Mulholland, The Hon. Andrew Edward Somerset (Edward)
Captain
1st Battalion, Irish Guards
Died of wounds on Sunday 1 November 1914 (aged 32)
Buried:
Ypres Town Cemetery, Belgium (Grave E2. 3)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ballywalter and District War Memorial
Ballywalter Parish Church of Ireland Church (Holy Trinity)
North of Ireland Cricket Club
Lords Cricket Ground MCC Members World War One Memorial
Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, Co. Down
BIOGRAPHY
Andrew Edward Somerset Mulholland was born on 20 September 1882 at Drayton Lodge, Monkstown, Co Dublin and he was the eldest son of Henry Lyle Mulholland, 2nd Baron Dunleath, and Baroness Dunleath (Norah Louisa Fanny Ward) who were married on 28 July 1881 in Old Court Chapel, Ballycutler (Church of Ireland). Henry Lyle Mulholland (aged 27), a gentleman from Ballywalter Park, was a son of John Mulholland, a gentleman. Norah Louisa Fanny Ward (aged 20) from Isle o’ Valla House, Strangford was a daughter of Somerset Ward, a gentleman.
The Dunleaths lived in Ballywalter Park, Ballywalter, Co Down and they had five children:
Andrew Edward Somerset (born 20 September 1882 at Drayton Lodge, Monkstown, Co Dublin)
Eva Norah Helen (born 4 November 1884 at Isle o’ Valla House, Strangford)
Charles Henry George (born 19 August 1886 at Isle o’ Valla House, Strangford; became 3rd Baron Dunleath when his father died on 22 March 1931)
Henry George Hill (born 20 December 1888 at Isle o’ Valla House, Strangford)
Godfrey John Arthur Murray Lyle (born 3 October 1892 at Isle o’ Valla House, Strangford)
Andrew Edward Somerset Mulholland was educated at Eton and he was a keen cricketer. In 1901 he played for the Eton XI and in 1902 went to Christ Church, Oxford. From 1908 he was a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He was also a member of the North of Ireland Cricket Club. In 1909 at Lord’s he played for an Army team against the Royal Navy.
On 17 July 1903 Edward Mulholland was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and posted to the North of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry, the predecessor of the North Irish Horse. He served with that Regiment for three years, before joining the 1st Battalion Irish Guards. He was promoted to Lieutenant in January 1909 and Captain in July 1913.
According to Bond of Sacrifice, Captain Mulholland was a member of the Bachelors’ and Guards’ Clubs. He played cricket and golf for the Army and the Household Brigade.
On 10 June 1913 The Hon. Andrew Edward Somerset Mulholland married Lady Hester Joan Byng and they lived at 22 Great Cumberland Place, London. They had one child, Daphne Norah Mulholland born on 11 March 1915, some 4½ months after her father died. Lady Joan Mulholland became Countess of Cavan.
Captain Mulholland embarked for France with his Regiment on 12 August 1914, taking part in the retreat from Mons and advance to the Aisne before moving north to the Ypres sector. Captain Mulholland 1st Battalion Irish Guards was 32 when he died of wounds on 1 November 1914 at the Battle of Ypres. According to Bond of Sacrifice at about 2.00 pm he was hit by a bullet while rallying his men in the trenches near Ypres, and died at 9.00 pm.
Members of Downpatrick Cricket Club wrote to Lord Dunleath to express their sympathy and in his reply Lord Dunleath said that his son had been ‘fighting for the cause of Christ in the world and for the British Empire’.
Captain The Hon. Andrew Edward Somerset Mulholland’s three brothers were also on active service. In 1916 it was reported that The Hon. Henry George Hill Mulholland, who had been serving at the Front, had suffered a serious breakdown in health and as a result he resigned his commission. When he recovered, he re-joined as a Private and attended a cavalry training school in Ireland. Subsequently he was appointed Second Lieutenant. In 1917 it was reported that Captain The Hon. Charles Henry George Mulholland DSO had been appointed Brigade Major attached to Headquarters units and that Captain The Hon. Godfrey John Arthur Murray Lyle Mulholland was home on leave from France. In July 1915 he had returned home from Australia where he had been Private Secretary to the Governor of South Australia, and he joined the Army Service Corps.
Captain The Hon. Andrew Edward Somerset Mulholland is commemorated on Ballywalter and District War Memorial; in Ballywalter Parish Church of Ireland Church (Holy Trinity), on the North of Ireland Cricket Club Memorial Plaque and on the Lords Cricket Ground MCC Members World War One Memorial.