English: This is the procession for James MacNeill, newly sworn in Governor General of the Irish Free State. Our catalogue had this as Westmoreland Street, Dublin. I'd be happier that this is actually the head of the procession on O'Connell Street, having just passed over O'Connell Bridge. Would you agree?

This coverage from Thursday 2 February's Irish Independent outlines the ceremonial sequence: "Mr. James MacNeill was, yesterday, installed as Governor-General of the Saorstat in succession to Mr. T. M. Healy. The ceremony, which was dignified and impressive, took place at Leinster House in the presence of a distinguished gathering. The new Governor-General was sworn in by the Chief Justice, and after the ceremony he laid a wreath on the Griffith-Collins cenotaph in Leinster Lawn. His Excellency, accompanied by a cavalry escort, was then driven through the city to his official residence in the Phoenix Park."

In typical fashion (if you'll pardon the pun), the Irish Independent writer dismisses Mr. MacNeill's attire with two words: "morning dress", but we are treated to great detail on Mrs. MacNeill, who "wore a clipped lamb coat trimmed with fox fur and a brown felt hat to match the fur. Her dress was also brown, trimmed at the neck with soft yellow, and she wore shooes and stockings to match the dress."

The MacNeills had been staying at the Shelbourne Hotel and they left at 10.45 to drive to Leinster House. It must have been a very swift ceremony, as the Chief Justice administered the Oath at 11; they were crossing O'Connell Bridge at 11.28 (according to the clock in this photo) and the Irish Independent said they reached the Vice-Regal Lodge at 12.10.

Date: Wednesday, 1 February 1928

NLI Ref.: INDH823