A dashing 2nd Lieutenant of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in a studio photo taken sometime between 1898 and 1902.
There is a good chance that this man was a certain Leigh Sadleir Stoney, made 2nd Lieutenant in March 1898 and later High Sheriff of Queens County in 1911. If he was indeed Lieutenant Stoney, then besides looking good in a uniform, he (sadly perpetuating the drunken Irish stereotype) apparently liked to get hammered, beat his wife, and get his way with women of dubious reputation. His wife, finally fed up, sued for divorce as published on the London Times of June 25th 1919:
“The parties were married on December 20, 1899 in the parish church of Seskinore, county Tyrone, according to the rites of the Church of Ireland, and they cohabited at Mullingar, in Dublin, and in other places in Ireland. There was the issue of the marriage one daughter, born on October 10, 1900. The petitioner alleged that her husband frequently, when under the influence of drink, swore at her and beat her, and that he had committed adultery with various women whose names were unknown. In June, 1918, the petitioner obtained a decree of divorce a mensa et thoro from the Matrimonial Court in Ireland on the ground of her husband's adultery and cruelty.”
The story this photo has to tell doesn’t end with Mr. Stoney, his uniform also has a few interesting factoids… and another drunken Irish:
The Royal Irish Fusiliers were one of only two British units allowed to use a two-piece collar badge: They had been Princess Victoria's own Regiment, and so wore a representation of her coronet (the silver crown). The other part was the fusiliers grenade with an Imperial French eagle mounted upon the ball, in commemoration of Sgt Masterson's (or Masterman, depending on the source) capture of an eagle at the Battle of Barrossa, fought during the Peninsular War by a British-Portuguese-Spanish Army against the Napoleonic French.
Legend says that Sgt Masterson was fighting drunk and at the moment of capture shouted: "Bajasus bhoys, oi have the cuckoo". Whether the remark his true or not is sadly lost to history. Later the eagle was stolen and never recovered, but the original staff is still today on display in the Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum in Armagh.
Note for colorizers: The crimson silk sash was worn by Army Officers over the left shoulder, sergeants and warrant officers wore (and still do) a scarlet sash over the right shoulder. After 1902, officers started wearing the crimson sash at the waist.
Credits: To fellow flickr members who took the time to discuss/research the b&w original (property of the National Library of Ireland) and provide the info displayed above and more.