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This is my Croix de Lorraine and no, it was not awarded to me by the French Government. That would be the Légion d'honneur for which I am still waiting.
My gold Croix (above), excluding the pin, is exactly 1cm high. I can wear it relatively inconspicuously on the lapel of my jacket.
It has a certain sentimental value as I was given it at my first, and only, Gaullist Assises Nationales (Ardfheis) in Lille in November 1967.
I wore it recently to the inauguration of the cannon on Martello Tower No.14 (Seapoint) in the presence of the French Ambassador. I thought it sort of fitting. The Martello Towers were built by the British in 1804 to defend the Bay against an expected French invasion.
I wore it most recently to my talk on the restoration of Martello Tower No.7 (Killiney) but when I got home it was missing. I was quite upset and assumed it had slipped out of my lapel somewhere, but it was nowhere to be found.
The following day it turned up inside the pocket of my shirt. In Lourdes that would have been considered a miracle, in Dublin it was simply a mystery.
For the record, I should have said that St. Anthony had absolutely no hand or part in this whole affair.
ReplyDeleteHe was not asked. He did not volunteer. And no money changed hands.
:)