Hugo MacNeill (Irish Army officer) explained

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

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

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.

Notes and References

1. Book: Neutral Ireland and the Third Reich . Gill and Macmillan . XIV . John P. Duggan . 1985 . 9780717113842 .
2. Web site: Kevin O'Higgins and Rory O'Connor - A Fatal Friendship . Turtlebunbury.com . 28 May 2016 . Turtle Bunbury .
3. News: The Irish Crises . The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW) . 12 June 1924 .
4. Book: Defending Ireland: The Irish State and its Enemies since 1922 . Eunan O'Halpin . Eunan O'Halpin . 1999 . Oxford University Press . 9780191542237 . 178 .
5. Book: A History of the Irish Army . John P. Duggan . 1991 . Gill and Macmillan . 9780717115822 . 298 .
6. Book: Washington's Irish policy 1916-1986: independence, partition, neutrality. 66. 9780947962142 . 1987 . Anvil Books . Seán Cronin.
7. Book: Salt: Army Education Journal, Volumes 3-4 . Australian army education service . 1942.
8. Web site: Óglaigh Náisiúnta Na hÉireann - History . https://web.archive.org/web/20150216154702/http://oneconnect.ie/one-history/ . Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women . 16 February 2015 .
9. Web site: Irish Defense Forces Commanders 1939 - 1945 . Dennis 'Dan' Burke . 27 May 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130101171804/http://www.csn.ul.ie/~dan/war/high_comm.htm . 1 January 2013 .
10. Web site: Hermann Goertz, Nazi Spy In Ireland . Ciaran Concliffe . History»1900-Present . 9 May 2016 . 19 June 2016.
11. Book: Neutral Ireland and the Third Reich . John P. Duggan . 1985 . Gill and Macmillan. 9780389205982.
12. Book: British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916-1945 . 365 . Boydell Press . 2008 . 9781843833765 . Paul McMahon.
13. Web site: LOT - Letter to Le Roux from Curragh Military College . Adams Auction House . 19 June 2016.
14. News: Behind a secret web of spies . Irish Times . 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 . 3 January 2004 . 19 June 2016 .