 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(August 2012) |
Michael Feeney MBE | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Irish |
| Spouse | Mary Feeney |
| Children | 2 |
Michael Feeney, MBE, is the founder of the County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance. An Irish citizen he was awarded the MBE due to his services in promoting British-Irish relations by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in the Queen's New Year Honours List in 2010. [1]
He was born in Castlebar, County Mayo. Feeney is the founder of the County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance. He was educated at St Patrick's school in Castlebar up to the age of 14. He worked for the local Bacon Company before moving to the Health Service Executive.
He has supported the development of soccer in Mayo and was Secretary of the Mayo League until 1986. [2]
Feeney is married to Mary Feeney and has two children, and lives in Castlebar. He spent several years in the FCA.
The County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance is a project to document people from County Mayo who lost their lives in both World Wars. [3] It was officially opened by Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland in October 2008. [3] The annual Remembrance Day Services to commemorate Mayo's World War dead began in 1999, when Feeney organised an official Remembrance mass in the Church of the Holy Rosary in Castlebar following research which showed that a significant number of County Mayo soldiers were killed in action in World War I and World War II in the uniforms of many nations.
Feeney's grandfather, Patrick Feeney, of the 1st Battalion Connaught Rangers was killed in action on Thursday 22 July 1915 near Rue-Tilleroy France the day the Connaught Rangers were finally relieved after spending 16 days in the front line. Patrick Feeney was a professional soldier and served in the South Africa Campaign, he had left the British Army in 1911. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914 he was mobilised and returned to the Colours to serve with the Connaught Rangers once more. He was buried in the Royal Irish Graveyard in Laventie, France. [4]
Feeney was awarded the MBE due to his services in promoting British-Irish relations by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in the Queen's New Year Honours List in 2010. [1]
Feeney compiled a book Remembering Mayo's Fallen Heroes. [5] This was a collaborative work with a number of authors and was launched in September 2008. [6]
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 137,231 at the 2022 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.
Connacht or Connaught, is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms.
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation and the only British prince to do so.
Castlebar is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. With a population of 13,054 in the 2022 census, Castlebar was one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland in the early 21st century.
The Connaught Rangers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot and the 94th Regiment of Foot in July 1881. Between the time of its formation and Irish independence, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland. Its home depot was in Galway. It was disbanded following the establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, along with the other five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state.
Lahardane, also sometimes spelled Lahardaun, is a village in the parish of Addergoole, County Mayo, Ireland, adjacent to Lough Conn and to Nephin, and close to the towns of Crossmolina, Castlebar and Ballina. The 2016 census recorded a population of 178.
The Island of Ireland Peace Park and its surrounding park, also called the Irish Peace Park or Irish Peace Tower in Messines, near Ypres in Flanders, Belgium, is a war memorial to the soldiers of the island of Ireland who died, were wounded or are missing from World War I, during Ireland's involvement in the conflict. The tower memorial is close to the site of the June 1917 battle of Messines Ridge, during which the 16th (Irish) Division fought alongside the 36th (Ulster) Division.
John Moore was an Irishman appointed in August 1798 "President of the Government of the Province of Connaught" by the commander of a French invasion force, General Humbert.
James Daly was an Irish nationalist activist best known for his work in support of tenant farmers' rights and the formation of the Irish National Land League.
The Irish National War Memorial Gardens is an Irish war memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin, dedicated "to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914–1918", out of a total of 206,000 Irishmen who served in the British forces alone during the war.
Celtic Park is an association football stadium based in Castlebar, County Mayo. It was the home ground of Castlebar Celtic who played in the Women's National League (WNL), the top tier of Irish women's football between 2011 and 2016. It remains home to Castlebar Celtic's associated men's team, who play at regional level in the Mayo Association Football League.
Maurice George Moore, was an Irish author, soldier and politician.
Moore Hall, or Moorehall, the house and estate of George Henry Moore and family, is situated to the south of the village Carnacon in the barony of Carra, County Mayo in a karst limestone landscape.
The County Mayo Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance is a project to document people from County Mayo who lost their lives in both World Wars. The park is located in Castlebar, County Mayo.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her husband Prince Philip made a state visit to the Republic of Ireland from 17 to 20 May 2011, at the invitation of the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. It was the first visit by a reigning British monarch to the area that is now the Republic of Ireland since the 1911 tour by Elizabeth's grandfather King George V, when the entire island of Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Ger Feeney was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Mayo county team.
Castlebar Mitchels is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Castlebar area in County Mayo, Ireland. The club was founded in 1885 and is named after the nationalist John Mitchel (1815–1875). Though football is the club's dominant sport, hurling is also played.
Castlebar Military Barracks, sometimes referred to as Mitchell Barracks, was a military installation at Rock Square in Castlebar, County Mayo in Ireland. The barracks was closed in 2012 and sold to Mayo County Council with an agreement to lease a portion of the barracks back to the Defence Forces for the use of a reserve unit.
The Murrisk Millennium Peace Park is a five-acre park located north of the R335 road overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the village of Murrisk, County Mayo, Ireland at the foot of Croagh Patrick mountain. The landscaping of the park was purposefully designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, allowing for clear views of Croagh Patrick, the National Famine Memorial, Murrisk Abbey and Clew Bay. The minimal landscaping also serves to reinforce the stark visual impact of Ireland's National Famine Memorial, the "Coffin Ship", a sculpture which stands prominently in the park. The unveiling of the National Famine Memorial by President Mary Robinson on 20 July 1997 predated the opening of the Millennium Peace Park by some four years.