imported>Iveagh Gardens: /* Death and personal life */ partial reversal: use of County Dublin may be more appropriate for his time of life

2025-05-28T18:40:28Z

Death and personal life: partial reversal: use of County Dublin may be more appropriate for his time of life

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{{Short description|Irish Fine Gael politician and police officer (1896–1948)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Eamonn Coogan
| image =
| caption =
| office = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start = [[1944 Irish general election|May 1944]]
| term_end = 22 January 1948
| constituency = [[Kilkenny (Dáil constituency)|Kilkenny]]
| party = [[Fine Gael]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1896|11|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Castlecomer]], [[County Kilkenny]], Ireland
| death_date = {{death date and age|1948|1|22|1896|11|30|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Dublin]], Ireland
| children = 3, including [[Tim Pat Coogan|Tim Pat]] (son)
| spouse = {{marriage|Beatrice Toal|1928}}
| education = {{ubl|[[St Kieran's College]]|St Mary's College}}
| alma_mater = [[University College Dublin]]
| branch = {{ubl|[[Irish Volunteers]]|[[National Volunteers]]|[[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]]}}
| battles = [[Irish War of Independence]]
}}
'''Eamonn Coogan''' (30 November 1896 – 22 January 1948) was an Irish [[Fine Gael]] politician, barrister and Deputy Commissioner of the [[Garda Síochána]].

==Early life==
He was born in [[Castlecomer]], [[County Kilkenny]], the only son of Timothy Coogan, a shopkeeper, and Bridget Coogan (née Joyce).<ref name=dib>{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/coogan-edward-eamonn-ned-a1998|title=Coogan, Edward (Eamonn, 'Ned')|work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]|last=Dempsey|first=Pauric J.|access-date=16 November 2022}}</ref> He was educated at Castlecomer national school; [[St Kieran's College]], [[Kilkenny]]; St Mary's College, [[County Carlow]]; and [[University College Dublin]], where he graduated with a [[Bachelor of Commerce]].<ref name=dib/>

He was an active member of the [[Irish Volunteers]] and later the [[National Volunteers]], he declined the offer of a scholarship to the [[London School of Economics]] in 1918 due to his political commitments.<ref name=dib/> 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.<ref name=dib/>

He was friends with [[David Neligan]]. [[Eoin O'Duffy]] was best man at his wedding.<ref>Michael Collins by Tim Pat Coogan, Preface</ref>

==War of Independence==
During the [[Irish War of Independence]], Coogan and another man were ordered by [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] 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".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZgmCwAAQBAJ&q=my+father&pg=PT1|title=Michael Collins: A Biography|first=Tim Pat|last=Coogan|date=16 December 2015|publisher=Head of Zeus Ltd|isbn=9781784975364|via=Google Books}}</ref> 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.<ref name=dib/>

==Garda career==
Following the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] he served for a short time under the provisional government with the Department of Finance before being appointed assistant commissioner of the [[Garda Síochána|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]]. Set the task of supervising the distribution of the force around the country, he also had charge of the Garda educational syllabus.<ref name=dib/>

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]]. 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]] 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.<ref name=dib/>

He had been fired as Deputy Garda Commissioner in 1936 after an altercation with the [[general manager]] of ''[[The Irish Press]]'' but he remained in the force and held the rank of [[chief superintendent]] until he was forced to retire in 1941, following an incident in the foyer of the Gresham Hotel when an American tourist was assaulted.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/chief-supt-ned-coogan-s-plea-for-justice-after-1941-garda-purge-1.2912003|title=Chief Supt Ned Coogan's plea for justice after 1941 Garda purge|first=Stephen|last=Collins|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref name=dib/>

==Political and legal career==
Following his sacking he worked as a [[barrister]] and as the general secretary of [[Fine Gael]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/writing-himself-into-irish-history-1.894816|title=Writing himself into Irish history|first=Conor|last=Brady|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> 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]] borough council in August 1942.<ref name=dib/>

He was elected to [[Dáil Éireann]] as a [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) for the [[Kilkenny (Dáil constituency)|Kilkenny]] constituency at the [[1944 Irish general election|1944 general election]].<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Eamonn-Coogan.D.1944-06-09/|title=Eamonn Coogan|work=Oireachtas Members Database|accessdate=15 February 2009}}</ref> He died during the [[1948 Irish general election|1948 general election]] campaign, and polling was postponed in his constituency of Carlow–Kilkenny.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2165|title=Eamonn Coogan|work=ElectionsIreland.org|accessdate=15 February 2009}}</ref>

==Death and personal life==
He married Beatrice Toal in 1928. The family resided in [[Monkstown, County Dublin]]. They had three children, including the historian [[Tim Pat Coogan]]. Eamonn Coogan died on 22 January 1948 at the Meath Hospital, Dublin.<ref name=dib/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Kilkenny (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}

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

Eamonn Coogan - Revision history

imported>Iveagh Gardens: /* Death and personal life */ partial reversal: use of County Dublin may be more appropriate for his time of life