Patrick Hogan: First Free State Minister

Written by Barry Lally (Originally Published in Apr/May 2016 issue of Ballinasloe Life Magazine)

It was a Tuesday evening, 14th July 1936. A motorist approaching the village of Aughrim sustained serious head injuries when the car he was driving collided with the parapet of a bridge. One of the first at the scene of the accident, Ballinasloe-based Dr. Gerry Coyne used his own car to convey the crash victim to Galway Central Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The deceased was identified as 45-year-old Patrick Hogan, a T.D. for the Galway constituency and a former Minister for Agriculture.