Andrew Moynihan

Andrew Moynihan, VC (1 January 1830 – 18 May 1867) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Andrew Moynihan
Leandro Preziosi, Portrait of an officer in the 8th Regiment (possibly Captain Andrew Moynihan VC), Malta 1866-1867
Born1 January 1830
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Died18 May 1867 (aged 37)
Malta
Buried
Ta' Braxia Cemetery, Malta
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankCaptain
Unit90th Regiment of Foot
8th Regiment of Foot
Battles/warsCrimean War
Indian Mutiny
AwardsVictoria Cross
Médaille militaire (France)
RelationsBerkeley Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan (son)

Background

He was born in the Saw Yard, Wakefield, Yorkshire on 1 January 1830, the son of Malachi and Ann (née Scott) and was Baptised at the Catholic Church of St Austin in Wakefield on 14 March 1830.[1][2] Andrew Moynihan married Ellen Anne (née Parkin) in 1853 in Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire.[3] The widowed Ellen Moynihan returned to Yorkshire after the death of her husband and settled in Leeds where she raised her son and two daughters.[4]

Military career

Moynihan joined the British Army aged 17.[5] He was a 25-year-old sergeant in the 90th Foot, British Army during the Crimean War when his gallant action took place on 8 September 1855 at Sebastopol.[6] Sergeant Moynihan, who was with the storming party at the assault on the Redan in the Crimea, personally encountered and killed five Russians, and while under heavy fire also rescued a wounded officer from near the Redan.[7]

Moynihan served in India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and in the Oudh Campaign of 1858-59. He was promoted to sergeant major and in 1856 was commissioned into the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot. He was promoted lieutenant the following year and captain in 1863.[8] Captain Moynihan disembarked with the 1st Battalion the 8th Regiment of Foot in Malta from Kingstown, Ireland on 20 Mar 1866; he would die on the island a little over a year later.[9]

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Cameronians Regimental Museum in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland.[10]

Death

He died in Floriana after contracting Malta Fever, caused by drinking unsterilised goat's milk.[11] He is buried in Ta' Braxia Cemetery, near Valletta.[12]

Notable Relatives

His son became a prominent surgeon being raised to the peerage as Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan.[13]

References
  1. "Andrew Moynihan VC". www.vconline.org.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  2. "The heroism of Captain Andrew Moynihan". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915, Lancashire, 1853, Vol 8d, Page832
  4. "Save Moynihan House". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. "A Tribute to Andrew Moynihan VC". Tameside Blue Plaques. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. "The Cameronians - Scottish Rifles - Victoria Cross Holders". cameronians.org. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  7. "No. 21971". The London Gazette. 24 February 1857. p. 657.
  8. "New annual army list, and militia list 1867". digital.nls.uk. Hart's Army Lists. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  9. "The 8th (The King's Regiment)". www.maltaramc.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  10. Brazier, Kevin (2015). The Complete Victoria Cross: A Full Chronological Record of All Holders of Britain's Highest Award for Gallantry. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4738-7206-6. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  11. Sreenevasan, G (June 1990). "Urinary stones in Malaysia - its incidence and management" (PDF). Medical Journal of Malaysia. 45 (2): 92–112. PMID 2152025. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  12. "ANDREW MOYNIHAN VC". www.victoriacross.org.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  13. "Moynihan, Sir Berkeley George Andrew, Lord Moynihan of Leeds (1865 - 1936)". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2020.

See also
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