Whose funeral is this?

[Nailer1]

Dublin Metropolitan Police and the Garda Siochana amalgamated in 1925.  Dun Laoghaire would have been policed by DMP. They wore the ''Bobby Helmet ''.  Following the amalgamation,  perhaps they changed to the present '' soft uniform cap ''.
Maybe this could pinpoint the event as being 1925 or earlier.

[fia]

I remember the policeman on duty-on corner of Patrick st and Georges st directing traffic and wearing a helmet similar to the British police helmet around 1950 so I suggest these may have still been in use by some garda for some time after the creation of the free state           ann b

[Colur]

Hi Folks,
This has proven itself to be a fantastic journey for me during the past week. I have learned so much about my old home town that I left over 40 years ago from your replies and indeed questions because each one has opened another door which I was only too eager to enter.

 None more so than today when I visited the Garda Museum based in Dublin Castle . On my arrival I was greeted by the curator Gerry who was a mind of information about his charges and particularly of the Dublin Metropolitan Police of which his Grandfather was a member.
The only problem being his knowledge of the force’s history has opened the whole issue of the date of the photo up again. As was pointed out here the Garda Siochana  (Guardians of the Peace) was founded in 1922 when this Country gained her independence to replace primarily the Royal Irish Constabulary.                                 A second force, the D M P, were given some autonomy and allowed to continue for three years before having to decide to amalgamate with the new body or disband. In 1925 they agreed to join but on various conditions one being that they be allowed to retain their uniform which included the ‘Bobby’ type helmet. The new Government acceded to this request only on the condition that the hat and button badge be changed to reflect the new force. The uniform agreement only applied to existing members of the Force and all new recruits were issued with the new and very distinct Free State uniform. The Curator decided, if he was to err it would be on the wide side as depending on the age or the recruit on joining prior to 1922 the uniform could easily have been worn up to the 1950’s as pointed out by fia, particularly for ceremonial occasions. He would also rule out (hesitantly) anything from the 19th century because of the style of great coat. So there we have it, a very loose time span between 1900 and 1950 -ish. The fashions have tightened the time span and close ups of clothing as has been requested might reveal that little snippet that will bring this query to a close.
                                                                                                                           Heywood has suggested yet another line of enquiry for me and I hope to visit the National Photographic Archives in Templebar on Monday in the hope that C Neville Cook’s collection are housed there. And Nailer has agreed with the many on here who felt the photo had to be pre 1925.


This photo is of the Garda Siochana helmet incorporating the Gaelic intertwined lettering of G and S and replaced the badge previously adorning the helmets of the Dublin Metropolitan Police.




 So now, as suggested by PruM in Reply #159 on page 16 I will repost the photo and ask for it to be ‘dated’ and move forward from there.
Thanks again Folks, excellent work and I hope to see you all over on the new thread

[Colur]

Hi Folks,
Just to update you on developments regarding this photo.
I was contacted by Jean a member of the Dun Laoghaire Historical Society to say that the photo was well discussed at their February meeting. Although not immediately recognized by anyone they did come to the conclusion that it was NOT a funeral from St Michaels Church. The reason being that the incline between the main entrance on Georges Street and the church doors was too steep so all funerals entered and left through a side gate on the Marine Road which can just be made out to the right of the second tree from the left.
I have also sourced the names of the town officials who died during the ‘30’s but none of their funerals would fit the time period suggested in replies.
I also read that for bigger funerals the only cars allowed in the immediate vicinity of the church would be those to carry the chief mourners, all other vehicles would be parked on Gresham Terrace and would be called out as the procession moved off and that was something that was puzzleing me why the cars etc were coming out from the direction of the Marine Hotel.
Two other very large funerals from St Michaels during the '30's which were attended by politicians etc failed to produce matching photos in the newspaper archives so nothing conclusive.
The Historical Society is meeting again tonight so hopefully .................

John. 

[Colur]

Laid To Rest At Last.

I recently received a second photo of the funeral and it was dated 22nd January 1934 on the back and inscribed ‘Funeral of Canon Murphy’
A search of the newspapers on the 23rd had the Irish Press leading with the article, containing photos which was headed “STATE AND CITY MOURN AGED PASTOR – DUN LAOGHAIRE SILENT AS GREAT CORTEGE PASSES”
and goes on to read  ‘Dun Laoghaire was in mourning yesterday for the funeral of the Ven. W. J. Murphy Archdeacon of Glendalough and Parish Priest, St. Michael’s, which took place after 11 o’clock Mass to Glasnevin Cemetery’
Once again I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this topic, without your support and encouragement to continue my search I would never have solved the six year old mystery of this photo.

John

[Emmeline]

Well done John.     Perseverance has paid off. A most interesting topic.

[heywood]

That's splendid news John.

[majm]

Yes, fantastic news, you probably have a smile from 'here to here' or perhaps it only goes from  "ear to ear"

Cheers,  JM

[Ruskie]

A great outcome!