Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association/Herbert Justin Lemass and Edwin Stephen Lemass Papers

Context

Creator(s): Owen Lemass, second cousin of Herbert Lemass

• Administrative History ↴

  Edwin Stephen and Herbert James Lemass, cousins of Sean Lemass, were born in Monkstown, county Dublin. Their father Dr Peter E. Lemass and mother Maria Patricia had six children, five of whom survived birth. Their father worked as the secretary at the Department of Education. Both Edwin and Herbert were successful in school. Edwin, the older of two brothers, studied law at Trinity College and at the age of 22 was called to the bar, where he practised for some time on the North Western Circuit. At the outbreak of the First World War, Edwin enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps. Following the war, Edwin joined the Colonial Service where he was stationed in Cairo. Edwin went on to live in Alexandria where he became one of Egypt’s leading judges and personalities. Edwin married a woman named Dori and died in Eygpt. Herbert was two years younger than Edwin. Herbert attended Trinity College in 1913, where he joined the medical school. In 1915, Herbert entered the Sandhurst Military College as a cadet and went on to receive permanent commission into the army later that year. In 1916, he was gazetted to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and was sent to fight in France. On the 23 October 1916, Herbert was killed at the Battle of the Somme. He was buried at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme in France and is also commemorated in the Hall Honour at Trinity College.

• Archival History ↴

  The collection was donated to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association archive by Owen Lemass, second cousin of Herbert Lemass on the 16 May 2012. The Royal Dublin Association archive is managed by the Dublin City Library and Archive, which is where the collection is kept.

• Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

  Donation