They were also, at least in Robert's younger days, a family of cricketers. Their house, Springmount was not only one of the architectural delights of the county, but also had its own club and ground. The team usually consisted of the five brothers, some family servants, and any cricket playing guests who might be staying there or nearby. Robert was undoubtedly the best of them, his Army duties, he rose to be a major in the 4th Leinster Regiment, never seem to have interfered with his cricket.

He first really comes to our notice in 1881 when he had the highest aggregate for Springmount 212 runs at 16.04, which suggests demonic bowling or poor wickets. That summer he also hit 69 for Abbeyleix against Darrow, sharing in a match winning stand with his brother William, which set up an innings victory. He was also in good form the following season when he put on 93 for the second wicket with his brother Henry for A Marsh's XI (Springmount by another name it would seem) against the Athlone Garrison. He made 53 and Henry 76, in a match won by 6 wickets. The following year saw his best innings of which scores have been seen. Again playing for a side raised by a brother (Mr Marsh's XI) he carried his bat for an undefeated127 against he Curragh Garrison, hitting one 5 and eight 4s. The next highest score was guest player Nat Hone's 25. The match was lost but it was Robert's innings which captured the headlines.

His one match for Ireland came on the short tour of 1883 against The Aldershot Division. It would appear unlikely that, as I had previously written in an earlier version of this biography, he was stationed there at the time as he played cricket in Ireland for most of the summer. He was not the only strange selection for this match. Leading players, Jack Nunn, Joe Hynes and Horace Hamilton were left out - or unavailable - and Robert, the Kent professional Frank Hearne, later to play Tests for England and South Africa, and the Phoenix professional Henry Shelton, came in. Despite these changes Ireland almost won by an innings. Opening with AJ Fleming, Robert made a useful 24 as Ireland posted a total in excess of 300 but ran out of time, the match being drawn.

Richard, though far from being the eldest son, inherited Springmount on his father's death in 1879. In 1893 he retired from the Army, having married a talented artist Ellen Bowyer. Previous sources have stated that Richard then became a civil engineer and spent some time in India. This now appears to have extremely unlikely and to be a confusion with his brother Henry, who, when not shining on the cricket fields of Queen's County, was a highly respected civil engineer on the sub continent. Richard died in 1919, Ellen having predeceased him by a year.

They had two sons, the younger of whom, Stephen, was killed in the Second World War, though reports as to how and where he died are varied. He is worth a biographical study himself, but that would lie well outside the scope of this article or website.

NB As some readers may be aware this biography replaces an earlier and much shorter version. While I have personally carried out some research into the Marsh family, the bulk of the information about Richard and his brothers' cricket comes from James Bennett's excellent and essential book The Story of Cricket in Laois to which I am very much indebted.

Edward Liddle, originally June 2008, New edition: August 2024