Mackey, James Glover (James)
Rifleman
No. 7342, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of wounds on Friday 28 April 1916 (aged 20)
Buried:
Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, France (Grave I. B. 5)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) Roll of Honour 1914 – 1919 for
Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards
Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s)
BIOGRAPHY
James Glover Mackey was born on 10 April 1896 in the townland of Whitespots, Newtownards and he was a son of William and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mackey (nee Glover) who were married on 6 February 1891 in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church. William Mackey from Loughries was a son of Robert Mackey, a weaver. Elizabeth Glover from Ballycloughan was a daughter of James Glover, a farmer.
William Mackey was a farmer, labourer and caretaker of the Flood Gates at Newtownards. He and Lizzie lived at the Flood Gates and they had five children:
Mary Agnes (born Mary Agnes Glover on 3 December 1889 in Ballycloughan)
Robert (born 9 December 1892 per Canadian attestation)
Margaret (Maggie, born 21 January 1894 in Bowtown)
James Glover (born 10 April 1896 in Whitespots)
John (born 24 August 1898)
Robert, Maggie and James, were baptised in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church Newtownards. The children were orphaned when their mother Lizzie died of tuberculosis on 5 November 1911 (aged 40) and their father William died of tuberculosis ten months later on 12 August 1912 (aged 43). James was 16 when his parents died. His paternal grandfather, Robert Mackey, had died on 11 March 1910 (aged 71) and Robert’s death was reported in the 12 March 1910 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle.
James Glover Mackey’s brother Robert moved to Canada in 1912 and he enlisted in Toronto on 4 February 1916. James Glover Mackey was 18 years old when he enlisted in Holywood on 20 November 1914 and he signed up for a period of six years. On 31 August 1915 he was posted to the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and went to France. On 26 April 1916, while his Battalion was holding the line, he was severely wounded in the chest during a German trench raid. On 27 April he was transferred to the 30th Casualty Clearing Station where he died of his wounds the following day, on 28 April 1916 (aged 20). He was buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
James Mackey’s sister Maggie married Matthew Malone on 24 April 1916 and they lived at 99 Mill Street, Newtownards. Prior to that Maggie had lived at 60 South Street, Newtownards. Rifleman James Mackey died four days after Maggie’s wedding.
Maggie and her brother John placed a For King and Country notice in the 13 May 1916 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
Sleep on, dear brother, your troubles are over,
Your duty on earth is done,
You fought for liberty and honour,
And the prize of life you won.
A year later Maggie and John placed an Our Heroes – In Memoriam notice in the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
No loved ones stood around him,
To bid a last farewell;
No word of comfort could we give
The one we loved so well.