Rebellion Medals for RIC Men

Posted By: November 27, 2016

Yesterday, twenty- two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, including a district inspector, were presented by the Viceroy (Lord Wimborne) with the RIC medal which has been bestowed on them for the courageous they displayed during the recent Rebellion in their respective districts. Prior to the presentation about 300 members of the RIC, including the medallists, were paraded at the RIC Depot, Phoenix Park for inspection by the Inspector-General, Brigadier-General J A Byrne who thus made his first appearance since his appointment to the office lately vacated by Sir Neville Chamberlain. (The RIC were active in suppressing the Rebellion outside Dublin, notably at the Battle of Ashbourne, Co Meath where 11 RIC officers were killed in a fire-fight with Volunteers under Thomas Ashe and Richard Mulcahy on 28 April 1916. Among the police fatalities were County Inspector Alexander ‘Baby’ Gray, the son of a Belfast Presbyterian minister. Educated at Belfast ‘Inst’, he had previously been in charge of Co Down. Gray was based in Lucan, Co Dublin and hunted with the Kildare Hounds. Sixteen RIC men were wounded at Ashbourne. The RIC also saw action in Louth (where Irish-speaking Constable Eddie McGee from Gaoth Dobhair was shot dead), Wexford and Galway.)