James MacNeill was born in Glenarm, County Antrim, and was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After a successful career in the Indian civil service he returned to Ireland in 1914 and joined the Sinn Fein movement. In 1923 he was appointed High Commissioner for the Irish Free State in London and in 1928 was made Governor-General. The post was made defunct in 1932. He died in London.

Born:	March 1869
Died:	12 December 1938