The Model School
The narrator and three pupils having a chat about the history of the Model School and the famous Sam Maguire who attended the Model School
Narrator : Let me tell you a little about the history of the Model School. Then we will hear from pupils Aoife, Cian and Jack who were having a chat about the legendary Sam Maguire who attended their school.
The Model School, located on the Bantry Road, has a very interesting history, it was built in 1848 in the later years of the Irish Famine by the Commissioners of National Education. It is an impressive building built in a neo- Tudor & Victorian style with a few additions over the centuries. When it opened it was a literary school, and it had an agricultural department and an adjoining Model farm. Boys and girls attended, with a headmaster and headmistress and a number of teachers. Many of the teachers lived on site. An agricultural superintendent gave agricultural classes daily to the older students. It also had boarding students. By the end of its first month in operation, it had 164 pupils. Within five years the school was overcrowded with over 260 pupils. It can boast a few famous past pupils. One in particular is the legendary GAA sportsman and political activist, Sam Maguire who’s name and trophy honours his contribution to Ireland’s National Game of Gaelic Football.
Cian:
Aoife, what famous person are you doing your history project on ?
Aoife:
I am doing mine on the Legendary Sam Maguire, one of Dunmanway’s famous sons.
Cian :
The one they named the All-Ireland football trophy after.
Aoife
Yes , That’s the man! Sam Maguire was born in 1877 in the townland of Mallabraca, up north of the town. He was the son of John Maguire and Jane Kingston, and he had six brothers and sisters, so his house must have been very noisy!
Jack
What did his parents do ?
Aoife :
They were tenant farmers, working on land owned by Colonel Shuldham, who lived at Coolkellure House.
Cian:
So- did he just spend his days milking cows and playing football? I suppose he learned farming here when they had the agricultural department and model farm here in the olden days.
Aoife:
They say that he was an excellent student – his teachers said he’d be perfect for the British Civil Service. Back then, that was a big opportunity. Students from the area even prepared for the exams in a special school at Ardfield.
Jack :
Did he pass those exams and what happened then ?
Aoife:
Yes! He joined the Civil Service in London and that’s where he really felt his identity as an Irishman. He started playing Gaelic football in London, joined GAA clubs, and helped organise them. But guess what—he played in many finals and never won an All‑Ireland medal!
Cian:
Talk about unlucky!
Aoife:
Politically, he became very active. It’s said that Sam introduced Michael Collins to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He had great organisational skills, though some parts of his life are still a bit of a mystery.
Cian:
This sounds a bit like a secret agent with a football in his hand!
Aoife:
After the Treaty of 1922, he joined the Irish Civil Service in Dublin. But he argued so much with his bosses that he was dismissed and returned to Mallabraca in 1924.
Jack :
What happened then ?
Aoife:
He returned to his home and died in 1927 at just 49 years old- it’s a bit of a sad story. He’s buried in Saint Mary’s Church of Ireland Graveyard on Main Street.
Cian:
Is that the church with the Cox family vault and Henry Cox’s name over the door?
Aoife:
Exactly. The church was founded in 1821 by Henry Cox. Sam and his family were regular worshippers there. In 1949, people put a Celtic Cross on his grave to honour his work for the GAA and Irish nationalism. In 1974, they opened Sam Maguire Memorial Park in town.
Jack
Where does the Sam Maguire Cup come into the story?
Aoife:
His friends commissioned the Sam Maguire Cup, inspired by the Ardagh Chalice, and made from silver. It was first awarded in 1928 to County Kildare. In 2002 his statue in the Square was unveiled.
Cian:
And what about the bells- why are they called the Sam Maguire Community Bells?
Aoife:
In 2017, the community paid for eight new Sam Maguire Community Bells in St Mary’s Church. Two of them are inscribed “Sam Maguire 1877–1927”, and each of the 8 bells reflect themes of Dunmanway’s heritage—Sport, War and Revolution, Agriculture, People, Migration, Religion, Education and Arts, and Industry and Commerce.
Jack:
So, every time those bells ring, it’s like Dunmanway is saying, “Don’t forget Sam!”
Cian:
Thanks for telling us the story of Dunmanway’s Giant of sport and history!
The Model School
Narrator – The Children of the Model School were given an old article from a newspaper which is today known as the Southern Star. The article is all about what Sports Day at the Model School was like in 1911. At that time Francis Beamish of Acres, was headmaster of the Model School. He was appointed in 1903. He was a farmer’s son, a fine scholar, a sports lover, and even an expert beekeeper. Their teacher has told them all about the headmaster and his family’s love of sport and also his children’s amazing contribution to Irish Rugby and their military careers in World War 2
Pupil 1: That was an amazing article we learned about earlier ?
Pupil 2: Yes , did you hear how the headmasters’ children George and Charles also won some of the sport’s day games and they also had a sort of fancy dress competition also at the Sports Day. I didn’t think they had sports days in school over a century ago.
Pupil 1: It seems like they did. Did you notice that he had a hobby as a beekeeper and wrote articles about bees? That’s amazing!
Pupil 2: It is! Can you remember what happened after he left Dunmanway with his family. They were an amazing family, teacher told us so many amazing facts.
Pupil 1: in 1912 the headmaster Francis Beamish was promoted to School Inspector, so he and his family moved to the north and later settled in Coleraine. During the revolutionary years in the 1920s, they were separated from Dunmanway for a long time.
Pupil 2: How many children did he have?
Pupil 1: I think teacher said it was Six: Victor, Charles, George, Cecil, Kathleen, and Eileen. Some were born in the headmaster’s residence next door to our school- before their father’s promotion. They all became famous too?
Pupil 2: I love rugby and it was great to hear that all four boys played rugby at different levels, and George and Charles made the biggest headlines in the rugby world before the Second World War.
Pupil 1: George was capped 25 times for Ireland and toured New Zealand with the Lions in 1930, playing at number eight. While Charles scored Ireland’s first-ever try against New Zealand on 7 December 1935 at Lansdowne Road. The next year he toured Argentina with the Lions in 1936 and was capped 12 times for Ireland.
Pupil 2: That’s so cool!
Pupil 1 – Cecil and the sisters were excellent golfers too, and they won many competitions. The Beamish family also had strong links with Portrush Golf Club. Wow – they were a sports family and a brave family.
Pupil 2: I remember one cool detail the teacher told us – George helped persuade the Lions management in 1930 to add a touch of green to the socks, because Ireland had not been properly represented in the team kit ! How mad is that? George helped bring a bit of Ireland into the Lions strip.
The Model School
A teacher and two pupils are having a chat about the famous Flying Beamishes who were born at and attended the Model School.
Child 1:
Sir, you said the Beamish brothers were famous in rugby, but they were also heroes in the Second World war?
Teacher:
Yes, they weren’t just rugby stars—they were “Flying Beamishes” in the sky! Group Captain Victor Beamish served with great courage in the Second World War. He was a fighter pilot and flight trainer, even on loan to the Canadian Air Force before the war.
Child 2:
Did he get any medals?
Teacher:
He got many! In 1940, King George VI gave him the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his bravery during the Battle of Britain. Later, he was awarded a Bar to his DSO, which means he earned a second DSO medal.
Child 1:
Wow! He must have been a top pilot.
Teacher:
He was. He was shot down in 1942 by a German Fw 190 over the English Channel near Calais. A street in Kenley in England, near the Aerodrome is named Victor Beamish Avenue to remember him. He was a spectacular aviator.
Child 2:
What about his brother George?
Teacher:
Air Marshal Sir George Beamish survived the war and had a very distinguished career. He served in the Battle of Crete in 1941 and was senior RAF officer there in Crete. After the war he became Director of Weapons at the Air Ministry and then Commandant at RAF Cranwell in 1949.
Child 1:
Did he get any special awards too?
Teacher:
Yes he got lots of medals, they both did. General Eisenhower gave him the American Legion of Merit before the end of the war. His brother Charles Beamish also got the same medal, later presented by President Harry Truman in 1946.
Child 2:
And what did Charles do in the war?
Teacher:
Group Captain Charles Beamish flew over the beaches of Normandy during the D‑Day landings in 1944. They both flew many types of aircraft including the famous Spitfires and he had a very interesting military career.
Child 1:
What about Cecil and the sisters, the other children – you said there were six children?
Teacher:
Cecil was a dentist with the RAF medical unit. He helped wounded soldiers with facial reconstruction and dentistry. He was a close friend of Archibald McIndoe, who pioneered plastic surgery and helped wounded airmen in the Guinea Pig Club.
Child 2:
The sisters too?
Teacher:
Yes! Sisters Eileen and Kathleen both served in the RAF medical side and became Flight Lieutenants. In fact, the Beamish family gave the Second World War two Group Captains, one Air Marshal, one Vice‑Air Marshal, and two Flight Lieutenants.
Child 1:
So , on the rugby field—and in the sky—what a legacy from one Dunmanway family!
Teacher:
Exactly. From the old headmaster of the Model School to his brave sons and daughters, the Beamish family’s story of sport and courage may never be matched again.
The class is on a walking tour near the Lakeside, Dunmanway.
![A front-on, close-up photograph shows a framed, rectangular military award certificate (Legion of Merit) presented on slightly aged, off-white paper. The document is mounted inside a simple, thin black frame against a plain white wall.At the top centre of the certificate, there is a coloured illustration of the United States Legion of Merit medal suspended from a wavy red ribbon with white borders. Small, faint five-pointed stars are printed in the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right corners of the page border. At the bottom centre, a circular, embossed official seal of the United States War Office is visible. Two handwritten signatures in dark ink appear at the bottom, one on the left and one on the right, above printed titles. Transcribed TextTHE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO ALL WHO SHALL SEE THESE PRESENTS, GREETING: THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORDER ISSUED BY GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON AT HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH, NEW YORK, ON AUGUST 7, 1782, AND PURSUANT TO ACT OF CONGRESS, HAS AWARDED THE LEGION OF MERIT Degree of Officer TO Group Captain Charles Beamish, Royal Air Force FOR EXTRAORDINARY FIDELITY AND EXCEPTIONALLY MERITORIOUS CONDUCT IN THE PERFORMANCE OF OUTSTANDING SERVICE GIVEN UNDER MY HAND IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON THIS 27th DAY OF February 1946 RECORDED IN THE OFFICE OF [Signature: Edward F. Witsell] Major General The Adjutant General [Signature: Robert P. Patterson] Secretary of War](https://dunmanwayhistoricalassociation.ie/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Plaque_8_Charles-Beamishs-Legion-of-Merit-Award-Certification-roer5f7t058adffb4p3kt3pb3suca2r8z507821y30.webp)
