Thomas Joseph McKinney

Thomas Joseph McKinney (1887–1973) was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur on 9 May 1956. This award was in recognition of his role in establishing The Irish Red Cross Hospital in in St. Lô, Normandy 1945-46.Documents, medals and/or certificates in family archives
==Early life==
McKinney was born on 30 October 1887, in Greencastle, Co. Antrim, the second of eleven children. His father, Thomas James, had joined the R.I.C. in 1874 and married Mary McKillop in April 1882. Various promotions resulted in relocations for his expanding family with the last and longest of these to Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh as Head Constable, until retiring in 1917.
==Education==
McKinney's education included St. Macartan’s College, Monaghan, followed by Blackrock College, and then the Royal University of Ireland, Dublin, achieving a B.A. and M.A. in 1910. Lecturing posts in languages and mathematics ensued; St. Mary's University, Twickenham followed by a brief period in the U.S. He returned in 1912 and enrolled in the School of Medicine at U.C.D. Thomas displayed academic brilliance from the outset, achieving 1st grade in all subjects, annually. He was awarded The Hutchinson, More O’ Ferrell and Bellingham gold medals, in the course of his studies and graduated with a 1st class honours degree.
==Career==
After qualifying as a Doctor in 1918, McKinney practised as a surgeon at St. Vincent’s Hospital, while continuing to lecture in Anatomy at the Medical School of U.C.D.
By April 1918, heavy losses had been incurred during WW1 and following an Act of Parliament, conscription to the British Army would be applied to Irishmen.
Strongly opposed to this, Thomas joined The Irish Volunteer movement, serving only as a first aid instructor in 'H' Company, 1st Battalion, (attached to 4th Company Battalion) Dublin Brigade. 
After the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921, he was appointed to the Army Medical Council and in March 1923, was given a permanent commission in the recently formed National Army. Thomas’s leadership and organisational skills resulted in steady promotions through the ranks; Director of Army Medical Services (1927), substantive Major (1930) and Colonel (1939).Murphy, David, 2009, ̔McKinney, Thomas Joseph’, Dictionary of Irish Biography,[Onlinehttps://doi.org/10.3318/dib.005729.v1 (2009) (Accessed Jan 2022) For licensing use, refer to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode 
In addition to his role as D.A.M.S and regular army duties, he was appointed to the new Management Committee of “An t-Óglach”, in 1927, fulfilling the role of Editor. The Defence Forces Journal had evolved from “The Irish Volunteer”, first published in 1913, supporting the struggle for Independence.Hayes, Captain S., (1932-33) ̔An t-Ógláċ, The Irish Army Quarterly’, ̔ The Story of An t’Oglach’, April, p.6
Ireland remained neutral during WW2, but Col. McKinney was far-sighted in his planning. His objective was to ensure that the Army Medical Services would not only be prepared for emergencies, should this neutrality be compromised but would also provide humanitarian aid whenever possible, during and post-war.
On 6 July 1939, he would become a founding member of the General Council of the newly-formed Irish Red Cross Society.̔ Irish Red Cross Society, First Executive of New Body’, The Irish Times, 12 July, 1939 As director of the Army’s Medical Service, with wide-ranging skills and experience, Col. McKinney would prove to be an invaluable member of the Society.
In 1941, McKinney instigated the establishment of The Army Serum Production Centre, which could provide life-saving treatment given the ongoing national shortage of fresh blood supplies.Laffan, J, Lt.-Col. A.M.C, ̔The Army Serum Production Centre in WW II’, An Cosantóir, April 1975
Following his relief Red Cross mission to Spain in 1943, McKinney was selected by Oscar Traynor, Defence Minister, to lead a similar Red Cross mission to St. Lo, Normandy. The occupied town had been a focal point of the German Army operations and consequently, was subjected to relentless bombing by the American forces in July 1944. The trail of devastation with significant loss of life, left St. Lo and surrounding area without medical facilities. From August 1945 - December 1946, the Irish Red Cross team, comprising doctors, nurses and ancillary staff, re-established medical services in a purpose-built, 100 bed hospital comprising 25 single storey buildings. This humanitarian mission is described in the book ‘Healing amid the ruins’ by Phyllis Gaffney, daughter of Dr. James Gaffney, a Pathologist and temporary Director of the mission.Gaffney, Phyllis, ̔Healing Amid the Ruins, The Irish Hospital at Saint Lô’, (1945-1946), A & A Farmar,1999 This topic was revisited in a 2020 RTE 1 Radio broadcast. ̔The Hospital the Irish Shipped to France’, (2020), RTE Radio 1, September 3, 2020, [Online] https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21829901/ 
McKinney’s driver was the writer, Samuel Beckett, appointed as storekeeper and interpreter who was deeply affected by his experiences in St. Lô as depicted in his subsequent publications.
A similar aid mission to Warsaw, Poland in the summer of 1946 was abandoned for financial and logistical reasons. Soon after returning home, McKinney attended a Garden Party at Windsor Castle, by invitation of King George V.
In 1947, McKinney was awarded a Fellowship of The American Association of Military Surgeons, and returned to the U.S. in 1949, representing Ireland at a Conference of Military Surgeons in Washington
In 1955 He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the N.U.I. Honorary Degrees Awarded by The Royal University of Ireland, https://www.nui.ie/college/Honorary_Degree_Recipients.asp 
McKinney received his Légion d’Honneur medal and scroll in St. Lô, on 10 May 1956, at the official opening of the newly constructed Memorial Hospital.
Although he retired from the Army in 1952, McKinney continued to play an active role in the Irish Red Cross Society ̔ Medical Specialists Selected’, Irish Independent, Thursday August 4, 1960, p.12 and The National Blood Transfusion Service ̔ Pelican House Fine Example of Modernised …’, The Irish Times, Friday, May 4th, 1962, p. 7, holding various Board positions in the 1960’s.
==Personal life==
McKinney was fluent in several European languages but was committed to promoting the use of the Irish language both in the Defence Forces and in the wider community. He first met Roisín at an Irish language Summer School in Co. Donegal. Thomas translated several literary works into Irish, and contributed to “An t’Óglách”. He was also an accomplished horse-rider, passing the Army’s advanced equitation course.
McKinney was married three times. His first marriage to Róisín (née Rudden) was on Easter Sunday, in 1919 and they had two sons and two daughters. Róisín died in December 1945 while McKinney was in St. Lô. He married Kathleen Wray in January 1948 but was widowed in 1964. Thomas died in Dun Laoghaire on 18 February 1973 aged 85, survived by his third wife Mary.
Category:1887 births
Category:People from County Antrim
Category:Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland
Category:Surgeons