Cornelius Grogan

Grogan, Cornelius, born about 1738, was a Protestant gentleman, owner of Johnstown Castle and demesne, and estates worth about £8,000 a year, in the County of Wexford. He was High Sheriff of the county, and for six years represented Enniscorthy in Parliament. When the Insurrection broke out in 1798, he accepted the post of Commissary-General in the insurgent army; and when Wexford was reoccupied by the royalists, he was tried by court-martial for complicity in the insurrection, and executed on Wexford bridge, 28th June 1798. The Cornwallis Correspondence states: "It was clearly proved that he had joined what he believed would be the winning side."

He suffered death with great composure. The bodies of Grogan, Colclough, and Bagenal Harvey were thrown into the Slaney, and their heads were spiked on the Court-house. Some followers dragged the river at night and rescued the remains. Grogan's body was secretly buried at Rathaspick, near Johnstown. His estates were escheated to the Crown, but eventually restored to his brother upon the payment of heavy legal charges. His brother Thomas fell fighting on the royalist side at the battle of Arklow.

Sources

87. Cornwallis, Marquis, Correspondence: Charles Ross. 3 vols. London, 1859.
Cotton, Rev. Henry, see No. 118.

154. Grattan Henry, his Life and Times: Henry Grattan. 5 vols. London, 1839-'46.

331. United Irishmen, their Lives and Times: Robert R. Madden, M.D. 4 vols. London, 1858-'60.