One of the ten children, six boys and four girls, of the wealthy wine merchant and former Mayor of Hotham Thomas Fogarty and Cecilia Mary Fogarty, née Cullen, Chris Fogarty was born on 28 January 1884 in Hotham, Victoria. He married Mary Agnes O'Connor, in Hawthorn, on 7 May 1915, the day before he left Australia. Their daughter, Anne Christine Fogarty, was born in London on 5 March 1916.
Four of the six Fogarty brothers played VFL football: Thomas Bernard "Tom" Fogarty, played for St Kilda, South Melbourne, and University for a total of 95 games; John Joseph Fogarty, played a single game for South Melbourne; Andrew Christopher "Chris" Fogarty, played for Essendon and University for a total of 28 games; and Joseph Patrick "Joe" Fogarty, played with South Melbourne, Essendon, and University for a total of 16 games. His nephew, Thomas Bernard Fogarty, son of his brother Tom, played 13 senior VFL games for St Kilda. Along with his brother Joe, he played football, representing Ormond College, in a combined Melbourne University team, against a combined Adelaide University team, on 8 August 1906. Fogarty played his first senior match for Essendon, against Geelong, at the Corio Oval, on Saturday, 8 September 1906, and his second march was in the Semi-Final on the following Saturday, against Fitzroy, where he played full-back in an Essendon team that lost by 36 points. He played football both for Ormond College and Melbourne University during 1907 in the Metropolitan Association, and was awarded a "blue" for football. In late 1907 the VFL agreed to admit University to its 1908 competition; and, now 24, with his brothers Tom, who captained the team, and Joe, Chris Fogarty played in the first competition match that the University VFL team ever played, against Essendon, at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, on 2 May 1908. He played well in the ruck, although his team lost by 66 points, 14.11 to 3.11. He played another 25 games for University, playing his last VFL game for University, on the half-back flank, against Collingwood, at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, on 27 August 1910. University lost the tight match by 16 points, 9.5 to 10.15.
Soldier
His younger brother, Major Joseph Patrick Fogarty, OBE, MC, of the 21st Battalion, served in AIF, in the Middle East and France during World War I. His older brother, Sergeant Thomas Bernard Fogarty, a lawyer, also enlisted. Chris Fogarty, single, listing his occupation as grazier, enlisted in the First AIF on 26 February 1915. Having received officer training, he was promoted to Lieutenant on 22 April 1915, appointed to the 24th Battalion, AIF, and left Australia on 8 May 1915. He was killed, amongst 31 dead and 100 wounded, by a massive explosion caused by a Turkish shell barrage, on 29 November 1915, at Gallipoli. His brother, Joe, a Medical Officer with the Australian Army Medical Corps, was close at hand and heard the explosion: A brother in law, John Maurice Orr Colahan, son of Surgeon-Major-General John Colahan, M.D., was killed in action on 14 October 1917.
