Monday,
March 17, 2003
SUFFOLK
PROBATE REGISTRY MARKS ST. PATRICKS DAY BY HONORING PATRICK
GUINEY, CIVIL WAR GENERAL AND 14th REGISTER
OF PROBATE
Suffolk
County Register of Probate Richard Iannella marked St.
Patrick’s Day this past week by unveiling a memorial plaque
dedicated to noted local figure and Civil War General Patrick
Robert Guiney.
Born
at Parkstown, County Tipperary, Ireland, Guiney left his
native land at seven years of age and settled in New England.
Selecting the law for his profession, he attended Holy Cross
College, was admitted to the Bar in Portland, Maine in 1856,
and settled in Boston in 1859. Entering into the patriotic
ardor of the day, he joined in recruiting the Ninth Regiment
of Massachusetts Volunteers, and within two years, became one
of the regiment’s commanders. General Guiney fought in over
thirty engagements and won high official praise - notably for
courage and presence of mind at the Battle of Gaines’s Mill,
Virginia. He is also noted for authoring a collection of
letters during nearly three years of service to the military
that painted a fascinating picture of a citizen soldier in
command of a noted regiment.
A
noted public servant following the war, Guiney ran
unsuccessfully for Congress, was elected Assistant District
Attorney, and later, won office as the fourteenth Register of
Probate for Suffolk County. While holding the office, wounds
suffered during the war brought on his premature death in 1877
at the age of 42.
“I
hope that visitors to the Registry will take a moment to read
the plaque and to learn about a man who gave so much to the
city of Boston and to his country,” said Register Iannella.
“He is quite a unique figure in local and national history,
especially considering how much he accomplished in such a
short lifetime.”
Iannella
gives special thanks to longtime probate attorney, U.S. Army
veteran and military historian Lenahan O’Connell for sharing
the legacy of General Guiney and suggesting that a plaque be
posted at the Registry in his honor.
