LATE MR. WILLIAM O’NEILL

Leinster Leader 25 May 1985

LATE MR. WILLIAM O’NEILL

The death took place in Portsmouth recently of Mr. William O’Neill, native of Naas.  The late Mr. O’Neill, who was a regular visitor to his native town during the Punchestown spring meeting, was a retired senior storeman with the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.  He was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, having joined the O’Duffy contingent to fight for Franco.  When the Second War broke out he joined the Royal Navy, and was stationed mostly in the Middle East.  He also saw action in Palestine when the Jewish State was being set up in the late 1940s, and he was awarded a medal at a ceremony in St. James Palace, London.  The funeral took place in Portsmouth.  The late Mr. O’Neill, who was unmarried, is survived by his sister Mrs. Eileen Higgins, Sarto Road, Naas; brother-in-law; nephews and nieces.