James Hogan (historian)
Among his teachers were Thomas MacDonagh for English, Douglas Hyde for Irish, John Marcus O'Sullivan and Mary Hayden for history, and James Murnaghan for jurisprudence and Roman law.
[2] Hogan supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and served as an adviser to Arthur Griffith in the inter-government negotiations held in London May–June 1922.
With Eoin MacNeill and Dr Timothy Corcoran, he persuaded the government in 1928 to establish a state agency for the recovery and publication of Ireland's written historical records, the Irish Manuscripts Commission.
[2] Hogan served for several decades on the senate of the NUI, consistently advocating an impartial appointment system for academic posts and high standards in the awarding of postgraduate degrees.
Hogan was attracted to the Blueshirt movement because of its advocacy of organising society along "vocational" (the term used in Ireland for Corporatism) lines, his interest in a Catholic theory of democracy and his deep-seated anti-Communism which grew out of fears during the Irish Civil War.
In 1936, on the death of his brother Patrick, Hogan unsuccessfully contested the vacant dáil seat in Galway for Fine Gael during a by-election.
[1] He later turned his attention to early medieval Irish history, particularly land measurement and the political structure of Gaelic society, further developing the work of Eoin MacNeill.
As the general editor of Analecta Hibernica, Hogan meticulously edited volumes of early-modern Irish historical documents.
[2] Late in his career he switched his focus to political science and published several books on the topic, including Could Ireland Become Communist?
[2][1] Hogan's view of history was shaped by his experiences in the Irish Civil War and his exhaustive studies of Communism, Marxism, and Totalitarianism, leading to a generally pessimistic outlook.
His interest in Hegel and Marxism led to several articles, though his plans for a comprehensive study on these topics were hindered by overwork and intellectual isolation in post-war Cork.
[1] His studies on the philosophical origins of Marxism reflected his belief that the Marxist interpretation of Hegelian dialectic was "strangest episodes in the history of idea".
