On 28 May 1975 McGonigal was promoted to the court of appeal in Northern Ireland as a lord justice of appeal, and shortly afterwards was knighted and sworn of the privy council. As was the custom in Northern Ireland, after his appointment to the court of appeal he sat regularly at the first hearings of both civil and criminal cases. As the lord chief justice usually gave the leading judgment in the court of appeal, McGonigal had few opportunities to make a distinctive contribution to the development of the law, most of his judgments reported in the law reports being given at first instance. A sound and thorough lawyer, his judgments were rarely reversed on appeal. 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 ] 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.” The author Patric McGonigal story is based on two Irish brothers in Special Forces. He guides readers Light is also shone on the brothers’ close friend, the legendary Blair Mayne and the controversial decision to downgrade the award of his Victoria Cross.

Ambrose’s career as a lawyer and judge are very interesting to read about, as is his attitude to having to have a bodyguard at all times, and to protect his family from those who wanted to kill them due to his chosen career. (Like Catholics in the RUC, Catholic Judges spoiled the narrative that there were no Catholics in those professions, so the IRA used their own means to reduce the numbers.) Although a pillar of the Establishment, he was renowned for being fair to all who came before him. At a time when hanging was still a mandatory sentence for certain crimes in Northern Ireland, his approach was fair to the Establishment, the victim, the criminal and the changes he could see coming through in society. This was a man I'd like to have met. PDF / EPUB File Name: Special_Forces_Brothers_in_Arms_-_Patric_McGonigal.pdf, Special_Forces_Brothers_in_Arms_-_Patric_McGonigal.epubAmbrose was demobilized from the Army in the rank of major, completing his law studies and being called to the Bar in 1948. He became senior crown prosecutor for County Down in 1964 before being appointed a judge of the High Court in March 1968 – at the beginning of some of the worst times during the Troubles in the north of Ireland. 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. 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.

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. Having been educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co.Kildare​ he then attended Queen's University, Belfast​. 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. Full Book Name: Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin and Ambrose McGonigal: War in the SAS and SBS

Details

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. 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. 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