Ballinacarriga National School
Scene opens in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. A group of children follow a guide called Tommy. Birds chirp softly. A ray of sunlight falls on an old headstone.
GUIDE Tommy:
All right, graveyard explorers! Here lies Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Du Cros—he was brave, clever, and maybe even a little bit of an inventor! His is a story of the battlefields of France during World War One, retirement in Dunmanway and his family was connected to one of the greatest inventions the world has ever seen!
JAMIE:
Was he a soldier or an inventor? Did he make robots? I have lots of questions.
GUIDE Tommy:
Yes, Jamie, he was a soldier , but several of the Du Cros family were mechanics and involved in the automotive industry. Edward served in the Leinster Regiment and the Engineering section of the British army in the First World War in France. After the war he was sent to Egypt.
JAMIE:
We learned in school that the Battlefields of France were unbelievably bad and back then had some of the biggest numbers of wounded the world had ever seen.
GUIDE Tommy:
Yes, the casualty numbers were huge but some of Edward’s relatives provided medical assistance for the wounded.
JAMIE:
That sounds interesting- how did his family and relations help the wounded ?
GUIDE Tommy:
It was in the early 1900s that his family helped make the tyres that go on cars and bicycles. His family created the famous tyre companies. Without them, we might still ride around on hard wheels, that go clunk, clunk!
JAMIE:
That sounds horrible! But HOW did that help the wounded ?
EDWARD:
Not horrible—just very bumpy! Hello, young adventurers! I’m Edward Du Cros, born in Yorkshire in 1896, but my father came from Dublin. My father was a mechanic—machines were in our blood.
JAMIE :
Whoa! (gives a shout )- Are you a ghost?
EDWARD:
Just a memory who loves stories. I fought in the First World War, fixing engines and helping soldiers cross rivers and battlefields. Later, I was sent to Egypt—too much sand for my liking!
But my family also helped make tyres stronger, my uncle financially supported John Dunlop’s inventions and a created a company that manufactured PNEUMATIC tyres—
JAMIE:
Pneumatic Tyres ? What are they ?
EDWARD:
They are bouncy ones filled with air! Like the ones you have today. The early tyres were hard rubber and extremely uncomfortable, every bump was felt. John Dunlop and my family’s big idea made travel smoother and faster. During the war, my cousins built the Du Cros Convoy—a fleet of ambulances fitted with the new tyres so they could rush the wounded soldiers faster and safer from battlefields and it was easier to travel over rough ground with air filled tyres.
JAMIE:
That was amazing! Back then that was like turning cars into super-care machines- I mean comfortable ambulances…
GUIDE Tommy:
And do you know who drove those ambulances? Expert mechanics from London’s taxi business! Real heroes on wheels.
EDWARD:
When I was older, I retired to Dunmanway. I spent my days with friends—the De Selincourt’s and Payne’s—and my brother who was a clergyman came to live in County Cork also. Life slowed down. I liked that.
JAMIE :
Was your family famous for anything else ?
EDWARD:
My family loved sports too! Rugby, fencing, cycling— my cousins even had a racing team called The Invincibles! We were proud of them.
JAMIE:
The Invincibles! That’s the best team name ever!
EDWARD :
Remember—just like tyres changed travel, every new idea can help someone.
GUIDE Tommy :
And that’s the legacy buried right here in St. Joseph’s—the story of courage, curiosity, and the tyre!
EDWARD:
Keep those wheels turning, young explorers. The world always needs inventors.
Ballinacarriga National School
Scene opens in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Dunmanway. and the HISTORIAN leads two children past the old graves. Bird sounds and soft wind fill the air.
HISTORIAN:
Once upon a time, not too long ago, I came here to solve a mystery. I’d always wondered about a certain grave — its shape, its design, and its story.
CHILD 1:
Ooo! Like a treasure hunt?
HISTORIAN:
Exactly! And guess what I found? Two very special people — uncles of the real Christopher Robin!
CHILD 2 (surprised):
Wait! The Christopher Robin? Winnie the Pooh’s best friend?
HISTORIAN:
Yes! His name was Christopher Robin Milne, and his father, A. A. Milne, wrote the Winnie the Pooh stories in 1926. But these two men — Guy and Geoffrey de Selincourt — were Christopher’s uncles!
CHILD 1:
So… the people linked to Pooh Bear lived here in Dunmanway?
HISTORIAN:
They did! They retired here in the 1960s, with friends who had moved to Dunmanway.
GUY:
Did someone call our names?
GEOFFREY:
We haven’t had visitors in ages!
CHILD 2:
Whoa—uh, hi! Are you really Christopher Robin’s uncles?
GUY:
Indeed! I’m Guy de Selincourt, born in London, 1902. Illustrator, sailor, and historian at your service.
GEOFFREY:
And I’m Geoffrey — born 1900. A painter and lover of colour. Some of our family and friends were soldiers in the Great War, they retired to Dunmanway and we followed them here.
CHILD 1:
That sounds scary! About the war you mentioned
GEOFFREY:
It was — the stories of the battles of the Somme and Gallipoli were terrible. But after the war, we painted and travelled to Cyprus and Europe.
GUY:
We brought home sunshine and sea in our oil paintings!
HISTORIAN:
Your family was full of writers and artists, wasn’t it?
GEOFFREY :
Yes! Our brother Aubrey was a scholar who translated great books like The Life of Alexander the Great. And uncle Ernest taught at Oxford University; he even taught Virginia Woolf!
CHILD 2 :
Wow… So many clever people in one family!
GUY :
Our father, Martin de Selincourt, ran a fancy department store in London called Swan & Edgar. Later it became part of Debenhams! He also started The Geographical Magazine.
CHILD 1:
So your family were shop owners, writers, painters, and were Winnie the Pooh’s creator?
GUY:
Precisely! Do you know something funny about me?
CHILDREN :
What?
GUY:
I was so tall that I had to remove the front seat from my car — I drove it from the back seat!
GEOFFREY:
We found peace here in Dunmanway. People remembered us not as famous, but as ordinary neighbours and friends.
HISTORIAN:
Your family inspired joy all around the world — through a certain honey-loving bear.
CHILD 1:
Let’s celebrate with a big “Winnie the Pooh cheer”!
GEOFFREY:
Remember, young ones — curiosity uncovers magic.
CHILD 2:
I can’t wait for January 18th — National Winnie the Pooh Day! We can celebrate with honey and imagination.
