James
McNeill was born 27 March, 1869, in Glenarm, County Antrim, to Archibald and
Rossetta McNeill. He was one of eight children, one of whom was Eoin MacNeill
(note that Eoin decided to adopt the ‘MacNeill’ form of their surname). A
maternal uncle of James was the Rev. Charles Macauley, professor of rhetoric
and Hebrew at Maynooth College, and under his care, James attended Belvedere
College. James proved very good at classics and history whilst at Belvedere.
James was later described as follows:
In school matters, none of us was jealous of him, for
his pre-eminence was unquestionable.
He
‘was ever to be counted on,’ for leadership, assistance or amusement with
‘stories and fancies flavoured with a mixture peculiar to himself of gaiety and
sarcasm’. He later attended Blackrock College and then entered Emmanuel
College, University of Cambridge.
In
1888, James sat civil service entrance exams and was afterwards entered the
Indian civil service. He served with the Bombay presidency for twenty-five
years and was known for his intelligence, courage and administrative capacity.
He worked in the land revenue, as a chief inspector of factories and as
registrar of co-operative friendly societies. He brought to these roles, which
involved social and political reforms, a sympathetic understanding and justice.
He rose to be commissioner in the general division of the Bombay presidency as
well as serving as an additional member of the imperial legislative council of
India. James was also a member of the viceroy’s council in Delhi.
By
the time James was forty-five years old, he had worked the minimum number of
years needed to receive a pension. He retired December, 1914, and returned to
Dublin to live with his brothers, Eoin and Charles. Despite his knowledge and
interest in the hot issues of this time, James had never been overtly
political. He bought a property in Rathfarnham and settled to a life of peaceful
activity, with the intention of being near enough to Dublin to be able to assist
or advise Irish politicians. However, because of his close connection to his
brother, Eoin, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Volunteers, James was arrested and
confined for a short period following the Easter rebellion, 1916.
After
the rising, James became a supporter of Sinn Féin, became actively involved in
the party organisation and the work of Dáil Éireann. He was elected to Dublin
Corporation, 1920, and served as chairman. In the summer of 1922 he was
appointed to a committee established by the provisional government to draft the
constitution for the newly-created Irish Free State. James was appointed high
commissioner of the Irish Free State in London January, 1923, as his knowledge
of the British system made him an ideal choice.
From
1 February, 1928, James McNeill occupied the post of Governor-General of the
Irish Free State. His years living in the Viceregal Lodge (now Áras an
Úachtaráin) were uneventful but he and his wife—Josephine Ahearne, whom he had
married, 1923—created a lively society circle in the Phoenix Park. In 1928, His
Excellency James McNeill, Governor-General of the Irish Free State, attended
the Belvedere Union dinner that has held in his honour. ‘The Tribute of a
Classfellow’, written by a ‘L,McK.’ was published in The Belvederian of that year. It was said of James that he valued
the office of Governor General ‘more for its opportunities for doing good than
for its glitter’. Although the Cumann na nGaedhael government had been actively
diminishing the significance of the office of Governor-General, it was the
arrival of the newly-elected Fianna Fáil that created tension between the
government and the Viceregal Lodge. After a sharp and public series of
stand-offs with deValera’s Executive Council, James McNeill relinquished his office
31 October, 1932.
James
had suffered from an illness since 1928 and went to London 1938 to receive
treatment. He died in London, Monday, 12 December, 1938. He was buried in
Kilbarrack Cemetery following his funeral at Haddington Road Church, 14
December, 1938.
