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Posted by Murrisk on February 12, 2003 at 21:20:00: Might the funeral photo be from the funeral of Douglas Hyde who died in 1949 and is buried at Porthard Church of Ireland church in Frenchpark. He died in Dublin and the remains were transported to Frenchpark for burial. At his funeral service, president Séan T. O'Kelly and the leaders of government reportedly stood outside the Protestant cathedral during the service, for reasons that are not entirely clear. The Parish Magazine for 1987 shows a photo of the remains of John Moore (first president of Connaught in 1798) being taken from the church for interment on the Mall. The FCA honour guard are wearing black armbands on their left sleeves. This was a very common practice for mourners. The funeral photo on the Nostalgia Board, however, does not show black arm bands but I don't know if this is significant. I have a copy of a photo showing Michael Collins walking in the funeral cortége of Arthur Griffith and he is not wearing a black arm band. However, photos of Michael Collin's funeral show the military honour guard wearing black arm bands. Could it be that black arm bands were not the custom for Church of Ireland funerals ? Incidentaly, Frenchpark is named after the house belonging to Major General George Arthur French, first commissioner of the Canadian North-West Mounted Police, which later morphed into the 'Mounties'.
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