Instituted in 1856 to reward members of the British army and navy for ‘single acts of valour’, the Victoria Cross has been awarded to over 200 Irishmen, born both here and overseas, representing about 16% of the 1,356 medals awarded. The dates of the awards to Irish soldiers span 90 years, from the Crimean War to the dying days of World War II, when James Magennis of Belfast won the medal for a daring attack on a Japanese warship in a midget submarine. The majority of the medals were awarded to Irish soldiers in the nineteenth century and highlight the large number of Irishmen in the British Army during this time.
The first Victoria Cross (VC) was awarded to Armagh-born Charles Lucas, a young Royal Navy officer during the Crimean War. Seeing a live shell on deck that was about to explode, Lucas threw it overboard. The medal is now held by the National Maritime Museum in London and until recently was on display at the National Museum in Collins Barracks. The second VC and the first army medal was also awarded to a Irishman, Sergeant Luke O’Connor of Elphin, Co. Roscommon, who joined the 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) Regiment at the age of seventeen. After winning the VC during the Crimean War, he was made an officer and two years later fought in the Indian Mutiny (1857–9). The Indian Mutiny (or, as it is more commonly known by Indians today, the First War of Liberation) began after the introduction by the East India Company of the new Enfield rifle to its military units. Company regiments of Hindu and Muslim soldiers were offended by the new bullet that was greased with a mixture of pig and cow fat.