Saint Patrick’s, Soho Square, was first built for poor Irish Catholics living in squalid slums in London

Saint Patrick’s Church on Soho Square is one of the oldest post-Reformation Catholic parish churches in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Patrick Comerford

As I was walking around Soho Square recently, in search of Soho’s Jewish history and of local architectural landmarks, I also visited the two churches on the square: Saint Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church and the French Protestant Church.

Saint Patrick’s on Soho Square is one of the oldest post-Reformation Catholic parishes in London, and the original church on the site was the first Catholic place of worship to open in London after the Roman Catholic Relief Acts were passed in 1778 and 1791 and the first post-Reformation church in England dedicated to Saint Patrick.

The first church on the site was in a building behind Carlisle House and was consecrated in 1792. The present church, built in 1891-1893, is a Grade II* listed building designed by the Leeds architect John Kelly.

Inside Saint Patrick’s Church, Soho Square, designed by the Leeds architect John Kelly and built in 1891-1893 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Catholic martyrs on their way to execution at Tyburn in the 16th and 17th centuries, were given their last drink in Saint Giles’s and were buried in the churchyard of Saint Giles-in-the-Fields. The last of these martyrs, Saint Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, was executed at Tyburn in 1681.

Several embassies were in Soho in the 18th century, and they had private chapels where Catholics attended Mass. The French Embassy and chapel were in Greek Street in the 1730s; the Neapolitan Embassy and chapel were at 13 Soho Square for a time; and 21 Soho Square housed the Spanish Embassy and chapel in the 1770s, although it later became the White House, an unsavoury hotel and high-class brothel.

Carlisle House was built in 1690 as the town house of the Earl of Carlisle. It was leased in the 1760s by Teresa Cornelys, a Venetian adventuress and sometime opera singer, whose former lovers included Casanova. The house was a venue for masquerade balls, operas and recitals until she was fined for staging operas without a licence. The old mansion was demolished in 1788 and two houses, 21a and 21b Soho Square, were built on the site.

The number of Catholics living in the area rose significantly in the 18th century, with thousands of Irish immigrants living around the Rookery, a squalid slum on the edge of Soho often called ‘Little Ireland’ or ‘Little Dublin’. In response to their plight, the Confraternity of Saint Patrick was founded in October 1791 by a group of prosperous Irish Catholics who wanted to acquire Carlisle House and convert it into a chapel.

The monument to Father Arthur O’Leary in Saint Patrick’s Church, Soho Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Father Arthur O’Leary (1729-1802), a celebrated Irish Capuchin preacher and controversialist who was staying at Wardour Street, raised the funds to lease Carlisle House. He was born in Fanlobbus, Dunmanway, Co Cork. He was educated by the Capuchins in Saint Malo, where he was ordained and spent 24 years as a prison chaplain. He returned to Cork in 1777 and his preaching soon attracted large numbers. He played a key role in the ‘Paper War’, arguing for Catholic Emancipation, and later supported the Act of Union as a means to Catholic emancipation.

Father O’Leary moved to London and he was a chaplain at the Spanish Embassy from 1789 until he died. His social circle included Edmund Burke, Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Charles James Fox.

O’Leary acquired a 62-year lease on the property on Soho Square, and the chapel was solemnly opened on 29 September 1792. Bishop John Douglass (1743-1812) presided at the Mass and Father O’Leary preached the sermon.

A statue of Saint Patrick in Saint Patrick’s Church, Soho Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Father Daniel Gaffey became the chaplain of the new church, but for many years it continued to be known as ‘Father O’Leary’s Chapel’. Its fittings included a painting of the Crucifixion by Van Dyck or a pupil. The organ was built by Robert and William Gray in 1793 and the early organists included Vincent Novello, the musician, composer and music publisher.

When Pope Pius VI died in captivity in France in 1799 a prisoner of Napoleon, the papal envoy in London, Cardinal Charles Erskine (1739-1811), chose Saint Patrick’s for the official papal requiem. The Mass began at 10 in the morning and finished at 3:30 in the afternoon, with Father O’Leary preaching. O’Leary died a few years later in January 1802, aged 72, and was buried in Old Saint Pancras Churchyard.

The most densely crowded part of Saint Giles’s Rookery was demolished in the 1840s to make way for New Oxford Street. The number of very poor Catholics then numbered about 10,000 people. Most lived in the part of the Rookery that remained, south of New Oxford Street around Church Lane, until this too was demolished later in the 19th century.

The High Altar and sanctuary in Saint Patrick’s Church, Soho Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The original Saint Patrick’s Chapel was in an unsafe conditions when it was demolished in 1889. The present church, designed by John Kelly of Leeds, was built on the site in 1891-1893.

John Kelly (1840-1904) and Edward Birchall (1839-1903) were partners in Kelly and Birchall, an architectural practice in Leeds from 1886 to 1904, specialising in churches in the Italianate and Gothic Revival styles. Kelly’s other churches include Saint Alban and Saint Stephen in St Albans, Hertfordshire (1903).

Kelly made the fullest use of the available space on a narrow site as he skilfully planned the interior, and his church transformed the site.

The church was built in the Italian Renaissance style with small-gauge dark red brick, with rubbed brick detail. It has a west campanile tower, vestibule, antechapel, aisled, apsidal sanctuary and south chapel. The main entrance has a Roman-style porch with Corinthian columns. Above the entrance is the inscription: Ut Christiani ita et Romani sitis (‘Be ye Christians as those of the Roman Church’), a quotation from the writings of Saint Patrick.

Inside Saint Patrick’s Church, Soho Square, facing the west end (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The main entrance has a portico in Portland stone, with Corinthian columns and pilasters, and the Papal tiara and keys set into the pediment. This forms the base of the imposing 125 ft high campanile that rises in arcaded stages. A niche in the tower has a statue of Saint Patrick by Boulton and Sons.

The tower, the main body of the church and the narthex are built in red brick. A blind arcade forms the north wall of the nave along Sutton Street (now Sutton Row) with a clerestory and another blind arcade above. The octagonal vestibule at the bottom of the campanile, and the antechapel beyond it, occupy the entire width of the old presbytery.

Inside, the church has an elegant, light and airy nave without aisles. The round-headed arches are separated by tall Corinthian pilasters that form shallow recesses along the sides. These bays accommodate a series of side chapels, shrines and the confessionals.

A plain-glassed clerestory runs along the north and south sides of the nave and along the west end wall over the gallery, and the west wall has a large, round window. The barrel-vaulted ceiling is coffered. The nave ends in an apsidal sanctuary, the two separated by marble altar rails with intricately carved, pierced panels.

The Baptistry in Saint Patrick’s Church, Soho Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The high altar is built of white marble with amber marble panels. The two tiers of the apse wall, above and below the cornice, are ornamented with Corinthian pilasters. The arch and domed ceiling of the sanctuary are ribbed and panelled, in the same manner as the nave.

The iron and brass tabernacle from the old chapel was adapted to the new high altar. The Gray organ had been rebuilt by Hill in 1882 and was installed on the left of the sanctuary.

The Stations of the Cross from the old chapel were re-erected in the nave. The former high altar was used in Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel, with the altarpiece of the Crucifixion. Phyffers’s Pietà and the Mater Dolorosa attributed to Dolci were in the same chapel, along with a relic of Saint Oliver Plunkett.

The elaborate, neo-Renaissance Carrara marble altar in Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel, at the west end of the nave on the south side, was donated to the church in 1892.

The 18th-century Carrara marble Pietà in the vestibule (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The 18th-century Carrara marble Pietà in the vestibule features an angel holding the body of Christ. A large mural memorial commemorating Father O’Leary, with his portrait carved in relief, was re-erected in the antechapel on the right. I also noticed a copy of Murillo’s ‘Mater Dolorosa’ at the back of the church, below the gallery.

The church holds several old pre-Reformation vestments, including chasubles once used in the private chapel of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. Their original embroidery and orphreys have been restored and, 500 years later, they are still worn on special occasions.

During the Blitz, a German bomb penetrated the church roof on 19 November 1940, struck a pier on the south side of the nave and hit the floor, but failed to detonate.

A copy of Murillo’s ‘Mater Dolorosa’ at the back of the church, below the gallery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Many alterations have been made to Kelly’s church since it was built. The old Stations of the Cross were replaced by ones in cast relief, the former high altar was moved to the Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel, and the altar to Saint Anthony of Padua in the antechapel dates from the 1920s.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the first Catholic television evangelist, was a regular preacher in Saint Patrick’s from the 1920s to the 1960s. He once described himself as the ‘unappointed curate of the Parish’ and often stayed in the parish house.

In the 1960s, in response to the reforms following the Second Vatican Council, the high altar was adapted from the mensa of the original and brought forward to a lower position, leaving the reredos in situ.

Saint Patrick’s Church was renovated and refurbished at a cost of £4 million in 2010-2011. During the renovations, Mass was celebrated nearby in the Chapel of Saint Barnabas, at the House of Saint Barnabas.

Today, only a handful of resident Catholics remains in the parish. Hundreds of people continue to attend Saint Patrick’s Church, but they are mostly visitors, tourists and people working in the area. The church continues to attract immigrants and migrant workers from across London, and Mass is regularly celebrated in both Spanish and Portuguese.

Looking out on Soho Square from Saint Patrick’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

A manor house, a twisted chimney and the influential Prebendaries of Buckingham

The Manor House on Church Street, Buckingham and the adjoining and curiously named Twisted Chimney House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Three houses near the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Buckingham show the extensive power, prestige, influence and wealth of the church in the 16th century: the Manor House on Church Street, the adjoining and curiously named Twisted Chimney House, and Prebend House on Hunter Street.

The Manor House on Church Street was built in the early 16th century. The house has been altered from the 17th to the 20th century and is now divided into two houses, the Manor House and Twisted Chimney House.

The building was the manor house of the Prebendal Manor of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, one of the best-endowed prebends in Lincoln Cathedral, and with the largest corps of any prebend in pre-Reformation in England, including properties across Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.

The manor was held by successive Prebendaries of Sutton-cum-Buckingham. In the Middle Ages they included at least five cardinals, including: Neapoli Sancti Adriani (1303-1314); John de Albanum (1378-1381), later Dean of York; Perun de Sancti Georgii (1388); Cardinal Henry Beaufort (1389), grandson of Edward III and later Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor of England; and Henry (1389), a cardinal of Naples and Archdeacon of Canterbury.

Later prebendaries included Robert Gilbert (1420-1436), later Bishop of London, and William Ascough (1436-1438), later Bishop of Salisbury.

Evidence for dating this house is found in the large original stone fireplace, with its deep hollow-chamfered Tudor-arched opening with foliage to the spandrels, and a frieze above with Tudor roses in quatrefoils alternating with heraldic shields. One of these shield bears three rings, believed to be the coat of arms of Richard Lavender, Prebendary of Buckingham in 1481-1507 and Archdeacon of Leicester.

The house remained the manor house of these prebendaries until the Dissolution, when Richard Cox (1542-1547), the last Prebendary of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, surrendered the prebend and manor in 1547 to the crown. Cox was also Dean of Christ Church Oxford (1543-1553), Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1547–1552), Dean of Westminster Abbey (1549-1553), and Bishop of Ely (1559-1583).

After the Tudor Reformation, the house passed into private hands and local lore says Queen Elizabeth I dined here in August 1568 when she was visiting Buckingham.

The house was used as a school at some time in the 18th century.

Manor House was at the centre of the Prebendal Manor of Sutton-cum-Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Manor House is a timber-framed house with brick infill, a plain-tile roof and brick lateral stacks. The hall range is flanked by two cross wings, and the left cross wing has been separated from the main house and is now known as Twisted Chimney House, noted for its distinctive red-brick chimney, artfully crafted into a wonderful helix shape.

The interesting architectural features of this house include a six-panel door with a moulded wood surround and straight hood on scrolled brackets; leaded casement windows; leaded wood mullion and transom windows; a cat-slide roof; and large brick stacks. The first floor was probably originally jettied.

Inside, the ground floor hall has been divided in two, with a stone-flagged floor and chamfered cross beam ceiling with broach stops. The large, early mid-18th century wood chimneypiece in the inner room has egg-and-dart ornament on the fireplace surround, a central lion’s mask and foliage sprays on the frieze.

The drawing room has a Tudor-arched oak doorway to the hall with quatrefoil and foliage to the spandrels in a square panelled timber-framed partition wall. The dog-leg stair has widely spaced turned balusters and the first floor has struts from the posts to tie beams.

On the façade of the Manor House, a plaque showing a cherubic-like infant recalls the legend that has survived of Saint Rumbold.

Twisted Chimney House has a distinctive red-brick chimney, crafted into a helix shape (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Twisted Chimney House or the left cross wing projects considerably at the front and has large arch braces from the end posts to a cambered tie beam, and sash windows, and a two-storey, possible former stair turret at the back of this wing. The large projecting stone lateral stack has a fine original barley-sugar twist brick flue, with an additional 18th century square brick flue behind.

Inside, Twisted Chimney House has a chamfered cross beam ceiling on the ground floor, stone-flagged floors in the hall and kitchen and a rebuilt stair with turned balusters. The three-bay roof has curved braces to the tie beams, queen posts to the collars and one tier of wind-braced purlins. The rear first first-floor room has part of original Tudor-arched fireplace with hollow-chamfer innermost and wave-moulding outermost.

The twisted chimney looks for all the world like a red-brick corkscrew.

The large projecting stone lateral stack has a fine original barley-sugar twist brick flue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Prebendaries of Sutton-cum-Buckingham in Lincoln Cathedral also gave their name to Prebend House on Hunter Street, although the first clear evidence of Prebend House is in John Speed’s map of Buckingham in 1610.

The name Prebend or Prebendary is given to many buildings in this part of Buckinghamshire and John Speed’s map shows a large house, Prebend End Manor, on the site of the Island Car Park.

Like other houses on Hunter Street in the 17th century, Prebend House was probably occupied by a tanner and Speed’s map shows tanning pits in the gardens between the house and the river. The preparation of leather was then an important industry in Buckingham and much of it was sent to Northampton, which became the most important centre for boot and shoe making in England.

Prebend House was remodelled in the early 19th century to give it a more modern and fashionable exterior. Some elegant panelling was installed in ground floor and first floor rooms, although vandals have destroyed this in recent years.

AC Rogers, a prominent figure in the town and several times mayor, lived at Prebend House in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was an agricultural merchant and a breeder of champion shire horses, and his business took up many of the buildings on Hunter Street.

Rogers was a supporter of the Temperance Movement and welcomed the Salvation Army of Buckingham. The founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, a regular guest of Rogers at Prebend House.

The University of Buckingham commissioned the restoration of Prebend House in 2010. Removing single- and two-storey additions to the south and north, highlighting the original proportions of this listed building with its imposing stucco classical façade, and stabilising the building.

As for Bishop Richard Cox, the last Prebendary of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, one of his grandsons, Richard Cox, moved to Ireland ca 1600, and was the ancestor of the Cox baronets of Dunmanway, Co Cork.

The Prebendaries of Sutton-cum-Buckingham gave their name to Prebend House on Hunter Street, although the house first appears in 1610 on John Speed’s map of Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The many claimants to the Cox title in Co Cork: fact, fantasy or fiction?

Dunmanway, Co Cork … at the heart of the estates once owned by the Cox family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In recent weeks I have written about impoverished and eccentric baronets, claimants to peerages, baronets whose claims to family titles were bogus, the peculiar titles claimed by clergy, from baronet to count and Irish chieftain, and the tangled trees of the Wolseley, Fitzgibbon and Dillon families.

One of the most curious claims was made by the Revd George William Cox (1827-1902), an Anglican priest, classical scholar and historian who assumed the title of baronet first given to the Cox family of Dunmanway, Co Cork, in 1706.

Was George William Cox deceiving himself? Was he deceived by his uncle and father? Was he trying to deceive polite society? Or was he a real baronet? And why did and the many other claimants to this Irish title fail to convince the legal authorities?

The first holder of the title was Sir Richard Cox (1650-1733), an Irish lawyer and judge who was born in Bandon, Co Cork. He was a direct descendant of Richard Cox, Bishop of Ely (1559-1581) and Chancellor of Oxford (1547-1552), who died in 1581. The Cox family arrived in Ireland from Wiltshire about 1600, and they were dispossessed during the Irish Rebellion of 1641.

Richard Cox, the future judge, was orphaned by the age of three, and was raised in Co Cork by his maternal grandparents and his uncle John Bird. He went to school in Clonakilty, and then by his own account he spent ‘three years idling’ before going to England to study law.

He was apprenticed in the manorial courts of the Earl of Cork, built up a lucrative legal practice, became Recorder of Kinsale, and acquired an estate at Clonakilty ca 1687. But he lost his post in Kinsale when James II became king. He moved to Bristol, where he practiced as a barrister. There he got to know the Irish-born diplomat Sir Robert Southwell (1635-1702), kinsman of Sir Thomas Southwell of Rathkeale, Co Limerick, who introduced him to the Duke of Ormonde, who became his patron.

Cox returned to Ireland, and after the Battle of the Boyne he was knighted by William III in 1692 and became a baronet in 1706. He became Recorder of Waterford, second justice of the Court of Common Pleas, military governor of Cork, and a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.

But Cox was dismissed from the Privy Council in 1695 for denouncing the failures to honour the terms of the Treaty of Limerick and respecting offers made to the defeated Jacobites. It was a temporary setback, and in 1701 he became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1701-1703), he was reappointed to the Privy Council, and became Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1703-1707) and then Lord Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench (1711-1714). He escaped impeachment when his great patron Ormonde defected to the Jacobite cause in 1715 and fled to France.

He spent his later years improving the town of Dunmanway. He obtained a royal charter to hold fairs and market days in the town, and did much to encourage the local flax industry.

He lived 20 years in retirement before his death, from apoplexy, in the Great Hall of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, on 3 May 1733.

Sir Richard Cox died at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, in 1733 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Cox and his wife Mary Bourne had numerous children. He mentions 21, although only 15 can be identified with certainty. Some of these children died in infancy, and of those who reached adulthood, the eldest son, also Richard, predeceased his father.

A younger son, Michael Cox (1691-1779), was the Rector of Callan, Co Kilkenny, Bishop of Ossory (1743-1754) and Archbishop of Cashel (1754-1779). He is remembered for building Castletown Cox, a magnificent Palladian mansion near Carrick-on-Suir.

When Cox died in 1733, his title and his Dunmanway estates were inherited as second baronet by his grandson Sir Richard Cox (1702-1766). He was a son of Richard Cox, a former MP for Tallaght, who married Catherine Evans of Bulgaden Hall, near Kilmallock, Co Limerick, sister of George Evans, 1st Lord Carberry.

This Sir Richard Cox was educated at Oxford University, and was Sheriff of Cork City in 1742. His son and successor, the Ven Sir Michael Cox (1730-1772), was Archdeacon of Cashel (1767-1772) while his uncle was the Archbishop of Cashel.

Archdeacon Michael Cox was educated at Trinity College Dublin and married the widowed Elizabeth Arthur from Limerick, daughter of Hugh Massy, 1st Baron Massy.

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Patrick’s Rock in Cashel … the third baronet was Archdeacon of Cashel while his uncle was Archbishop of Cashel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Archdeacon Cox was the father of Sir Richard Cox, the 4th Baronet. He married Mary O’Brien, a great-granddaughter of William O’Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin. He died on 17 September 1783 when he drowned accidentally in Dunmanway. His widow remarried William Saurin, the Attorney General for Ireland, and died in 1840.

The title was eventually claimed by Archbishop Cox’s descendants. Sir Richard Cox, the eighth baronet and sheriff of Kilkenny, was a great-grandson of Archbishop Cox.

Following his death in 1838, however, the later history of this title is obscure and difficult to trace because of tangled family trees. In not one instance did the title descend to an eldest son, and in only two instances – the third and fourth baronets – did it ever descend to a son at all. In all other cases, the title passed to brothers or cousins.

The ninth baronet, Sir Francis Cox (1769-1856), was succeeded by his nephew, Sir Ralph Hawtrey Cox (1808-1872), the son of the Revd Richard Cox, said to be the Rector of Caherconlish, Co Limerick, although he is not listed in the diocesan clergy succession lists. Sir Ralph was born in Caherconlish, lived in Borrisokane, and died in Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire).

The eleventh baronet, Sir Michael Francis Hawtrey Cox (1810-1872), was young when he fell from a horse, and it was said he was ‘out of his mind’ for the rest of his life. He succeeded to the title on 12 April 1872 but died in Kilkenny two months later, on 15 June 1872.

The twelfth baronet, Sir Francis Hawtrey Cox (1816-1873), enjoyed the title for just over a year. When he died on 17 April 1873, there were questions about his brother William Saurin Cox: was he, perhaps, an elder brother rather than a younger brother? Was he still alive? Did he become the 13th baronet? Did he have a son who might inherit the title?

The Ulster Office of Arms, the Irish genealogical authority based in Dublin Castle, regarded the title as extinct from 1873. But there was another claimant to the title: Colonel Edmund Cox in Canada claimed he was the 14th baronet, while Lieutenant-General John Hamilton Cox CB, the son of Major-General William Cox, claimed he was a first cousin of Sir Francis Hawtrey Cox and the 13th baronet.

Colonel Edmund Cox, a former officer in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, was living in Canada. He claimed William Saurin Cox had survived, had succeeded to the title, and that the title then devolved on him in 1873, although he only started using it 1876, and died a year later in 1877.

When he died, his claims passed to his nephew, the Revd George William Cox, who became the most persistent of these claimants or soi-disant baronets.

Holy Trinity Cathedral, Gibraltar … George William Cox was the Anglican chaplain in Gibraltar in 1851-1853 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Revd George William Cox was born at Benares on 10 January 1827, the eldest of six children of Captain George Hamilton Cox (died 1841), of the East India Company. A younger brother, Colonel Edmund Henry Cox, fired the first shot against Sevastopol in the Crimean war.

George was sent to England at the age of nine in 1836, and was admitted to Rugby in 1842 under Archibald Tait, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He then studied classics in Trinity College Oxford, graduating BA and proceeding MA in 1859.

At first, Cox was sympathetic to the Oxford Movement, and in 1850 he was ordained by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of Oxford. He was a curate at Salcombe Regis, and in 1851 became the English chaplain in Gibraltar. However, Bishop George Tomlinson of Gibraltar did not approve of his High Church views, and Cox left for South Africa with John William Colenso, who became Bishop of Natal in 1853.

On his return to England in 1854, Cox became curate of Saint Paul’s, Exeter, then spent a year (1859-1860) as a teacher in Cheltenham (1859-1860). Meanwhile, his religious principles completely changed, largely under the influence of historical study. In January 1858, he published a paper in the Edinburgh Review on Milman’s History of Latin Christianity that illustrates the development of his views on Broad Church lines.

Cox supported Colenso’s views on biblical criticism and his struggle over his episcopal status in South Africa. He defended Colenso in a long correspondence with FD Maurice, and warmly supported Colenso when he was back in England (1863-1865).

When Colonel Edmund Cox died in 1877, Cox claimed to succeed him in the title of baronet in the Cox family of Dunmanway, and started using the titular prefix, calling himself the Revd Sir George William Cox.

Cox was appointed Vicar of Bekesbourne by Archbishop Tait of Canterbury, in 1880, and from 1881 to 1897, he was rector of the crown living of Scrayingham, Yorkshire. He was chosen as Bishop of Natal in 1886 by Colenso’s followers, but Archbishop Benson refused to consecrate him because his election was unacceptable to the High Church party.

Cox’s friendship with Colenso provided material for The Life of Bishop John William Colenso, DD, Bishop of Natal, which he published as Sir GW Cox in 1888. That year, he also published a short vindication of Colenso’s views in The Church of England and the Teaching of Bishop Colenso.

He received a civil list pension of £120 in 1896, and died at Ivy House, Walmer, on 9 February 1902. His ashes were buried after cremation at Long Cross, Chertsey. Cox married Emily Maria Stirling in 1850. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters.

Cox’s other work includes studies of mythology, and histories of the Greeks and Persians, the Crusades, British India, and a book of ‘family prayer’ based on Jeremy Taylor and other 17th century divines. But many of his works were popular in character, and the most important, the History of Greece, is now regarded as having little value.

However, his two-volume biography is the most valuable source for the life of Colenso and includes a large number of letters from the bishop. A new edition was published by the Cambridge University Press in 2011.

George William Cox published a two-volume biography of Bishop Colenso

When George William Cox died in 1902, his eldest surviving son, Edmund Charles Cox, was the district superintendent of police at Poona. He too claimed the right to the title of baronet and petitioned the committee of the Privy Council for recognition as the next Dunmanway baronet.

However, his petition was opposed by Major John Hawtrey Reginald Cox, who claimed not only that he was the rightful baronet, but that he was in fact descended from the eldest son of the first baronet’s third wife.

The petition by Edmund Charles Cox to the title was disallowed by the Privy Council on 9 November 1911, and attention now turned to the claims of Major John Hawtrey Reginald Cox, published in five volumes as Claim of JHR Cox to the Baronetcy of Cox of Dunmanway, Co Cork (London, 1912-1914).

Major John Hawtrey Reginald Cox of the 13th Middlesex Regiment was born in Co Laois, a son of General John Hamilton Cox who died in 1887. His claims to the title were examined in detail in The Weekly Irish Times on 13 March 1915 after his petition was rejected by the Privy Council on Baronetcies.

Major Cox had presented his claim in November 1912 to the Ulster King-of-Arms, who in turn passed it to the Home Secretary, asking him to place his name on the official roll of baronets. The petition was then referred to the Privy Council on 21 September 1914.

Major Cox pointed out that when the seventh baronet, Sir George Matthias Cox, died in 1838, the elder line of the first baronet died out. But, he argued, the title had ‘descended in error’ to the male descendants of Archbishop Michael Cox, Archbishop of Cashel, until the death of Francis Hawtrey Cox in 1873.

Major Cox now claimed that his great grandfather, John Cox, was a son of Richard Cox, the eldest son of Sir Richard Cox, the first baronet, and his third wife Elinor Jeffreys. He argued that the title should have descended to John Cox’s eldest son, Thomas Cox, in 1838, and then to his brother, General William Cox, in 1853, and afterwards to William’s son, Major-General John Cox CB, in 1857, instead of passing to the descendants of the Archbishop Michael Cox.

He claimed General William Cox never claimed the title, but allowed Richard Cox, of Castletown, to assume the title as the eighth baronet, as he was the son of the general’s guardian and ‘greatest friend,’ Michael Cox, who had brought him up at Castletown.

These were extraordinary claims, and the Ulster Office seems to have wondered why General John Cox made no objection to Dr Michael or Captain Francis Hawtrey, his first cousins, assuming the title.

Major Cox failed to prove the legitimacy of William Cox, and could not produce the marriage certificate of William Cox’s parents. He said they married at a date before marriage registers existed, but he could not say when or where they married.

‘In the end,’ The Weekly Irish Times reported, ‘all of the petitioner’s arguments were in vain.’ The committee of the Privy Council agreed ‘that the name of the petitioner ought not to be entered on the official roll of the baronetcies.’

The first baronet fathered 21 children, and at least 15 of them survived. Undoubtedly, he has many male descendants who are still living today. But the tangled family trees, woven by the many claimants to the title over 100 to 150 years ago, make it unlikely that any successful claimant is ever going to emerge again.

A portrait of Archbishop Michael Cox in the Bishop’s House, Kilkenny … did his descendants usurp the family’s title of baronet? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

(Updated 13 November 2023, with typographical corrections)

Four brothers from Co Cork who made their name on the ground and in the air

The Market Square, Dunmanway, Co Cork … the home town of the Beamish brothers and Sam Maguire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

Throughout Ireland this year, we have been remembering those killed in both the Easter Rising in 1916 and those killed in some of the major battles during World War I 100 years ago.

Many of the commemorations tried to strike a note of balance and to avoid, which may help to shape a more balanced approach to the Remembrance Day commemorations later this month [13 November 2016]. But in some parts of Ireland there may be reluctance to recall the Irish men and women who played key roles in World War II.

In Crete a few months ago, I was reminded of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Crete and of the role played by Sir George Beamish from Dunmanway, Co Cork, who was the senior RAF officer on Crete during that battle in May 1941.

In an unexpected coincidence, I was also in Dunmanway in May 2016, and I realised the unique contribution of the four Beamish brothers – Victor, George Charles and Cecil – who were accomplished sportsmen and who had distinguished careers in the Royal Air Force.

These four Beamish brothers were the sons of Francis George Beamish and Mary Elizabeth Beamish of Dunmanway.

Saint Mary’s Church, Dunmanway, where the Beamish brothers and Sam Maguire were baptised (Photograph: Panormio/Corkperson)

The Beamish family has lived in that part of Co Cork from before 1688. Francis George Beamish was appointed the principal of the Model School in Dunmanway in 1903. One of the most famous pupils there was the Irish republican, Sam Maguire (1877-1927). Like the Beamish brothers, Sam Maguire was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but had left the Model School by the time the Beamish family arrived.

The Model School in Dunmanway, where Francis George Beamish was the principal and Sam Maguire went to school (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Sam Maguire is said to have recruited Michael Collins into the IRB while they were both working in the post office in London. He later took the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War, and lost his post in the Civil Service. The GAA gave his name to the All-Ireland Football Cup.

Meanwhile, Frank Beamish left Dunmanway in 1912, becoming a school inspector, first in Dublin, then in Co Derry (1914) and finally in Co Antrim.

Battle of Britain ace

Wing Commander FV Beamish (right), with Squadron Leader EM Donaldson after a combat over Dunkirk on 30 June 1940

The eldest of these four brothers, Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish (1903-1942), was an RAF fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. Victor was born in the headmaster’s residence at the Model School in Dunmanway on 27 September 1903. He attended Coleraine Academical Institution and then entered the RAF in 1921.

During his pre-war career in the RAF in India and as a flight instructor in England, Victor played rugby for Harlequins, Leicester, Hampshire, the RAF and Irish Trials for several years. When he was admitted to hospital with TB in 1933, it seemed his RAF career had come to an end. He resigned his commission and in 1936, he moved to a civilian post at RAF Aldergrove, near Belfast. When his health recovered later, he returned to Aldergrove and became an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor of Northern Ireland.

Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish (1903-1942)

At the outbreak of World War II, after a short time in Canada, Victor returned to England and became a Wing Commander. As a fighter pilot, he quickly claimed up to a dozen German Messerschmitts and many other German and Italian planes. During the Battle of Britain, from 10 July to 31 October 1940, he claimed at least 12 German planes and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

However, on 7 November 1940, while he was on patrol, Victor collided with another RAF plane and made a forced-landing at Leeds Castle in Kent. By March 1941, he was unable to fly regularly but he still flew occasionally over occupied Europe and received a Bar to the DSO that September.

Victor and Wing Commander RF Boyd were on a reconnaissance flight on 12 February 1942, when they sighted the German Fleet making its ‘Channel Dash.’ Then on 28 March 1942, Victor sighted a German formation just south of Calais. In the battle that followed, he was attacked and was last seen entering a cloud near Calais. He was 38.

Hero of the Battle of Crete

Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish (1905-1967)

The second brother, Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish (1905-1967), was a senior RAF commander until his retirement in the late 1950s. Before World War II, George too was a keen rugby player, playing for Leicester and he was capped 26 times for Ireland. In 1930, he was selected for the Lions tour.

George Beamish was born in Dunmanway on 29 April 1905. He went to school in Coleraine before joining the RAF, and he was commissioned in 1924. Later he became a Flight Commander, and then a Squadron Leader, and in 1939, he was posted to the Middle East.

On 17 May 1941, he was appointed senior RAF officer on Crete, overseeing the arrival of units being withdrawn from mainland Greece. However, following the German invasion of Crete later that month, this action turned into the defence of the island.

When Crete fell, George ordered the RAF squadrons to withdraw to Egypt, but he remained on Crete with General Bernard Freyberg. Both men eventually escaped from Crete in late May 1941, and he spent the rest of World War II in North Africa.

After the war, George held senior positions in the RAF and was knighted (KCB) in 1955. He retired back to Ireland in 1958, and in 1962 he was appointed High Sheriff of Co Derry.

George Beamish won his first international cap for Ireland in 1925 at the age of 19, playing in the Home Nations Championship in a 6-6 draw against England. At the time, he was playing for Coleraine at club level. He played in the remaining games of the tournament, with a home loss to Scotland and an impressive 19-3 win over Wales. Later, when he was playing club rugby for Leicester, George was invited to play for the Barbarians.

The green of Ireland

In 1928, nearly three years after his last international game, George was recalled to the Ireland team, and he was seldom out of the Irish squad from 1928 to 1933. In 1930, he was selected for the Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. He played in all five Tests and 17 of the regional matches, scoring two tries.

After the tour, George returned to the Ireland squad for the 1931 Championship, playing in all four games. He was the captain of the Ireland team against the touring South African team in Dublin in 1931. He remained captain for the 1932 Home Nations Championship, and led Ireland to the first Championship win for 20 years.

The 1933 championship was his last for Ireland, playing in all three games and as captain of the team that defeated Wales. George also played club rugby for London Irish and was captain of the RAF rugby side.

George was responsible for getting the green of Ireland represented in the kit worn by the Lions. During the 1930 tour of New Zealand, the Lions wore their then standard blue jerseys. But this caused controversy because New Zealand, by then known as the ‘All Blacks,’ played in an all-black kit that clashed with the blue. New Zealand changed for the Tests, and for the first time the ‘All Blacks’ became the ‘All Whites.’

George also led a delegation that complained that the blue of Scotland, white of England and red of Wales was represented in the strip without the green of Ireland. A green flash was added to the socks, and in 1938 this became the green turnover that has been part of the strip ever since.

He died on 13 November 1967 in Castlerock, near Coleraine, Co Derry.

Pilot and prop

Group Captain Charles Eric St John Beamish (1908-1984)

The third Beamish brother, Group Captain Charles Eric St John Beamish (1908-1984), was also an Irish rugby international and an RAF pilot in World War II. He gained 12 caps for Ireland as a prop forward and also played for the Lions in the 1936 tour of Argentina.

Charles Beamish was born in Dunmanway on 28 June 1908. He played his first international match for Ireland against Wales in the 1933 Home Nations Championship. He was then playing at club level for North of Ireland FC, and when he joined the Ireland squad he came in at prop, with his elder brother George at No 8 and team captain. Ireland won 10-5, and Charles was re-selected for the final match of the tournament against Scotland in April. By then, he had switched clubs to Harlequins.

Although missing the opening and losing game against England, Charles was back in the Ireland squad for the second game of the 1934 Championship, playing against Scotland. By then, he was playing with his brother George for Leicester. Charles also played against Wales in the final game in 1934. It was a poor year for Ireland, which finished bottom of the table without a win. In 1934-1935, he toured with the Barbarians, and he played nine matches with them in 1934-1938.

In the 1935 Championship, Charles Beamish played for Ireland in all three matches, and despite a bad loss against England in the opening game, victories over Scotland and Wales secured the title for Ireland. Later that year, when played against the touring New Zealand team in Ireland, he scored his only international try, although it was not enough to stop the All Blacks. In 1936, he toured Argentina with the Lions.

Charles also retired to Northern Ireland, and he died in Templemore, Co Antrim, on 18 May 1984, at the age of 75.

The golfing dentist

Air Vice Marshal Cecil Howard Beamish (1915-1999)

The youngest of the Beamish brother, Air Vice Marshal Cecil Howard Beamish (1915-1999), was a practising dentist, a well-known rugby player and an RAF officer during World War II. He was born on 31 March 1915, and also played rugby for London Irish, the Barbarians and the RAF. Although he was never capped for Ireland, he was an Irish International golfer (1950-1956). He died on 21 May 1999. He was the last surviving Beamish brother.

Their sisters, Katherine and Eileen Beamish, served as Dental Officers with RAF squadrons.

Another teacher at the Model School was Trevor Sargent, who spent two years there (1981-1983) before returning to Dublin, first as a teacher in Balbriggan and later as a Green TD and Cabinet Minister. He is now an ordinand from the Diocese of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.

A statue commemorating Sam Maguire in the Market Square in Dunmanway, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Today, Sam Maguire is remembered throughout Dunmanway with signs, monuments, and a statue in the Market Square. But, while members of the Beamish family still live in the same house where these ‘high-flying’ brothers and their sisters were born, there is no public monument in Dunmanway to remember their feats in the air and on the ground.

Trevor Sargent … also a teacher in Dunmanway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Canon Patrick Comerford lectures in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. This feature was first published in the ‘Church Review’ (Dublin and Glendalough) and the ‘Diocesan Magazine’ (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory), in November 2016.

The high-flying careers of the four Beamish brothers from Dunmanway

Dunmanway, Co Cork … the home of the four Beamish brothers, heroes on the ground at rugby and in the air with the RAF (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

On the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Crete yesterday [20 May 2016], I recalled the role of Sir George Beamish from Dunmanway, Co Cork, who was the senior RAF officer on Crete during those momentous events in May 1941.

In an unexpected coincidence, I found myself in Dunmanway later yesterday on my way to Bantry, where I am staying for the weekend, and I realised the unique contribution of the four Beamish brothers from Dunmanway – Victor, George Charles and Cecil – who were all accomplished sportsmen for many decades in the 20th century and who all had distinguished careers in the Royal Air Force.

These four Beamish brothers were the sons of Francis George Beamish and Mary Elizabeth Beamish of Dunmanway. They also had two sisters, Eileen and Kathleen.

The Model School in Dunmanway, where Francis George Beamish was the principal and Sam Maguire went to school (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Burke’s Irish Family Records indicates that the Beamish family held lands in Co Cork from before 1688. Francis George Beamish was appointed the principal of the Model School in Dunmanway in 1903. One of the most famous pupils was the Irish republican, Sam Maguire (1877-1927). Like the Beamish brothers, Sam Maguire was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but had left the Model School by the time the Beamish family arrived. He is said to have recruited Michael Collins into the IRB while they were both working in the post office in London.

Later, Sam Maguire took the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War, and lost his job in the Civil Service in the Irish Free State. The GAA later honoured Sam Maguire by giving his name to the All-Ireland Football Cup.

Meanhile, Frank Beamish left Dunmanway in 1912, becoming a school inspector, first in Dublin, then in Co Derry (1914) and finally in Co Antrim.

Wing Commander FV Beamish (right), the Station Commander of North Weald, Essex, with Squadron Leader EM Donaldson after a combat over Dunkirk on 30 June 1940.

The eldest of these four brothers, Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish (1903-1942), was an RAF fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. After flying during the Battle of Britain he continued to lead fighter operations until he was killed in action in 1942.

Victor Beamish was born in the headmaster's residence at the Model School in Dunmanway on 27 September 1903. He attended Coleraine Academical Institution and then entered the RAF College, Cranwell, as a flight cadet on 14 September 1921. After graduation in August 1923 he was granted a permanent commission as a pilot officer on 15 August 1923, and posted to 4 (Army Co-operation) Squadron at RAF Farnborough on 18 September 1923.

In January 1925, Victor was posted to the RAF School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum, before being promoted flying officer on 15 February 1925, joining No 31 Squadron RAF at Ambala, India on 18 November 1925. He transferred to No 60 Squadron RAF at Kohat in April 1926. Returning to England in October 1926, Victor took part in a course at the Central Flying School, RAF Wittering, before going on tour as an instructor at No 5 Flying Training School, RAF Sealand.

Victor played rugby for Harlequins, Leicester, Hampshire, the RAF and Irish Trials for several years. He was the eldest of the Beamish brothers who were all accomplished sportsmen and RAF officers; his younger brothers were George, Charles and Cecil Beamish.

On 16 September 1927, Victor returned to RAF Cranwell as a member of the staff and promoted flight lieutenant on 12 December 1928. He was posted to Canada on 22 March 1929 on exchange with an RCAF officer. Returning two years later he was posted to No 25 Squadron RAF at RAF Hawkinge as a Flight Commander.

In January 1932, he was appointed Personal Assistant to the AOC at RAF Uxbridge. In 1933 he was admitted to hospital at Uxbridge, due to tuberculosis, and had to relinquish his commission on 18 October 1933 due to ill-health.

In 1934, Victor secured a civilian post at No 2 Flying Training School RAF Digby, which he held until appointed civilian adjutant at RAF Aldergrove on 18 May 1936 simultaneously being granted a commission as flight lieutenant in the Reserve of Air Force Officers.

A notice in the London Gazette in February 1937 recorded that Flight Lieutenant Francis Victor Beamish (RAF retired) had been reinstated on the active list as a flight lieutenant with effect from 27 January 1937 (with seniority dated 23 March 1932.

Having recovered his health he was reinstated with full flying status and posted to command No 2 Armament Training Camp and then Meteorological Flight at RAF Aldergrove, near Belfast. He was appointed to command No 64 Squadron RAF at RAF Church Fenton on 8 December 1937.

Victor Beamish was an honorary aide-de-camp representing the RAF on the staff of the Governor of Northern Ireland from 6 April 1937 until 6 January 1938. On 1 January 1938, he was awarded the Air Force Cross for his work in the formation of the ‘Met Flight.’

When Victor completed a course at RAF Staff College, Andover, he was appointed to command No 504 Squadron RAF at RAF Digby on 13 September 1939, before sailing to Canada in January 1940 on staff duty. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 20 February 1940 for his service in command.

Group Captain Francis Victor Beamish (1903-1942)

Victor was promoted Wing Commander on 1 March 1940, and returned to England, assuming command of RAF North Weald on 7 June 1940.

As a fighter pilot, he took every opportunity to fly operationally. On 18 June 1940, he claimed two Messerschmitt Bf 109s destroyed, on 9 July 1940 one Messerschmitt Bf 110 damaged, then on 12 July 1940 a Dornier Do 17 bomber shot down.

In action at the height of the Battle of Britain on 18 August 1940, Victor claimed a probable Junkers Ju 88, on 24 August 1940, a Dornier Do 17bomber damaged, and on 30 August 1940 two probable Messerschmitt Bf 110s. On 6 September 1940, Victor claimed two Junkers Ju 87s, on 11 September 1940 a probable Heinkel He 111 bomber, on 15 September 1940 a shared Heinkel He 111 and on 18 September 1940 and 27 September 1940 he scored probable Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Victor damaged a Messerschmitt Bf 109 on 12 October 1940, on 25 October 1940 he probably destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and damaged another finally probably shooting down another on 30 October 1940.

Victor was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 23 July 1940, and the Distinguished Flying Cross on 8 November 1940.

On 7 November 1940, Victor collided with Pilot Officer TF Neil of No 249 Squadron RAF while he was on patrol and made a forced-landing at Leeds Castle in Kent. In all his sorties in 1940, he was damaged by enemy action three times, on each occasion getting his aircraft down safely.

On 11 November 1940, when Italian aircraft based in Belgium carried out an attack, Victor claimed a probable Fiat CR42 bi-plane fighter. On 13 November 1940, he damaged a Messerschmitt Bf 109 near Dover. On 10 January 1941, he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109.

He was posted to HQ No 11 Group RAF on 17 March 1941. By then, Victor was unable to fly regularly, but he occasionally flew over occupied Europe and claimed a probable Messerschmitt Bf 109 near Mardyck on 9 August 1941.

Victor was awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order on 2 September 1941.

He was appointed to command RAF Kenley on 25 January 1942 and was able to fly more frequently with his squadrons. Accompanied by flying ace Wing Commander RF Boyd, he took off on the morning of 12 February 1942 on a reconnaissance flight during which they chased two Messerschmitt Bf 109s before sighting part of the German Fleet making its ‘Channel Dash.’ The ships had been reported 10 minutes earlier by two pilots of No 91 Squadron RAF, but the report had not been fully believed until such senior confirmation was received. Attacks were then planned.

On 13 February 1942, Victor shared in the destruction of a Heinkel He 115 float plane over the Channel. On 9 March 1942, he claimed a Focke Wulf Fw 190 destroyed, and he claimed a second one and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 on 26 March 1942.

On 28 March 1942, Victor was leading the Kenley Wing and flying with No 485 Squadron RAF (New Zealand) when he sighted saw a formation of Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Focke Wulf Fw 190s just south of Calais. In the battle that followed, Victor was attacked and damaged by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and requested a position over the radio before last being seen entering a cloud near Calais.

He was 38.

Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish (1905-1967)

The second brother, Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish (1905-1967) was a senior commander in the RAF from World War II to his retirement in the late 1950s.

Before World War II, while Geoge was in the RAF, he was a keen rugby player, playing for Leicester and he was capped 26 times for Ireland. In 1930, he was selected for the British Lions tour. He also chaired the RAF Rugby Union and was an Air Force rugby selector.

George Beamish was born in Dunmanway on 29 April 1905. He attended the Coleraine Academical Institution, and from 1923 he attended the RAF College, Cranwell, as a flight cadet. After he was commissioned in late 1924, Beamish was posted as a pilot with No 100 Squadron.

In 1934, he was made Flight Commander of No 45 Squadron, and in 1936 he was made Squadron Leader.

After attending RAF Staff College in 1937, he was attached to the Air Staff. In 1939, he was made Senior Operations Officer for Palestine and Transjordan. On 17 May 1941, he was appointed senior RAF officer on Crete, overseeing the reception of units after their withdrawal from Greece.

To aid him in this task, George was allocated two RAF squadrons from Egypt, 30 and 205, to bolster the fighters already stationed on the island. However, following the German invasion of Crete, which began 75 years ago in May 1941, this action turned into the defence of the island.

George was unable to convince the army commander of the need to defeat the invaders from the air, the island fell and Beamish ordered the RAF squadrons to withdraw to Egypt. He remained on Crete to assist General Freyberg, and both men eventually escaped from Crete on a Sunderland in late May 1941.

George was then appointed Senior Air Staff Officer, first at Western Desert Air Force, then at North African Tactical Air Forces, and then at Second Tactical Air Force, before progressing to the roles of Air Officer Commanding No 44 Group and then No 45 Group.

After World War II, George became President of the RAF Selection Board and then Director of Weapons at the Air Ministry in 1947. He went on to be Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1949, Air Officer Commanding, Air Headquarters Iraq, in 1950, and Director-General of Personnel in 1952. His last appointments were as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Transport Command in 1954 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Technical Training Command in 1955.

In 1955, he was knighted (KCB), and he retired in 1958. In 1962, he was appointed High Sheriff of Co Derry.

George Beamish won his first international cap for Ireland in 1925 at the age of 19, playing in that year’s Home Nations Championship in 6-6 draw against England. At the time, he was playing for Coleraine at club level.

George was then selected for the remaining games of the tournament, with a home loss to Scotland and an impressive 19-3 win over Wales. During the 1927-1928 season, while he was playing club rugby for Leicester, Beamish was approached to play for invitational touring team the Barbarians.

In 1928, nearly three years after his last international game, Beamish was recalled to the Ireland team. From the first game of the 1928 Five Nations Championship until the end of the 1933 tournament, George was seldom out of the Irish squad.

In 1930, George was selected for the Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. He played in all five Tests and 17 of the regional matches, scoring two tries, one each against Otago and a joint Marlborough/Nelson Bay team.

After the tour, George returned to the Ireland squad for the 1931 Championship, playing in all four games. He was then selected as the Ireland team captain when the team faced the 1931 touring South African team in Dublin. He remained captain for the 1932 Home Nations Championship, and led Ireland to its first Championship win for 20 years.

The 1933 championship was his last for Ireland, playing in all three games and captaining the team in a win over Wales. During his career, George also played club rugby for London Irish and was captain of the RAF rugby side.

George Beamish was also responsible for getting the green of Ireland represented in the kit worn by the Lions. During the 1930 tour of New Zealand, the Lions wore what their standard blue jerseys. But these caused controversy because the New Zealand side, by then known as the ‘All Blacks,’ played in an all-black kit that clashed with the blue.

Despite their reluctance and hesitation, New Zealand deferred to the custom of accommodating guests and changed for the Tests, so that the ‘All Blacks’ became the ‘All Whites’ for the first time. But George Beamish also led a delegation that complained at the blue of Scotland, white of England and red of Wales being represented in the strip without the green of Ireland. A green flash was added to the socks, and in 1938 this became the green turnover that has been part of the strip ever since.

He died 13 November 1967 in Castlerock, near Coleraine, Co Derry.

Group Captain Charles Eric St John Beamish (1908-1984)

The third Beamish brother, Group Captain Charles Eric St John Beamish (1908-1984), was also an Irish rugby international and an RAF pilot during World War II. He gained 12 caps for Ireland as a prop forward and also played for the Lions on their 1936 tour of Argentina.

Charles Beamish was born in Dunmanway on 28 June 1908. He played his first international match for Ireland against Wales in the 1933 Home Nations Championship. At the time, he was playing at club level for North of Ireland FC, and when he joined the Ireland squad he came in at prop, with his elder brother George at No 8 and team captain Ireland 10-5, and Charles was re-selected for the final match of the tournament against Scotland in April. By then, Charles had switched clubs to English side Harlequins.

Although missing the opening loss to England, George was back in the Ireland squad for the second game of the 1934 Home Nations Championship, playing against Scotland. By then, he was playing with his brother George for Leicester.

Charles also played against Wales in the final game of the championship. It was a poor year for Ireland, which finished bottom of the table without a win.

In the 1934-1935 season, he was invited to tour with the Barbarians, and played a total of nine matches with them between 1934 and 1938.

In the 1935 Championship, Charles Beamish played for Ireland in all three matches, and despite a bad loss against England in the opening game, victories over Scotland and Wales secured the title for Ireland, making this Charles’s first Championship win.

In late 1935, Charles was selected play against the touring New Zealand team in Ireland. Ireland played well, and Charles scored his only international try during this game. But it was not enough to stop the All Blacks. In 1936, Charles was invited to tour Argentina with the Lions.

Charles also retired to Northern Ireland, and he died in Templemore, Co Antrim, on 18 May 1984, at the age of 75.

Air Vice Marshal Cecil Howard Beamish (1915-1999)

The youngest of the Beamish brother was Air Vice Marshal Cecil Howard Beamish (1915-1999). He too was a well-known rugby player and an RAF officer during World War II, and also practised as a dentist.

Cecil Beamish was born on 31 March 1915. He was an RAF officer during World War II and was later Director of RAF Dental Services (1969-1973).

As a rugby player, Cecil also played for London Irish, the Barbarians and the RAF. Although he never received an Irish rugby cap, Cecil was an excellent golfer and played as an Irish International from 1950 to 1956. He died on 21 May 1999. He was the last surviving Beamish brother.

Their sisters, Katherine and Eileen Beamish, served as Dental Officers with RAF squadrons.

Another teacher at the Model School was Trevor Sargent, former leader of the Green Party, who spent two years teaching in the Model School (1981-1983) before returning to Dublin, first as a teacher in Balbriggan and later as a TD.

Today, Sam Maguire is remembered throughout Dunmanway with signs, monuments, the name of the local GAA park, and a statue in the Market Square. Last month, the Beamish brothers were commemorated at the military tattoo in Listowel, Co Kerry. But, while members of the Beamish family are still living in the same house where these “high-flying” brothers and their sisters were born, there is no public monument in Dunmanway to remember their feats in the air and on the ground.

A statue commemorating Sam Maguire in the Market Square in Dunmanway, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Remembering the Battle of Crete 75 years after the German attack

Tablets in the monastery courtyard in Preveli tell of the rescue of allied troops by the monks after the Battle of Crete, 75 years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Crete (Μάχη της Κρήτης) on the morning of 20 May 1941.

On this day 75 years ago, Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. After a day of fighting, the Germans had suffered heavy casualties and the Allied troops were confident that they would defeat the invasion. The next day, because of communications failures, Allied tactical hesitation and German offensive operations, Maleme airfield in western Crete fell, enabling the Germans to land reinforcements and overwhelm the defensive positions on the northern side of the island. The allied forces withdrew to the south coast, where over half of them were evacuated by the British navy; the remainder surrendered or joined the Cretan resistance.

The Battle of Crete was the first battle in which German paratroopers were used en masse. It was the first mainly airborne invasion in military history, the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the decrypted German messages from the Enigma machine, and the first time German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population.

Because of the heavy casualties suffered by the German paratroopers, Hitler forbade further large-scale airborne operations. In contrast, the Allies were impressed by the potential of paratroopers and started to form both airborne assault and airfield defence regiments.

Initially, British forces had garrisoned Crete when the Italians attacked Greece on 28 October 1940, and Crete gave the British navy excellent harbours in the east Mediterranean.

However, the Germans over-ran mainland Greece after their invasion in April 1941. At the end of the month, the British navy evacuated 57,000 Allied troops. Some were sent to Crete to bolster its garrison until fresh forces could be organised.

One of the key Irish-born figures in the Battle of Crete was Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish (1905-1967), who was born in Dunmanway, Co Cork. Before World War II, he was a keen rugby player, playing with Leicester. He was capped 26 times for Ireland and was selected for the 1930 Lions tour. His three younger brothers, Victor, Charles and Cecil, were all accomplished sportsmen – Victor was killed in battle, and Charles was also capped for Ireland as a prop forward. As Captain George Beamish, he was the Senior Air Officer in the Battle of Crete.

The writer Evelyn Waugh was a brigade major during the Battle of Crete.

At 8 a.m. on 20 May 1941, German paratroopers, jumping out of dozens of Junkers Ju 52 aircraft, landed near Maleme airfield and the town of Chania. Most of the parachutists were engaged by New Zealand rtoops defending the airfield and Greek forces near Chania. Many gliders following the paratroopers were hit by mortar fire seconds after landing and the glider troops who landed safely were almost annihilated by the New Zealand and Greek defenders. But towards the evening of 20 May, the Germans slowly pushed the New Zealanders back.

In the afternoon, a second wave of German transports arrived in the afternoon, dropping more paratroopers and gliders with assault troops. One group attacked at Rethymnon at 4.15 p.m. and another attacked at Iraklion at 5.30. They pierced the defensive cordon around Iraklion on the first day, seizing the Greek barracks on the west edge of the town and capturing the docks. Iraklion was heavily bombed on the following day.

Eventually, the Germans pushed the British, Commonwealth and Greek forces steadily southward, using aerial and artillery bombardment, followed by waves of motorcycle and mountain troops, because the rocky terrain made it difficult for them to use tanks.

Rethymnon had fallen on the night of 30 May. During a mass evacuation of Crete between 28 May and 1 June, most of the remaining allied troops embarked for Egypt. Most of them were lifted from Sphakia on the south coast, where about 6,000 troops were rescued on the night of 29 and 30 May. Another 4,000 were withdrawn from Iraklion on the night of 28 and 29 May, on the next night 1,500 soldiers were taken away by four destroyers and during the night of 31 May and 1 June another 4,000 men were lifted. About 18,600 men of the 32,000 British troops on the island were evacuated. But 12,000 British and Commonwealth troops and thousands of Greeks were still on Crete, when the island came under German control on 1 June.

By the end of 1941, about 500 Commonwealth troops remained at large on the island. Although they were scattered and disorganised, these troops and the Greek partisans harassed German troops for long after the withdrawal, and Cretan civilians joined the battle with whatever weapons were at hand.

The massacre of Cretan civilians at Kondomari in Crete in came after the first occasion the Germans encountered widespread resistance from a civilian population.

After Alikianos was taken, the Germans began a series of collective punishments against civilians, from 2 June to 1 August, killing 195 people from the village and the vicinity, in mass shootings known as the Alikianos executions.

In the Viannos massacres, over 500 civilians from about 20 villages east of Viannos and west of the Ierapetra provinces were murdered by German army units between 14 and 16 September 1943. Most of the villages were looted and burned and the harvests were destroyed. These massacres were some of the worst during the German occupation of Greece in World War II.

Moni Arsanios in the village of Pagalohori, east of Rethymnon, dates from the 16th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In recent years, I have visited the village of Pagalohori, 11 km east of Rethymnon. There Moni Arsanios (Μονή Αρσανίου), a monastery dating from the 16th century, offers panoramic views out to the Cretan Sea below and above to Mount Psiloritis, the highest mountain on the island.

After the Battle of Crete, the Germans executed Abbot Damianos Kallergis in 1941 for the support the monks of his monastery gave to the Greek partisans and the resistance to the Nazis.

Two British submarines rescued allied troops from the Palm Beach below Preveli Monastery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Two years ago, I also visited Preveli, 37 km south of Rethymnion, where the Monastery played a key role in the resistance after the Battle of Crete, when 5,000 Greek, Australian, New Zealand and British troops found themselves stranded on the island. Many found shelter in the monastery and others were hidden in homes and farms nearby.

The Abbot, Agathangelos Lagouvardos, helped organise their escape to Egypt on two submarines, the Thrasher and the Torbay, came close to the Palm Beach at Preveli below the monastery on the nights of 31 May and 1 June 1941 and 20 and 21 August 1941.

In a revenge attack on 25 August 1941, the Germans plundered the main monastery, the Lower Monastery was destroyed completely, and many of the monks were sent to Firka Prison in Chania. Among the precious items plundered from the Monastery by the Germans was its most precious relic, the miraculous Cross of Abbot Ephraim Prevelis. But the monks who returned immediately began rebuilding the Rear Monastery with help from local people and from other monasteries in Crete.

The miraculous cross, which is the best-known item in Preveli, is on display in the katholikon. This large, richly-decorated silver cross was brought back to Preveli from Constantinople by Abbot Ephrem and now kept in a special shrine in the main church.

During the German destruction of the monastery in 1941, German officers removed the Cross from the monastery and tried to send it in Germany. However, it is said the plane it was put on could not take off for Athens. The cross was placed on a second plane, but that too failed to take off. A few days after it had been looted, the cross was returned to Preveli, where it was put back on display in the church on 13 September, the eve of the feast celebrating the finding of the True Cross.

Meanwhile, Abbot Agathangelos of Preveli, who joined the Greek Army in the Middle East as a chaplain, died suddenly, just two days before he was due to return to Greece after the liberation.

One Cretan source puts the number of Cretans killed by the Germans at 6,593 men, 1,113 women and 869 children. The Jewish communities in cities such as Chania, Rethymnon and Iraklion were almost completely wiped out, and Jewish life in Crete has never fully recovered.