McCullough, James
Rifleman
No. 6846, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Tuesday 17 July 1917 (aged 22)
Buried:
St. Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery, Belgium (Grave II F 1)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Donaghadee and District War Memorial
First Donaghadee Presbyterian Church
Son of McCullough, James (No. 3728)
BIOGRAPHY
James McCullough was born on 29 March 1895 in Finmore Street, Belfast and he was a son of James and Sarah Ann McCullough (nee Reid) who were married on 10 December 1888 in St Mary’s Parish Church of Ireland Church Belfast.
James McCullough Senior worked as a shipyard labourer and he and Sarah Ann Reid lived at several different addresses in Belfast including Finmore Street, 39 Central Street and 6 Connswater Street. Sometime after 1912 the McCullough family moved to Donaghadee where they lived at several different addresses including Back Street and 29 Manor Street.
James and Sarah Ann McCullough had at least fifteen children, nine of whom died in infancy. The six that survived were:
James (born 29 March 1895 in Finmore Street, Belfast)
John (born 9 May 1897)
Frances (born 8 July 1898)
Janet (Ginny, born 4 December 1902)
Henry (Harry, born 3 November 1908)
William (Willie, born 6 April 1911)
Their father, James McCullough Senior, was shot in the right arm on 27 April 1916 during the Easter Rising in Dublin and he was 54 when he died on 2 May 1916 as a result of the wound. Their mother, Sarah Ann, died on 23 July 1956 (aged 82) and was buried in Ballyvester Cemetery.
Before James McCullough Junior joined the Army he worked as a labourer and during the Great War he served with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. Rifleman James McCullough was wounded in May 1915 and his mother received a letter from the Matron of No. 13 General Hospital in Boulogne informing her that her son was being transferred by hospital ship to England.
On 10 January 1917 James McCullough and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Strain were married in Ballygrainey Presbyterian Church. At the time of their marriage Lizzie was living in the townland of Ballyfotherly and James’s address was given as Carrickfergus (where his Battalion was stationed). After they got married their address was 22 East Street, Donaghadee. Six months after he was married Rifleman James McCullough was killed in action on 17 July 1917 during road construction in a forward area of the battlefield. He was 22 when he died and he is commemorated on Donaghadee and District War Memorial and in First Donaghadee Presbyterian Church.
James and Lizzie McCullough had no family.