Kate Newmann
(Institute of Irish Studies, Belfast, £9.50)
There have been many occasions when I have sought enlightenment on an individual whose name may have been familiar but of whose achievements I knew little. It is gratifying to have recourse to a volume such as The Dictionary of National Biography or Chambers’ Biographical Dictionary and to find there the elusive information. However, such volumes are often found wanting when one’s curiosity is stimulated by more local names. That gap has now been ppartially filled by Kate Newmann’s work on behalf of the Ulster History Circle.
This volume, extending to 278 pages, covers people from the ‘nine counties of Ulster who have distinguished themselves’ and includes entries from John Abernethy, born near Stewartstown in County Tyrone to Robert Magill Young, born in Athlone and educated at Queen’s College, Belfast. Chronologically the work takes us from the legendary Macha and Cu Chulainn to Helen Waddell and James Young. It can thus be said to be comprehensive.
In a brief introduction the compiler explains the justification for inclusion: subjects ‘have either been born here, or have been educated here, or have worked here, or have represented here, or have died here, or have been buried here. What unites them all is that they are no longer alive’. That justification therefore allows individuals with the most tenuous connections with Ulster to be included: by fighting Hugh O’Neill in the Elizabethan era, when he defended a pass near Tandragee, Charles Poyntz merits inclusion, and he did, after all, lend his name to the village of Poyntzpass. Fergal O’Gara’s link is even more tenuous: born in Sligo he was patron to the Four Masters while they compiled their Annals in Donegal.
It is all the more surprising, therefore, to note at least two major omissions from this work. Seek in vain, as I did, the names of Field Marshals Montgomery and Templer. Both appear to be among the ‘deserving people who have been inadvertently omitted’. Yet both had better Ulster credentials than many whose names can be found in the pages of this volume: the Montgomery family lived in Donegal and the Field Marshal’s parents resided there from before the Great War until his mother’s death; Sir Gerald Templer’s family had its home in County Armagh, at Loughgall and Templer’s regiment was The Royal Irish Fusiliers whose depot was at Armagh. Templer’s father had been born in Loughgall and the young Gerald spent most of his boyhood in the county. By contrast two other prominent field marshals are alleged to have been born in Ulster. In fact, neither Field Marshals Alexander nor Auchinleck were born here: the former was born in London and brought to Caledon, the family home, when he was a few days old; the latter was born in Aldershot where his father was stationed, although the family home was in County Tyrone. There is no mention of Alexander’s post-war service in Russia, nor of his role at Dunkirk, and his distinguished service in the Mediterranean theatre is hardly alluded to. We are also told that Auchinleck’s father was a colonel in the Indian Army whereas he was an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army who served in India.
Another distinguished soldier to receive less than his due is Field Marshal Sir John Dill. We are told simply that he served in South Africa and in the First World War with no hint of the distinction he achieved in the latter: no fewer than eight Mentions in Despatches, a DSO for gallantry and the Order of St Michael and St George. Dill went to France again in 1939, not 1937 as stated in his entry, as a corps commander but was promoted to Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in April 1940 and then, a month later, to Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). This made him the professional head of the Army, yet Newmann describes him as being ‘appointed Chief of Staff (sic) in 1940’, an altogether less exalted and quite commonplace position. We learn nothing of his time as CIGS, of his difficulties with Churchill, or of his role in British policy. His entry ends with the information that in 1942 he led the British Military Mission to Washington, where he died in 1944. This is rather like saying that Churchill became prime minister of Britain in 1940 and died in 1965. Dill was arguably the most important link in the Anglo-American alliance and one of the key figures in the final Allied victory. His importance was shown when the Americans had him buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the last resting-place of America’s heroes.
These criticisms apart this book is a valuable addition to anyone’s bookshelves and, in its paperback format, it is a veritable bargain.
Richard Doherty