In relation to the War of Independence, the Service (1917-1921) Medal was created on 24 January 1941 and was awarded in two classes: - Medal with Bar was issued to all persons in possession of a Military Service Certificate entitling them to a pension under the Military Service Pensions Acts, 1924 to 1934 in respect of the period subsequent to 1916 and prior to 11th July, 1921, and to those persons not in possession of a Certificate who satisfied the Minister for Defence that, had they applied for a pension, their service was such as would have merited the award of a pension.
- Medal without Bar was issued to persons who did not render active service, but who were members of Óglaigh na hÉireann, (Irish Republican Army), Fianna Éireann, Cumann na mBan or the Irish Citizen Army for the three months ending with the Truce of 11th July, 1921.
In certain exceptional situations a medal can be posthumously awarded if no medal was previously issued. However, in order not to diminish the intrinsic value of such medals, this is only done in exceptional cases and only where there is incontrovertible verified evidence available that the criteria for the award of a medal have been met. Given the lapse of time and the lack of verification process at this stage it is very difficult to satisfy the requirements and therefore the award of such posthumous medals is quite rare.
There are records held in the Department but these were maintained for the specific purpose of dealing with applications for medals or pensions and not to act as a record of all activities during the Easter Rising and the War of Independence. Where a person made an application for a pension or medal in respect of their service or involvement in the Easter Rising and/or War of Independence, verified evidence of service was required before the award of a pension or medal was made. Such verification was provided by surviving members of the old IRA and other related organisations who knew of the membership and activities of the applicant. However, not every individual who was involved in Easter Week and/or the War of Independence made an application for a pension or medal and in such cases there would have been no reason to seek or hold verification of membership or activities.
I note the Deputy’s reference to using material from Witness Statements of the Bureau of Military History. However, these statements were not officially corroborated or verified and therefore they cannot be used for medal purposes. The Bureau’s brief was ‘to assemble and co-ordinate material to form the basis for the compilation of the history of the movement for Independence from the formation of the Irish Volunteers on 25th November 1913, to the 11th July 1921’.
The process by which applications and petitions or appeals under the Military Service Pensions Acts were investigated and verified was wound up in 1958 and as you can appreciate there are now no surviving members of the old IRA or related organisations alive who could verify membership. Due to the length of time that has now elapsed there is no mechanism available at this stage by which service and activities, in the absence of existing Departmental records, can be investigated or verified.
Any application for a posthumous medal made to my Department will be carefully considered; however, I have no plans to put in place wider arrangements or lower the criteria in relation to the posthumous award of the Service (1917-1921) Medal.
