Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Sir Michael William McCorkell (3 May 1925 – 13 November 2006) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

born soldier and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

public servant, serving as

Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry This is a list of people to have been Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 18 ...

for 25 years.

Early life

McCorkell was the son of Capt. B. F.

McCorkell McCorkell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * David McCorkell (born 1955), Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim (from 2019) * Sir Dudley McCorkell (1883–1960), Mayor of Londonderry (1929–1935), and ''ex officio'' member of the ...

DL, of Templeard, Culmore,

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

. His uncle, Sir Dudley McCorkell, had also been

. He was born in

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is beside Lough Swilly on the Inishowen peninsula, northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. In the 2016 census, the population was 6,785 making it the second most populous town in Cou ...

Inishowen Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland. The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfor ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

in 1925 and was educated at

Rockport School Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County ...

in Holywood, County Down, and at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to ele ...

. The outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the subsequent curtailment of travel caused him to finish his education at

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

Military career

During the war, he joined the Royal Artillery as a gunner before being commissioned into the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) at Sandhurst. The Royal Military College had closed on the outbreak of war. He served with the 16th/5th Lancers, choosing that regiment because of its Irish heritage; the 5th had been the Royal Irish Lancers until 1922. In December 1944, he joined the regiment in the Apennine mountains where it was serving in an infantry role. As he was only 19 his father had had to sign a certificate to allow him to be posted overseas. Commanding a tank troop, he fought in the final phase of the Italian campaign with 6th Armoured Division which broke through the Argenta Gap and broke the German line in the plain of the Po. His unit was among the first into Austria where the British Army had to deal with a complex array of problems that would have taxed Solomon. As Austria became more settled, life for a soldier eased. These were heady times for a young soldier. Michael shot chamois on

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

's mountain estate in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(the heads of the chamois were fine ones because the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

had dropped hay to the beasts on the hill) and he kept the Mess in trout with regular forays to the Alpine streams and lakes; and cavalrymen were in their element here, with the pick of the liberated Austrian and German horse flesh at the allies' disposal. McCorkell was involved in two enormous tattoos at the

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Schönbrunn ; Central Bavarian: ''Schloss Scheenbrunn'') was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning “beautiful spring”) has its root ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and at the Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he and others performed cavalry trick rides. He was a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the Territorial Army and

North Irish Horse The North Irish Horse was a yeomanry unit of the British Territorial Army raised in the northern counties of Ireland in the aftermath of the Second Boer War. Raised and patronised by the nobility from its inception to the present day, it was on ...

(1951). His long involvement with the

, which he joined on the formation of the TA in Northern Ireland in 1947, had already seen him commanding it in the 1960s and, without hesitation, he became T & AVR Colonel,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, in 1971-1974, Aide-de-camp to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

(1972), Aide-de-camp to

Governor of Northern Ireland The governor of Northern Ireland was the principal officer and representative in Northern Ireland of the British monarch. The office was established on 9 December 1922 and abolished on 18 July 1973. Overview The office of Governor of Northern I ...

(1956-1968), Brevet Colonel (1974), Honorary Colonel of the

in 1975 and President of the T & AVR,

in 1977.

Honours

As a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and a wholly ecumenical one, McCorkell served all sides of the community, during some of the county's toughest times, without prejudice or favour, offering support or sympathy, but never doctrine: he was genuinely and wholly non-political as Lord-Lieutenant of County Londonderry from 1975-2000. He was made

High Sheriff of County Londonderry The High Sheriff of County Londonderry is King Charles III's judicial representative in County Londonderry. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the ruling monarch, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford ...

from 1961 and, like many of his ancestors before him, Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Londonderry from 1962;

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

from 1980. He was awarded the TD in 1954 and bar in 1963; OBE (military) in 1964, Commander of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

(CStJ; 1991), and knighted with the KCVO in 1994. Like his uncle, Sir Dudley McCorkell, he served on the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners and as Chairman of Wm McCorkell, who operated the

McCorkell Line The McCorkell Line was a shipping line operated by ''Wm. McCorkell & Co. Ltd.'' from 1778, principally carrying passengers from Ireland, Scotland and England to the Americas. Notably, the McCorkell Line carried many immigrants who were fleeing th ...

from 1778.

Secret IRA Meeting at the family home

In extreme secrecy, what is now believed to have been the first meeting between the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

(IRA) and senior officials of the British Government took place at Ballyarnett, Colonel Sir Michael’s family home, 20 June 1972. The IRA was represented at that meeting by

Dáithí Ó Conaill Dáithí Ó Conaill (English: ''David O'Connell'') (May 1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council of the Provisional IRA, and vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the firs ...

and

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

, and the British government was represented by Frank Steele, believed to be an MI6 agent, and

Philip Woodfield Sir Philip John Woodfield, (10 August 1923 – 17 September 2000) was a British civil servant. Life and career Woodfield was born in Dulwich, south-east London, and attended Alleyn's School, Dulwich. He was commissioned in the Royal Artillery i ...

. The meeting lasted four hours and the British side informed the IRA representatives that while Willie (later Viscount) Whitelaw refused to offer political status, he was prepared to suspend arrests of republicans and searches of homes. Both sides then agreed to call a ten-day ceasefire. In September 2019,

BBCNI BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

's 'Spotlight On The Troubles'
Episode 2
covered these historic talks and visited Ballyarnett to film, which had by now been sold by the

family. The episode also included an interview with their son

David McCorkell David William McCorkell (born 26 February 1955) is a British businessman and Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim, the third successive generation of the McCorkell family to be appointed as one of Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenants. Early life McCo ...

, who disclosed extracts from Lady McCorkell's private journal about the event for the very first time. Further extracts from the journal were later released by the media

Family

In 1950 he married Aileen Allen, OBE, daughter of Lieut Colonel E. B. Booth, DSO, of Darver Castle,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, by whom he had three sons (John Barry Ernest,

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, and Barry Michael) and one daughter (Mary Aileen). Lady McCorkell founded the Derry

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

during The Troubles. Sir Ronald Colville, 2nd Baron Clydesmuir was his brother-in-law. Sir Michael's cousin Moyra, married

James Chichester-Clark James Dawson Chichester-Clark, Baron Moyola, PC, DL (12 February 1923 – 17 May 2002) was the penultimate Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and eighth leader of the Ulster Unionist Party between 1969 and March 1971. He was Member of the No ...

(later Lord Moyola, former

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as with governors- ...

). The

s, who are originally from Scotland, are from the

Clan McCorquodale Clan McCorquodale is a Scottish clan, recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, though without a chief so recognised. The last chief of the clan died in the 18th century. Because the clan does not have a recognised chief, it is considered an arm ...

and are a

sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ( ...

Clan Gunn Clan Gunn ( gd, Na Guinnich) is a Highland Scottish clan associated with lands in northeastern Scotland, including Caithness, Sutherland and, arguably, the Orkney Isles. Clan Gunn is one of the oldest Scottish Clans, being descended from the No ...

. He was also a descendant of The Earls of Longford and

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

. His ancestor, William McCorkell, set up the

in 1778; the family shipping business. Upon his death at age 81, a Thanksgiving Service was held in

St Columb's Cathedral St Columb's Cathedral in the walled city of Derry, Northern Ireland, is the cathedral church and episcopal see of the Church of Ireland's Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. It is also the parish church of Templemore. It is dedicated to Saint Columba, ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

for Sir Michael.

References

External links

Lady McCorkell's ObituaryThe McCorkell Shipping LineBurkes Peerage
* ttps://strokecitystories.com/revealed-the-untold-story-behind-a-secret-meeting-between-the-ira-and-british-government-in-derry/ Story of secret peace talks {{DEFAULTSORT:McCorkell, Michael 1925 births 2006 deaths Deputy Lieutenants of Londonderry High Sheriffs of County Londonderry Lord-Lieutenants of County Londonderry British Army personnel of World War II 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers officers Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Rockport School People educated at Aldenham School North Irish Horse officers People educated at Campbell College People from Buncrana Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst