Jim McGee

Jim McGee was born in Boyle, Roscommon and joined the Army in 1938 at the age of 15. He enlisted in the School of Music in 1941 and was transferred to Dublin where he was a member of the Army Number One Band at Cathal Brugha Barracks. Here he was a member of the Eastern Command basketball team and was selected in 1948 as a member of the Irish Olympic basketball team that competed in London.

He later moved to Athlone to become the head of the Western Command Band at Custume Barracks in 1951 where he remained for 30 years. McGee also served on a United Nations peacekeeping force for six months in Cyprus. He retired in 1988 at the rank of Colonel as director of the Irish Defence Forces School of Music and at the time had the longest tenure in the history of the Irish Defence Forces, having served for 50 years.