Pat Maguire was born in Dublin on 27 June 27th 1927. He entered the Cadet School of the Military College in 1945 and was commissioned as an officer in the Signal Corps two years later. Over the next 15 years he filled a wide variety of appointments in the corps in various Commands of the Army and in the Air Corps Signals which he eventually commanded later in his career in the 1980s. In mid-career his worth as a staff officer was recognised and thereafter he spent most of his career as an instructor in the Command and Staff School of the Military College, as an operations staff officer in Eastern Command and at Defence Forces Headquarters. On promotion to Colonel in March 1982 he became Commandant of the Command and Staff School. He was appointed as Commandant of the Military College on promotion to Brigadier General in 1984 and his final position before he retired in 1988 was as General Officer Commanding Curragh Command.
Although the Defence Forces has its own Command and Staff School in the Military College, it has been standard practice since the earliest days to send promising mid-career officers abroad on major career courses in the UK, US, France and Germany. These officers on their return become instructors at the Military College in the Curragh. Pat was chosen to undergo the US Command and General Staff Course in Fort Leavenworth Kansas in 1963 where he distinguished himself. In later life it was a great source of pride for him that his son Jim was selected to undergo the UK equivalent course some years ago.
Pat served overseas twice on UN peacekeeping missions. His first tour was as Signal Platoon Commander with the 36th Infantry Battalion in the Congo in 1961-1962. In today's age of instant communication it is hard to imagine that maintaining the battalion's communications in their area of operations was a major technical achievement. A radio link to Ireland was extremely difficult given the level of technology of the day. Despite this, Pat used his ingenuity to achieve connection with Dublin when his unit went into action in the battle for the Tunnel in Elizabethville. His second overseas tour was in Cyprus where he spent a year as a staff officer at the headquarters in Nicosia.
He was an approachable and helpful individual who constantly put himself out to assist his brother officers with professional advice and sound remedies to their problems. He was a meticulous staff officer particularly with written work and those who served with him on staffs or were his students in the Military College learned to dread his red biro corrections on their work. His magnum opus was the Defence Forces Manual of Staff Duties which filled an important niche for over 20 years.
There was however more to Pat Maguire than his military career and his life was not without its tragedy. His first wife Betty died in 1966 leaving him a widower with four young children. His subsequent second marriage to Celia was propitious, happy and sustaining. Following his retirement in June 1988. Pat embarked on a year-long world tour with Celia which included extensive travel across Australia and the US. On their return to Ireland they chose to live in Gorey, Co Wexford although neither of them had any connection with the town. It is difficult not to imagine that the choice wasn't the subject of one of Pat's staff "Estimates of the Situation". If it was, then the decision was an excellent one.
They quickly settled into the local community and made many new friends. Pat developed some new and fulfilling interests in his retirement and became an excellent gardener, photographer, and local historian. His work was recognised in local competitions and exhibitions in Gorey. These new activities allied to his lifelong interest in children meant that Pat quickly became well known and respected in his new home town.
He is survived by his widow Celia, his children John, Jim, Gerard, Gillian and his grandchildren. His son Jim carries on the family tradition of military service and is currently based in Sarajevo where he is serving with the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia. G McM