Michael Fogarty

Michael Fogarty (11 October 1859 – 26 October 1955) was an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Killaloe between 1904 and 1955. He was made archbishop ad personam in 1954.

Early life Fogarty was born on 11 October 1859 in Kilcolman, in the parish of Youghalarra, near Nenagh, County Tipperary, one of seven children to Matthew and Mary Fogarty.

He attended primary school in Kilcolman National School and secondary school in St Flannan's College, before entering St Patrick's College, Maynooth, in September 1878. Known to have a wide range of academic interests, Fogarty was considered to be an outstanding student, being awarded distinctions in elocution, French, mathematics, natural philosophy and metaphysics.

He was ordained to the priesthood on 13 September 1885.

Presbyteral ministry Following his ordination, Fogarty's first appointment was as a curate in Toomevara. He also intervened in labour disputes in the early part of his episcopate, intervening in the West Clare Railway strike in 1910.

Fogarty was also known for his oratory skills, and was chosen to give the graveside oration at the burial of the Bishop of Limerick, Edward O'Dwyer, in May 1917.

While it was said that he disapproved of the Easter Rising, Fogarty signed the 1917 manifesto against the partition of Ireland, and later protested against the "hideous atrocities" perpetrated by the triumph of British culture on Irish nationalists. He also shared a platform with Éamon de Valera in the 1917 East Clare by-election campaign, and in the lead-up to the 1918 general election decried the threat of conscription being introduced to Ireland, insisting that the Irish were "not slaves" of the British Empire. Fogarty developed a close relationship with the first President of the Executive Council, W. T. Cosgrave.

Fogarty's Lenten pastoral letter in 1921 stayed true to the republican position, insisting that Irish nationalists only had to "remain steadfast to win" a united Ireland, and that "anyone who knows the psychology of the Irish people is well aware that brute force will never appease them nor intimidate them into surrender of their national rights".

Although his interest in politics receded after independence, Fogarty is believed to have found it difficult to forgive de Valera for his actions during the Civil War, criticising the Anglo-Irish trade war that followed Fianna Fáil's victory in the 1932 general election as "tariff madness".

Death and burial Fogarty died at his Westbourne residence in Ennis on 25 October 1955. He is buried in the grounds of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Ennis.