James McNeill
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(September 2019) |
James McNeill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 2ndGovernor-General of the Irish Free State | |
| In office 1 February 1928 – 1 November 1932 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Tim Healy |
| Succeeded by | Domhnall Ua Buachalla |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Timothy James McNeill 27 March 1869 Glenarm,County Antrim,Ireland |
| Died | 12 December 1938(aged 69) London, England |
| Spouse | Josephine Ahearne |
James McNeill(27 March 1869 – 12 December 1938) was anIrishcolonial administrator, politician, and diplomat, who served as first High Commissioner to London and secondGovernor-General of the Irish Free State.
Early life[edit]
One of five children born to Archibald McNeill, a Roman Catholic working class "baker, sailor and merchant", and his wife, Rosetta (née McAuley) McNeill, James was the brother ofnationalistleaderEoin MacNeill.James McNeill served as a high-ranking member of theIndian Civil ServiceinCalcutta.
Public life[edit]
Although unconnected with theEaster Risingin 1916, McNeill was arrested and jailed by theBritishDublin Castle administration.[citation needed]On release, he was elected toDublin County Council,becoming its chairman. He served as a member of the committee underMichael Collins,the chairman of the Provisional Government, that drafted theConstitution of the Irish Free State.[1]He was subsequently appointed as High Commissioner from theIrish Free Stateto the United Kingdom.
Governor-General[edit]
When the firstGovernor-General of the Irish Free State,Tim Healy,retired in December 1927, James McNeill was proposed as his replacement by the Irish government ofW. T. Cosgraveand duly appointed by KingGeorge Vas Governor-General of the Irish Free State.[citation needed]
In office, McNeill clashed with the King's Private Secretary when he insisted on following the constitutional advice of his Irish ministers, rather than that ofBuckingham Palace,in procedures relating to the receipt ofLetters of Credenceaccrediting ambassadors to the King in Ireland. He also refused to attend ceremonies inTrinity College, Dublin,when some elements in the college tried to ensure that the old Britishnational anthemGod Save the Kingwas played, rather than the new Irish anthem,Amhrán na bhFiann.[2]
WhenÉamon de Valerawas nominated asPresident of the Executive Councilin 1932, McNeill opted to travel toLeinster House,the parliament buildings, to appoint de Valera, rather than to require that he go to theViceregal Lodge,the Governor-General's residence and the former seat of BritishLords Lieutenant,to avoid embarrassing de Valera, who was arepublican.[citation needed]
However, McNeill's tact was not reciprocated by de Valera's government, and some of its ministers sought to humiliate McNeill as the King's representative by withdrawing theIrish Army's band from playing at functions he attended and demanding he withdraw invitations to visitors to meet him. In one notorious incident in April, two ministers,Seán T. O'Kelly(a futurePresident of Ireland) andFrank Aiken,publicly walked out of a diplomatic function when McNeill, there as the guest of theFrenchambassador, arrived.[3]In a fury, McNeill wrote to de Valera demanding an apology for this treatment. When none was forthcoming, apart from an ambiguous message from de Valera that could be interpreted as partially blaming McNeill for attending functions at which ministers would be present, he published his correspondence with de Valera, even though de Valera had formally advised him not to do so. De Valera then demanded that George V dismiss McNeill.[1]
The King engineered a compromise, whereby de Valera withdrew his dismissal request and McNeill, who was due to retire at the end of 1932, would push forward his retirement date by a month or so. McNeill, at the King's request, resigned on 1 November 1932.[1]
In June 1932,John Charles McQuaid,President ofBlackrock College,hosted an extravagant garden party to welcome Papal Legate CardinalLorenzo Lauri,who had arrived in Ireland to representPope Pius XIat the31st International Eucharistic Congress.While De Valera maintained a very high profile at the event, McQuaid (at de Valera's request) went to great lengths to avoid McNeill to the extent possible.[4]
Death[edit]
James McNeill died in 1938 at the age of 69 in London. His widowJosephinewas appointed Minister to the Hague bySeán MacBride,Minister for External Affairs in the coalition government of 1948.[citation needed]He is buried inKilbarrack Cemetery.[5]
References[edit]
- ^abc""Demonstration of Independence",Irish Examiner,October 17, 2011 ".Archivedfrom the original on 16 February 2020.Retrieved15 June2017.
- ^State, Nation and Music in Independent Ireland, 1922-51Archived31 August 2021 at theWayback Machine,Karol Anne Mullaney-Dignan, PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth, 2008, page 37
- ^"Letter from James McNeill to Eamon de Valera (Dublin)", Documents on Irish Foreign Policy
- ^"O'Dwyer, Rory." On show to the world: the Eucharistic Congress, 1932 ",History Ireland,Issue 6 (Nov/Dec 2007), Volume 15 ".Archivedfrom the original on 15 February 2020.Retrieved15 February2020.
- ^"[Group of people standing beside a grave covered with wreaths, possibly the funeral of James McNeill at Kilbarrack Cemetery, Dublin".National Library of Ireland.
External links[edit]
- Account from a Trinity College Unionist perspective of McNeill's refusal to attend a function ifGod Save the Kingwas played instead ofAmhrán na bhFiann
- Papers,nli.ie
- Profile,ucd.ie
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