Hourigan, Tommy
June 04, 2011His sudden and unexpected passing recently, just six weeks short of his 57th birthday was received with much shock and sadness by all who knew him. For many it still hasn't sunk in that such a warm man is gone. His passing leaves an unfillable void.
Fr Roy Donovan will say the mass at 7.30pm across the road from where Tommy was born in 1954. He was the fourth of eight children from the highly respected Hourigan family. The family have received many letters and notices from people passing on their condolences and celebrating the life of a great Limerick man.
Many of the letters were about his honesty in his dealings with others. His friend and neighbour Joe McCarthy said that in his fifty-one years in the parish he never met a more genuine man.
It is some consolation to his heartbroken wife Marian, sons Thomas and Eamon, daughter Valerie, brothers Pat, John, Jim, Denny and Timmy, sisters Kathleen and Margaret, uncle Tom, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, other relatives and many friends.
Tommy was delivered into the world by Nurse Crosse and decades later sadly it was her son Tony, who brought his remains to the church before his time.
His brother Pat said Tommy was the quietest and gentlest of the eight siblings.
He recalled the good times of their youth at the funeral mass - playing on the field with Tommy, or Toddy as he was known to his friends and neighbours, where the church now stands.
"We all used to play in it, unofficially I might add, for when the news used to reach its owner our temporary occupation of it suddenly expired. You wouldn't see our heels with the dust as we took off for the safe haven of Johnny Balfry's ditch.
'We all can recall the wonderful and innocent times of our youth about the place and Tommy was an integral part of it," said Pat.
His father, Jim Hourigan kept a garden, chickens, ducks and a pair of pigs. Tommy loved nature and animals - later in life he often brought home stray cats or dogs. After dances in Dromkeen he also on a weekly basis brought home many friends to the house in high street in the early hours of the morning for a feed of rashers and sausages.
While most children would try and avoid helping out, Tommy was his dad's chief assistant. The spuds were always set around Grand National time. While the rest of the family often grew tired of the job and jumped the ditch at the bottom of the garden like Red Rum, Tommy would remain.
In any big family being shy at the dinner table won't get you far and Tommy's ciotog would shoot out to gather his just rewards.
They say the family that eats together stays together and this was true of the Hourigans.
Pat says every topic under the sun was debated.
"We were all dependent on one another but also independently minded," he said.
Gifted with his hands, Tommy became an apprentice to the late Willie Fanning of Caherconlish Motors after leaving the Tech in Limerick.
Willie's training saw Tommy evolve into one of the finest diesel and petrol engine mechanics in the area.
His brother Jim joined him at the garage. One day Jim looked for a raise in wages, Willie, who was a great character and lovely person said "is it the shirt off my back you want"!
Tommy, in sibling support, due his heels in for his brother. Jim got his walking papers but Tommy got the rise instead! They always had a great laugh over it.
Due to his love of nature and animals it was no surprise that later in life he worked as a farmer. In his teenage years he worked with Denzie Barry and Willie Keyes. The love of the land never left him.
Tommy was an all round sportsman. He played hurling, football and soccer for local clubs and was also an athlete with St Laurences AC Caherconlish in the sixties. A great supporter, he followed Limerick teams all over the country as well as all the local teams. A great parish man he was one of the weekly lottery promoters when funds were being raised for the building of the community centre.
He was also a member of the local gun and game preservation club at the height of its time.
A very brave, kind and courageous man with a large zest for life Tommy bore his medical conditions with grace and courage.
Born in the Marian year of 1954 Tommy's middle name was Marian. He tried to keep this a secret until ironically he met the love of his life - Marian Murphy from Rockchapel.
The inseparable couple raised a fine family of two boys and a girl - Thomas, Eamon and Valerie. He was very proud of them and they in turn of him. Pats says Tommy was like a brother to them as well as a great father and encouraged them every day.
The late Tommy Hourigan was handed a torch by the people who had gone before him and he handed it on well to them. It still burns brightly. May he rest in pace.
Tommy Hourigan; born June 1954, died April 2011
Courtesy of the Limerick Leader, June 4th 2011 Tweet
