member that Mr. James Hogan, J.P., was a myth that no such person exists at Kinvara, a Galway village, by the way, made famous through- one of Mr. Frank Fahy’s songs. The moral is very plain— that anti-Irish members are perfectly reckless as to the grounds upon which they prefer charges against Irish Catholics and Nationalists.