Sean Hogan

Seán Hogan (13 May 1901 – 24 December 1968) was one of the leaders of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence.

Hogan was born on 13 May 1901, the eldest child of Matthew Hogan of Greenane Tipperary and Johanna Corbett, Sean had one younger brother, Matthew. He was baptized John Joseph Hogan and was often called JJ by his friends. The 1911 census shows Hogan living in Stockaun, adjacent to Greenane in South West Tipperary, 2–3 miles north of Tipperary Town. He attend the local national school and was taught Irish language and history by Cormac Breathnach who also taught several other local students who would become prominent in the nationalist movement including Seán Treacy, Dan Breen and Dinny Lacey. Hogan's father died in 1916.

Sean joined the local volunteers and was a member of the Donohill company of the Tipperary Third Brigade. In early 1918 he was assigned to work with Dan Breen. After Sean Treacy's release from jail in mid 1918, Hogan arranged for the use of a shed on his cousin's dairy farm in Greenane which Treacy, Breen and Hogan used as their base for planning future activity and testing explosives, the shed was commonly referred to as the "Tin Hut". The planning for Soloheadbeg took place at the "Tin Hut" and it was a regular meeting place for prominent members of the local brigade.

On 21 January 1919, Dan Breen, Seán Treacy, Séamus Robinson, Hogan, Tadhg Crowe, Patrick McCormack, Patrick O'Dwyer and Michael Ryan helped to ignite the conflict that was to become the Irish War of Independence. They shot dead two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) - Constables McDonell and O’Connell - during the Soloheadbeg Ambush in County Tipperary. The RIC men were transporting gelignite explosives, when they were called on to surrender they took up firing positions but were shot dead by the ambush party. As a result of the action, South Tipperary was placed under martial law and declared a Special Military Area under the Defence of the Realm Act. Treacy, Breen and Hogan took the cart and hid the explosives and immediately 'went on the run'. They met up again with Robinson a few weeks later and the "big four" as they were locally called, remained in hiding over the coming months, moving from house to house of sympathisers or sleeping-in-the-rough in the countryside.

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