Approximately 250 1928 Garda Siocana Pilgrimage to Rome medals issued, very few of which have survived.
With the 1916 Medal and the 1917-21 Service Medal not being awarded until 1941, the 1928 Garda Pilgrimage medal is the earliest Irish medal to be awarded generally to all participants, military or civilian (police, fire and ambulance services) in a campaign or event, the only earlier Irish medals awarded being the 1921 Collins medallion (only 4 awarded) and the 1923 Medal for Saving Life at Sea (which was a gallantry medal), which by their nature were not general awards.
The 1928 Garda pilgrimage to Rome was organised by General Eoin O'Duffy, the Commissioner of the Garda Siocana. The pilgrimage began on 11/10/1928, when the 250 Garda pilgrims assembled in the Garda Depot square prior to departure. Their journey to Rome began by ferry from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead and continued by train and ferry via London, Paris and Turin, the party arriving in Rome on 14th October. In Rome the Garda pilgrims had an audience with the Pope, took part in a Papal Mass, visited the Italian police training headquarters and exchanged salutes with the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. During their return journey the party of pilgrims stopped off in Paris for a second time, where they visited the tomb of the unknown warrior and were entertained by the French Minister of the Interior and visited the Paris police headquarters.
There is a lengthy account of the 1928 Garda Pilgrimage to Rome in the Garda Review, volume 3, no. 12 (December 1928) pages 14 - 32, a copy of which accompanies this medal.
Eoin O'Duffy was the commander of the Monaghan brigade of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence, became Chief of Staff of the IRA in 1922, was subsequently Chief of Staff of the pro-treaty forces during the Irish Civil War and later the second Commissioner of the Garda Siocana. Following the Curragh Mutiny of 1924 O'Duffy was once again appointed commanding officer the Irish Defence Forces, at the same time retaining the post of Garda Commissioner. The 1928 Garda pilgrimage to Rome, organised General Eoin O'Duffy while Commissioner of the Garda Siocana, formed part of his efforts to forge closer links with right-wing movements in Europe at the time. Later, from 1933, O'Duffy was the leader of the Blueshirts in Ireland. During the Spanish Civil War he organised an Irish Brigade to fight alongside Franco's nationalist troops and during the Second World War he is believed to have been involved in attempts to raise a "Green" Division of Irish volunteers to fight on the Eastern front alongside Nazi forces.
Unsurprisingly, General O'Duffy was, during his lifetime, and remains to this day a controversial figure. Conor Brady, in his history of the Garda Siocana, "Guardians of the Peace" (Gill & McMillan, Dublin, 1974) is highly critical, noting that:
"O'Duffy's doctrinaire catholicism, his obsession with the evils of drink and his appetite for self adulation had by this time (1928) reduced the Garda Review to the level of pure and unquestioning hagiography. A not untypical editorial of December 1928 ran "it is impossible to overlook or to ignore the fact that the Garda Siocana, from its distinguished chief down, is inspired by something more, by something grander and greater than conformity with regulation. A paid policeman is one thing. A policemen who feels that in performing his daily or nightly round of duty is fulfilling the law of Christ is another. This pilgrimage (to Rome) was led and organised by our police chief, General O'Duffy, whose genius had made the Garda Siocana the miracle that it is. No competent and impartial observer will deny that the Garda Siocana is the nearest approach to a miracle that cold and scientific analysis can discover" ."
