Hugo MacNeill (Irish Army officer)

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Portrait of MacNeill, between 1914-1923

Lieutenant General Hugo MacNeill (1900–1963) was a twentieth-century Irish soldier and first president of the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen in Ireland.

Life and military career[edit]

Born in 1900,[1] he was the nephew of politician Eoin MacNeill (1867–1945).[2][3]

Hugo MacNeill was member of Fianna Éireann and the Irish Volunteers before becoming an officer of the National Army during the Irish Civil War.[3] In 1923, he was promoted to colonel after an intelligence windfall allowed him to prevent a series of Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacks in Dublin. In 1924 he was promoted to major general and appointed assistant Chief of Staff of the National Army.[4][5]

In 1926 MacNeill attended the US Army Command and Staff Course in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[6] He was in command of the Irish Army's Second (Northern) Division during The Emergency (1939-1945).[7]

He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1946, although without appointment.

MacNeill's main activity following retirement was the co-ordination of An Tóstal festivals in the 1950s. He was also the first president of the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen.[8] He died in 1963.[9]

Controversies[edit]

MacNeill was reputedly sympathetic to German interests,[10][11][12] and some sources suggest he approached the German diplomatic legation in the early 1940s,[13] without apparent authorisation. These approaches were reputedly to seek German assistance in the event that Britain invaded neutral Ireland.[14] Playing both sides, he accepted the covert aid of the British Army in training his division, notably in the establishment of a "battle school" at Gormanston and secret training of selected Irish troops in commando techniques in Northern Ireland.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ John P. Duggan (1985). Neutral Ireland and the Third Reich. Gill and Macmillan. p. XIV. ISBN 9780717113842.
  2. ^ Turtle Bunbury. "Kevin O'Higgins and Rory O'Connor - A Fatal Friendship". Turtlebunbury.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b "The Irish Crises". The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW). 12 June 1924.
  4. ^ Eunan O'Halpin (1999). Defending Ireland: The Irish State and its Enemies since 1922. Oxford University Press. p. 178. ISBN 9780191542237.
  5. ^ John P. Duggan (1991). A History of the Irish Army. Gill and Macmillan. p. 298. ISBN 9780717115822.
  6. ^ Seán Cronin (1987). Washington's Irish policy 1916-1986: independence, partition, neutrality. Anvil Books. p. 66. ISBN 9780947962142.
  7. ^ Salt: Army Education Journal, Volumes 3-4. Australian army education service. 1942.
  8. ^ "Óglaigh Náisiúnta Na hÉireann - History". Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Irish Defense Forces Commanders 1939 - 1945". Dennis 'Dan' Burke. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  10. ^ Ciaran Concliffe (9 May 2016). "Hermann Goertz, Nazi Spy In Ireland". History»1900-Present. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  11. ^ John P. Duggan (1985). Neutral Ireland and the Third Reich. Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 9780389205982.
  12. ^ Paul McMahon (2008). British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916-1945. Boydell Press. p. 365. ISBN 9781843833765.
  13. ^ "LOT - Letter to Le Roux from Curragh Military College". Adams Auction House. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  14. ^ "Behind a secret web of spies". Irish Times. 3 January 2004. Retrieved 19 June 2016. Maj Gen Hugo MacNeill [...] inquired about German help if Britain should invade [.. at ..] a time when Germany had conquered most of Europe and seemed unstoppable
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