Canon Joseph Hogan
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				CANON HOGAN Father Joyce's successor was Canon Joseph Hogan. He arrived in Irvine on 9 May, 1918 and soon afterwards Father Dermott O'Reilly was appointed as St. Mary's first curate. In 1918 also the Scottish Education Act was passed. It stated that in future Catholic schools as others would be built and maintained by the state. The advantages were obvious: Catholics would be relieved of the burden of both paying the rates to build state schools, and finding the money to build, repair and supply their own schools, as well as paying the salaries of teachers, albeit with a small government grant. In future they would have a fair share of the rates. Schools which already existed could be handed over to the state and in future would be maintained, and many excellent schools were handed over, but as far as Irvine was concerned there was one grave problem: the school was also the church. Accordingly Canon Hogan looked around for land for a separate school and also for land and teachers for a secondary school so that Catholics could make use of the opportunities of higher education which were then being offered to them.