their first four children were born in Mallow, co. Cork and this indicates that Walsh may have been based at the military barracks located at Mallow. In 1829 he was retired on half pay but appears to have returned to the army in about 1833. His father, the Rev. John Ravell Walsh (1752-1833) died this same year in Naas, co. Kildare, Ireland, aged 81. The clergy By 1838 Walsh was being referred to as Reverend J. Prendergast Walsh and had published a treatise called One Catholic & Apostolic Church. In 1840 he was the officiating minister in the Chapel of Ease, Newport in Devon, England, replacing Reverend Henry Gamble who had been unwell for a prolonged period. After about 8 months in the post, the Bishop of Exeter decided that Walsh could no longer officiate. This was due to one of the bye-laws of his diocese that refused a licence to former members of the armed forces. Before this Walsh had been appointed to a curacy in London but was refused a licence by the Bishop of the diocese, allegedly because he was from another country. This was the beginning of a difficult period in his life. With eight children he had a large family to support, and following a further refusal by the Bishop of Norwich he faced bankruptcy. On 12 October 1845 Walsh was ordained into the Church of Ireland by the Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe for the diocese of Derry. Bankruptcy At a bankruptcy hearing in June 1847 in the London Insolvent Court, Walsh explained that he had lost several positions in the Church of England due to his army career. Being a war hero of the Battle of Waterloo there was sympathy for him in the court, and several newspapers thought it shameful that he had been treated in this way. He was discharged and allowed to return to his ministry with untainted character. However, in December of the same year his son, Spencer George Walsh, was convicted for assaulting a shopkeeper who had asked Reverend Walsh for the payment of a debt. The man and his companion had travelled some distance in London to find Walsh who had moved without settling his bill. When they eventually located the new lodging they were invited in but the son remonstrated with them and struck the green-grocer, William Prentice, with a poker. In 1852 there was