Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin & Ambrose McGonigal: War in the SAS & SBS

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McGonigal was a member of many committees and public bodies in Northern Ireland, and served terms as a member of the senate of Queen's University and as a governor of St Mary's college of education. Keenly interested in the improvement of legal education, he made a significant contribution to the foundation of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at QUB in 1977, at the time a unique institution providing for the common vocational training of barristers and solicitors.

Highlight: 'This is an analysis of two very important soldiers that clearly originates from a place of passion and family pride. It is a must-buy for special forces fans.' Much of the information in this article comes from the book and is reproduced with the author’s knowledge and blessing. In fact, I should declare an “interest” in that, at the request of Patric McGonigal, I wrote the Foreword to the book in which I congratulated him for “delivering a diligently-researched work that is beautifully illustrated with family photographs and other striking images.” Eoin Christopher McGonigal was the Son of John and Margaret McGonigal of Dun Laoghaire, Co.Dublin, Eire. His brother Ambrose McGonigal was also a member of the British Special Forces. [2] Having been badly injured during a raid, McGonigal was rumoured to have been taken Prisoner of War but subsequently died of his wounds on the same day. His death prompting Blair Mayne to write to his Sister Frances "I am getting very tired of this Country, especially since Eoin landed a loser" [4] Burial place [ edit ]Having been educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co.Kildare​ he then attended Queen's University, Belfast​. Despite the demands of his large practice, McGonigal found time to take on many onerous and important positions in public life. In 1945 he was appointed chairman of the Irish railway wages board, and later he was chairman of the Joint Industrial Council as well as a member of the banks’ arbitration tribunal. His appointments to important bodies in the sensitive fields of industrial relations and salary fixing were a recognition of his sense of fairness and impartiality. Justice McGonigal is mentioned in Tony Geraghty's The Irish War: the hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence [5] as having been "forced to carry a gun under his robe" due to terrorism in Northern Ireland, which would claim the lives of at least five judges or justices in Northern Ireland. This is an interesting and exciting first book by Mr. McGonigal. Its subject is his Grandfather, Ambrose McGonigal, known to many who served in Northern Ireland as one of the few Catholic Judges the IRA didn’t manage to murder, and Ambrose’s brother Eoin. These two brothers, both lawyers by profession, were early members of Special Forces in the British Army, Eoin in the SAS, and Ambrose the SBS... The author has done extensive research using official and unofficial documents, letters, conversations with those who were there, as well as family memories.

Ambrose Joseph McGonigal was born in Dublin on November 22 1917 – during the second half of the First World War and just a year after the Easter Rebellion that saw armed resistance to British rule. His younger brother, Eoin, was born three years later in 1920, the same year that the Government of Ireland Act was passed that resulted in the partition of the country the following year. However, Ambrose, also had a much older brother, Richard, who was 15 years his senior, and four sisters. He became great friends with the legendary Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne as their career paths were the same.​ https://web.archive.org/web/20100615033338/http:/www.belfastcathedral.org/visitors/virtual-tour/item/5/regimental-chapel/ This offering from Pen and Sword provides you with a good insight in the progression of two men’s lives during wartime.

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This is an excellent book. Not a constricted biography of the brothers but includes detailed information on the development of Commandos and L Detachment of the SAS from the start, including the dreadful operation where so many were killed, injured, or captured. Paddy Mayne’s role in the commandos, SAS and how he mourned the loss of a close friend and fellow soldier and how he tried to solve the riddle of his disappearance are given significant attention. Ambrose’s role and times in the SBS is very useful additional material on the activities of the unit of which more is still to be unravelled. Robert Bartlett - Oxford and Cambridge Club Military History Group After leaving school, both also seemed set on law careers. Ambrose initially attended Queen’s University in Belfast (QUB) where in his own words, he spent “two inglorious years” studying for an arts degree – before enrolling at King’s Inns in Dublin with the aim of becoming a barrister. In fact, both brothers only managed to complete a year’s legal study before war broke out in September 1939, when Ambrose was aged 21. In 1922, the year that the Irish Free State came into existence, the family moved to Belfast, the home city of John McGonigal, who was one of no less than 17 siblings. Such a move had its challenges but John went on to become the chief crown prosecutor for Belfast and, in time, was elected the “father” of the Northern Irish Bar and appointed to the bench as a judge in Tyrone.

After demobilisation with the rank of major in 1946 McGonigal studied law as a bar student at QUB, and was called to the Northern Ireland bar in Michaelmas term 1948, aged thirty, having been exempted in view of his war service from the requirement to have a degree. Despite competition from contemporaries who had served in the war and were also called to the bar in its aftermath, he soon made his mark as a member of the junior bar, becoming a QC in 1956. As a silk he had a general common law practice, and in 1964 his standing as one of the leaders of the senior bar was confirmed by his appointment as senior crown prosecutor for Co. Down and election as a bencher of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland. Although judicial appointments at all levels in Northern Ireland had hitherto been made predominantly from Unionist politicians or supporters, when it was decided to increase the complement of the Northern Ireland high court by two additional judges, McGonigal was the obvious candidate to fill one of the new posts – the other being the attorney general E. W. Jones QC MP; they were appointed on 3 March 1968. Eoin McGonigal has no known grave but is named on the Alamein Memorial, Egypt on Column 71. [5] In popular culture [ edit ] Sir Ambrose Joseph McGonigal, MC (22 November 1917 – 22 September 1979) [1] was a High Court Judge in Northern Ireland. Ambrose McGonigal, MC and Bar, carried out many coastal raids with the SBS and led local resistance fighters in Yugoslavia. His career, although longer than his brother’s, doesn’t receive quite the same coverage. Eoin joined up first and his story is entwined with the story of the birth of Special Forces as we know them today, which means there is more to say.Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin and Ambrose McGonigal: War in the SAS and SBS by Patric McGonigal is a 2022 book telling both brothers stories.

Full Book Name: Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin and Ambrose McGonigal: War in the SAS and SBS Ambrose, having carried out multiple coastal raids with the Commandos and winning two Military Crosses, later led operations for the SBS in Yugoslavia and Italy. Post-war, he had a short but notable legal career as a Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. In war and peace, Ambrose McGonigal lived an extraordinary life, with conflict never far away. During the Second World War, he served as a Commando and in the SBS, while after it he served in Belfast as the most senior Catholic judge during the height of the Troubles. With the disbandment of 12 Commando, Ambrose’s next posting was to “Layforce II” – a group of small -scale raiding forces brought together to conduct a series of high-risk, hit-and-run raids in Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) along the French coast and Channel Islands. During December 1943, reconnaissance operations were stepped up for “Operation Overlord” – this was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation to liberate German-occupied western Europe.I first came across the bravery of Ambrose McGonigal and his younger brother Eoin two years ago while researching the life of the legendary SAS officer, Lieutenant Colonel Blair “Paddy” Mayne, DSO & three Bars. Mayne is arguably the bravest man never to be awarded the Victoria Cross and, had he enjoyed a more conventional career, that decoration might well have been bestowed upon him. But that’s another story for another day.