ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY - King Edward VII, 1903 Royal Visit to Ireland Medal

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ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY - King Edward VII, 1903 Royal Visit to Ireland Medal:
$269.01

ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY

Original KING EDWARD VII,

Royal Visitto Ireland,1903 BronzeCommemoration Medal

Awarded to

Acting SergeantJohn O’Brien McNeill,

Royal Irish Constabulary,

RIC 48130

Inscribed “A.S. J. O’BMcNEILL. R. I. C.”

The original shamrocked bronze suspension bar and pin is intact & the medal is fitted with a replacement ribbon.

A total of 7,756 commemorativebronze medals were issued, most of which were awarded to all officers and menof the Royal Irish Constabulary, Dublin Metropolitan Police and the BelfastHarbour Police who were on duty in Ireland on the occasion of the visit of KingEdward VII between July and August, 1903.

The medal struck in bronze andthe recipient’s rank, initials, surname and police force i.e. “A.S. J. O’B.McNEILL. R. I. C.” (ACTING SERGEANT JOHN O’BRIEN McNEILL, R.I.C.), was engravedon the lower edge of the medal.

This medal, following theprecedent created by Queen Victoria’ on the occasion of her visit to Ireland in1900, was awarded by King Edward to commemorate his visit. On the obverse isthe crowned effigy of King Edward, facing left, wearing his robes of state, andthe inscription on the left of the head EDWARDVS VII REX and on the rightIMPERATOR. The reverse of the medal depicts the classically draped figure ofHibernia standing by the sea wall against the background of Kingstown Harbour,her right hand and arm outstretched in welcome, in her extended left hand aspray of roses and shamrock. At her feet is an Irish harp and garlands of rosesand shamrock. The distant scene depicts the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert entering the harbour with, in the background,two battleships dressed with Flags, whilst Flags also fly from the lighthouseon the distant harbor wall. In the exergue of the medal is the date 1903. The initials of the designer’s name, DES (Mr.W.G. de Saulles), appear on the right shoulder.

The medal was issued with asmall ornamental brooch – through which the top of the ribbon was passed – forpinning to the tunic. The medal s suspended from the ribbon by a straight barwhich swivels from the claw. The ribbon is plain blue, of the same colour ofthe Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick. King Edward paid the first officialvisit to Ireland in July 1903. He embarked in the Royal Yacht, Victoria and Albert from the AdmiraltyPier at Holyhead on 19 July and landed at Kingstown on 21 July, where he wasreceived by the Viceroy in a special pavilion erected on the jetty and receivedthe address presented by the Urban District Council. The King and Queen thendrove to Dublin in an open carriage under escort. During their stay in DublinTheir Majesties were in residence at the Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park. On 27July the King visited Belfast and on 28 July he was in Londonderry. Here theRoyal party proceeded to Buncrana, Co. Donegal and re-embarked on the RoyalYacht and steamed around the Donegal coast, dropping anchor in Killala Bay, Co.Mayo on the 29th July. Landing from the yacht the Royal party made amotor tour through Connemara, visiting Galway and Castletown. He next visitedCork on the conclusion of his tour.

FATHER OF THREE SONS WHOFOUGHT WITH DISTINCTION IN WW1

John O’Brien McNeill was bornin Londonderry in 1862, Presbyterian, the son of Simpson McNeill. He joined theRIC on 25 November 1881, a former grocer, recommended by District InspectorThomas James Hogben (1854-1893), then stationed in Londonderry City. He wasallocated to Tipperary N.R. on 9 April 1882, Co. Kerry on 20 November 1890,Tipperary N.R. on 9 April 1882 and Cork E.R. (Queenstown) on 4 October 1891. In1901 he was residing in Queenstown, Co. Cork. He married Eleanor Cullen (b.21/2/1867),daughter of Charles Cullen & Eleanor Galvin, Schoolmaster, Drumbawn,Nenagh, Co. Tipperary in Killoskully, Co. Tipperary. He was promoted ActingSergeant on 1 November 1902 and Sergeant on 1 December 1905. He was pensionedon 1 January 1909 and in 1911 with four sons and a daughter, he was residing at71, Fair Street, Mallow, Co. Cork. He retired to London and was residing at,No.7, Ferry Road, Tilbury, Essex, England in 1932. He died in 1943 & hiswife was awarded a grant of £97.7s.0d. p.a. from the Constabulary Force Fund.

Three ofhis sons emigrated to Australia & fought in WW1. The youngest of his threesons, Henry (Harry) George (b.10/1/1896), enlisted in Perth, Western Australia,Regimental Number 735, 10th Australian Light Horse and was killed on7 August 1915 in Gallipoli, Turkey. He is buried in Ari Burne Cemetery,Gallipoli and he is commemorated on the Diamond War Memorial in Derry. Anotherson, Gunner Charles Simpson McNeill, (b.12/9/1892), MM, who would be awarded theMilitary Medal in September 1917, was serving in France with a Siege Battery ofthe Royal Garrison Artillery at the time of his brother’s death. The third son,Corporal John Elder McNeill (b.11/7/1894), Royal Army Medical Corps, attachedto the 2nd Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, became the firstDerry soldier to get the Distinguished Conduct Medal in the First World War.

In the words of the announcementin the London Gazette, he was awarded the coveted honour \'for conspicuousgallantry on the night of the 15/16th May, 1915, near Rue du Bois. Herepeatedly went out and brought in wounded under a heavy fire, and showed the greatestbravery and devotion to duty.\' A letter received by a friend in Derrydescribing the conduct on the occasion in connection with which he won thedistinction said:- \'Corporal McNeill was in our front line throughout the bigcharge. The men were being simply mown down around him, and he had a terriblebusy time. He got a slight wound, but this didn\'t keep him from doing his work.He went out a number of times under very heavy fire and brought in the wounded.An officer said he must have had a charmed life.\' In the course of an addresson the \'Glory of Service\' in St. Columb\'s Cathedral, Londonderry, on Sunday,August 8, 1915, Major Atkin, of the Army Recruiting Staff, referring to thedistinction gained by Corporal McNeill, R.A.M.C., said the honour, which wassecond only to the Victoria Cross, was earned by Corporal McNeill, who hadexposed himself repeatedly to danger in going out and carrying in the woundedunder heavy fire.

Shortly after Henry George McNeill\'s death,Corporal John Elder McNeill paid the following touching tribute to his deadbrother in a letter to his father Sergeant John O\'Brien McNeill, R.I.C.:-

\'I know,\' he wrote, \'you mustfeel greatly our poor Harry\'s death. You can be sure he died as a McNeill and asoldier should: at the post of duty. In one of his letters to me after he hadbeen in action several times, and, as he said, had seen much of the fighting,he expressed a desire to get finished at the Dardanelles in order to get at theGermans. He was dismounted in the trenches, having left his horse in Egypt. Iknow, dear dad, it is a great blow to you, but you will have a feeling of pridein being the father of such a son. He proved himself a hero when it came to thetest. When we were small I remember you telling us that in time of nationaldanger you expected all of us to respond to our country\'s call, and we haven\'tfailed you, have we? We have all made mistakes, but in this matter didn\'t we doas you would have us? Charles and I are in France doing our bit, and Harry wasfaithful unto the end. So even in your grief you must be proud.\'

At the morning service in Carlisle RoadPresbyterian Church, on Sunday, September 19, 1915, the Reverend John Huey,M.A., B.D., made a touching reference to the bereaved McNeill family, whobelonged to the congregation. A month ago, he said, they rejoiced with Mr andMrs McNeill and their family on account of the high distinction which had beenawarded to their second son in France because of his courage and fortitude inhelping others in the midst of extreme personal danger. That day they sorrowedwith them in the loss of their third son, who fell in action at theDardanelles. Such is life, joy and sorrow following each other in rapidsuccession. Harry McNeill, whose early death they deeply deplored, was only ashort time connected with the congregation. He was very regular in hisattendance each Lord\'s Day, and when the Communicants\' Class was formed hebecame a member, and carefully prepared the work appointed for the class. Atits close, on the profession of his faith in the Lord Jesus, he was receivedinto the full membership of the Church, and commemorated the dying love of hisLord. Almost immediately after he went to Australia, and when the war broke outhe volunteered, and after being trained was sent to the Dardanelles, and passedthrough the terrible experiences of that dreadful battlefield. He fought forKing and country and in defence of them of the homeland, and, fighting, fell.They sorrowed because of his early death, and deeply sympathised with thebereaved father and mother and sister and brothers, and they prayed thatheavenly grace might be given to them.

The name of Henry George McNeill was readaloud during a special memorial service held in First Derry PresbyterianChurch, on Friday, August 4, 1916, to pay tribute to the Presbyterian soldiersof the city of Londonderry, who had died during the first two years of theFirst World War. Two of Trooper Henry George McNeill\'s cousins, Henry andLeslie O\'Brien, were both killed in France during the Great War. Anothercousin, Harold O\'Brien was wounded. All three cousins belonged to Wellington,New South Wales, Australia.