Despite his lack of a fighting record, Hogan's local connections made him a particularly good election candidate in his home constituency of Galway.

He held the same position in the provisional government, while also briefly serving as Minister for Labour, before retaining the agriculture portfolio in the 1st Executive Council of the Irish Free State.

The new Cumann na nGaedheal government believed that a better performance in the agriculture sector would help the economy of the fledgling new state.

In 1927, Hogan established the Agricultural Credit Association to make loans available to farmers who wanted to improve their farms.

[1] Hogan married Mona Davitt (née Farrell), widow with a young son, on 8 January 1930.