Editing James McNeill (section)

===Governor-General===
When the first [[Governor-General of the Irish Free State]], [[Tim Healy (politician)|Tim Healy]], retired in December 1927, James McNeill was proposed as his replacement by the Irish government of [[W. T. Cosgrave]] and duly appointed by King [[George V]] as Governor-General of the Irish Free State.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}}

[[File:Procession for James MacNeill, newly sworn in Governor General of the Irish Free State.jpg|left|thumb|Procession for James MacNeill, as new Governor General, 1 February 1928]]

In office, McNeill clashed with the King's Private Secretary when he insisted on following the constitutional advice of his Irish ministers, rather than that of [[Buckingham Palace]], in procedures relating to the receipt of [[Letter of Credence|Letters of Credence]] accrediting ambassadors to the King in Ireland. He also refused to attend ceremonies in [[Trinity College, Dublin]], when some elements in the college tried to ensure that the old British [[national anthem]] ''[[God Save the Queen|God Save the King]]'' was played, rather than the new Irish anthem, ''[[Amhrán na bhFiann]]''.<ref>[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/297017132.pdf State, Nation and Music in Independent Ireland, 1922-51] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831144703/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/297017132.pdf |date=31 August 2021 }}, Karol Anne Mullaney-Dignan, PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth, 2008, page 37</ref>

When [[Éamon de Valera]] was nominated as [[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]] in 1932, McNeill opted to travel to [[Leinster House]], the parliament buildings, to appoint de Valera, rather than to require that he go to the [[Áras an Uachtaráin|Viceregal Lodge]], the Governor-General's residence and the former seat of British [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland|Lords Lieutenant]], to avoid embarrassing de Valera, who was a [[Irish republicanism|republican]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}}

[[File:IFS Constitution Committee Darrell F's book2.jpg|thumb|right|360px|The Constitution Committee meeting at the [[Shelbourne Hotel]], Dublin. James McNeill is seated fourth from the right.]]

However, McNeill's tact was not reciprocated by de Valera's government, and some of its ministers sought to humiliate McNeill as the King's representative by withdrawing the [[Irish Army]]'s band from playing at functions he attended and demanding he withdraw invitations to visitors to meet him. In one notorious incident in April, two ministers, [[Seán T. O'Kelly]] (a future [[President of Ireland]]) and [[Frank Aiken]], publicly walked out of a diplomatic function when McNeill, there as the guest of the [[France|French]] ambassador, arrived.<ref>[https://www.difp.ie/docs/1932/Alleged-discourtesies-to-Governor-General/1410.htm "Letter from James McNeill to Eamon de Valera (Dublin)", Documents on Irish Foreign Policy]</ref> In a fury, McNeill wrote to de Valera demanding an apology for this treatment. When none was forthcoming, apart from an ambiguous message from de Valera that could be interpreted as partially blaming McNeill for attending functions at which ministers would be present, he published his correspondence with de Valera, even though de Valera had formally advised him not to do so. De Valera then demanded that George V dismiss McNeill.<ref name=examiner>{{Cite web |url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/demonstration-of-independence-170828.html |title="Demonstration of Independence", ''Irish Examiner'', October 17, 2011 |access-date=15 June 2017 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216063426/https://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/demonstration-of-independence-170828.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The King engineered a compromise, whereby de Valera withdrew his dismissal request and McNeill, who was due to retire at the end of 1932, would push forward his retirement date by a month or so. McNeill, at the King's request, resigned on 1 November 1932.<ref name=examiner/>

In June 1932, [[John Charles McQuaid]], President of [[Blackrock College]], hosted an extravagant garden party to welcome Papal Legate Cardinal [[Lorenzo Lauri]], who had arrived in Ireland to represent [[Pope Pius XI]] at the [[Eucharistic Congress of Dublin (1932)|31st International Eucharistic Congress]]. While De Valera maintained a very high profile at the event, McQuaid (at de Valera's request) went to great lengths to avoid McNeill to the extent possible.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/on-show-to-the-world-the-eucharistic-congress-1932/ |title=O'Dwyer, Rory. "On show to the world: the Eucharistic Congress, 1932", ''History Ireland'', Issue 6 (Nov/Dec 2007), Volume 15 |access-date=15 February 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215005218/https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/on-show-to-the-world-the-eucharistic-congress-1932/ |url-status=live}}</ref>