During his episcopate, Fogarty involved himself closely in the social and political challenges facing Ireland, frequently speaking out against landlordism and supporting tenant ownership and agricultural self-sufficiency.
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.
[4] 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.
[3][1] As well as acting as a trustee for the first Dáil loan in December 1920, he held talks on peace proposals in Dublin with the Archbishop of Perth and Clare native, Patrick Clune, during what was regarded as an assassination attempt by Black and Tans who attacked his Westbourne residence in Ennis.
[1] Writing to the rector of the Irish College in Rome, Patrick Hagan, he criticised anti-Treaty propaganda, suggesting that voters should "pay no attention to all the talk about surrendering their birthright", for "they know their own minds".
[1] Fogarty unveiled a memorial to Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and Kevin O'Higgins in Dublin in 1951, paying generous tribute to their role in the foundation of the Irish state.
It was considered to be the most magnificent religious spectacle ever seen in Ennis, with guests including the Primate of All Ireland, John d'Alton, and President Seán T. O'Kelly among those who participated in festivities marking the occasion.