Giles, Joe
November 05, 2005
Late Joe Giles
In a graveside oration on 5th October, Martin Bourke, paying tribute to the late Joe Giles said - We are gathered here today on this very sad occasion to pay our final respects to a life long friend and colleague, who after a relatively short illness which he manfully bore was taken from our midst at the all too young age of 56 years.
When news of Joe's illness broke approximately two years ago we hoped and prayed that results of tests he was about to undertake would indicate symptoms not of a life threatening nature, but unfortunately the news was not good and Joe's battle for life was going to be an uphill struggle. However, during the early stages of his illness there was a ray of hope that results from the treatment he was receiving were positive, but our immediate joy and elation was short lived and once again suddenly dashed.
Despite being in failing health and in considerable stress at times he manfully carried the heavy cross the Lord had placed on his noble shoulders and not once during the many times I met him during his illness did I hear him complain. Quite the contrary and it was the normal conversation that I was accustomed to having on many occasion, how the local club was going, how the Tipperary teams were progressing in the championship and when we could expect silverware to return to the county, how the Tipperary club championships were progressing in all the various grades and the everyday happenings around the locality.
During this difficult time for him and his family he tried to live his normal lifestyle as much as possible, attending GAA games and going out for his social drink. As I visited him for the last time on Saturday night last and while unable to speak other than to greet me, he was very much aware of my presence and as I clasped him by the hand I could feel on many times during my stay with him the tightening of his grip, an indication of the bond of friendship that was coming from the heart - a friendship that has existed between us for many years and a friendship that the passing of time will not erode. On that occasion I knew that the end was near and Joe finally lost his battle for life on Monday morning 9 a.m. on the 3rd October, 2005.
Joe was the second eldest in a family of three boys and one girl, born to Neddy and the late Nan Giles, Dareens, Clonmore, was by profession a machinery contractor. After leaving school he worked in Triplex for four years and then as a digger driver for ten years before setting up his own business and he had the drive and initiative to make it a success. He worked long and hard hours and whether the job had to be done early in the morning or late at night it never concerned him and the fruits of his labour can be seen by all - a successful and thriving business.
It is both a special and a humbling experience for me to pay Joe this final tribute and farewell. It is a special honour because this deserved tribute is not directed to a holder of All Ireland medals, an intercounty star, or a high ranking GAA official or administrator, but it is attributed to an excellent club man, a decent, genuine, sincere and loveable gentleman, a very ordinary individual whom I have known, admired and respected all my life. Joe was a real gentleman, the salt of the earth and no greater tribute can I pay him than to say he was a man I could trust with my life. It is a humbling experience because of the huge burden which death has laid on his wife and family, his father, and brothers and sister, his many colleagues, his multitude of friends has brought home to us the enormity of just how much Joe meant to all of us. This was most evident during his illness when his vast array of friends came to see him and share memories of the many happy times and events we had with him.
Of all of his interests in his life, outside his family, the GAA and gaelic games would surely rank at the top of his list and he gave a life long service and loyalty to the GAA in the parish, firstly as an accomplished player and later as a passionate follower. In 1964 he played corner back on a Na Fianna minor football team beaten in the mid final by Loughmore Castleiney on a score of 2-12 to 6 points. In 1965 he played centre field in a mid junior football semi-final and were beaten handsomely by Templetuohy in a dull game that offered little in the way of entertainment. The losers had few players of exceptional ability and the Star's report on the game reported Joe doing well for Templemore. He also played centre field on the minor and under 21 football teams of that of year in the under 21 semi final against Thurles Crokes he gave a great display before loosing out on a low scoring game 1-1 to 2 points with the squandering of many chances by the Templemore forwards in the first half costing them the game. The early to mid sixties was a time when adult football in Templemore was very strong with the winning of mid Tipperary senior football championships in 1963 & 1964 and it took an exceptional player of 17 years to command a permanent place at mid field on the junior football team, the second team in the club. It was a measure of his courage, skill an ability as junior football at the time was no place for the faint hearted.
After being absent from the championship since 1964 Clonmore made a winning return on June 9th, 1968, at Holycross when they beat Upperchurch Drombane by 4 points, 2-5 to 1-4. With a crop of young players now arriving on the scene and the club once more affiliated to the mid season division Joe returned from Templemore to wear the blue and gold of his beloved Clonmore and as a very young boy I have vivid memories of him playing centre back in Kickham Park, Thurles and to see him surge forward on numerous occasions to carry the ball deep into the opposition territory to set up attacks and it certainly was no fault of Joe's that Clonmore were narrowly defeated on that occasion by Suir View. Winning championship medals playing junior football with Clonmore was going to be a non entity but to Joe who would have reaped far greater dividends playing senior with Templemore this did not matter as playing with his neighbours and friends, the people he grew up and went to school with was far more important to him and shortly after the commencement of his illness he requested from me that I speak at his grave side and that the Clonmore flag should drape his coffin. While football was the main game that he played he took a keen interest in hurling and while not on the panel he was a very happy man when Clonmore junior hurling team bridged a 32 year gap to win the championship in 1970 and no doubt he was part of the celebrations that Sunday night October 11th in Byrnes hostilely which was an indication of how much the victory meant to a small rural club starved of championship success. He was a member of the junior hurling panel defeated by Thurles Kickhams in the 1972 final and on that occasion came on as a sub. While still a very young man Joe hung up playing boots shortly after this and he was in a jubilant mood with the winning of the junior championship in 1974 that begun a new era for Clonmore, with the winning of the mid intermediate title for the first time the following year with a point victory over Gortnahoe Glengoole. Later that year a valiant bid for county honours was successful, the first of five county final defeats in 75, 78, 79, 84 and 86 before the title was finally captured in 1987 with the defeat of Silvermines in Borrisoleigh and the sense of relief and enthusiasm as a result of the victory after five galling defeats was understandable and no where this more evident than on the face of Joe. He had been a pillar of support throughout the years and he was ever present at all games, juvenile, minor, under21, junior, intermediate and senior that the club was involved in. In the early nineties when the amalgamation of the three clubs in the parish came about he favoured the process, firmly believing that this was of the best interest of the GAA in the parish and he followed the new club with the same vigour and enthusiasm as previously. He was a proud man to see his son Brian take an active playing part in the club and winning a mid under fourteen championship medal in 1999 before eventually loosing narrowing in the county final to Carrick Swans. His presentation of a magnificent cup in 2004 to the juvenile club is deeply appreciated by the JK Brackens club and the competition for this prestigious trophy will be keenly contested by juvenile players from the club for several years to come. He was very generous in his contributions towards many fundraising activities undertaking in the parish and any GAA funding required was always freely forthcoming.
Joe was a great GAA man, a passionate Tipperary supporter who followed all the team's progress from minor to senior during winter and summer months. As secretary of the Clonmore Club in the early 1980s it was my pleasure to supply the necessary match tickets that took Biddy and Joe to Paric Ui Caoimh, Semple Stadium, Gaelic Grounds and Croke Park to support the Blue and Gold and, indeed, he was a proud and happy man in 2001 when Tipperary with clubman Eamon Corcoran playing a significant part captured the Liam McCarthy Cup.
Joe was a man of dignity and sincerity, a man of gentle nature with a warm and gentle heart, born out of the brown earth of Templemore to which we now return his mortal remains and over which his spirit will long remain. We have lost a colleague, a friend and we are mourning his passing. How great then is his departure from the people he loved most of all, his father, wife and family, sister, and brothers of whom he was so proud. They were the core of his life the centre piece around which his world revolved and without whom he would not have been the man that we knew, respected and admired. They alone will mourn the real loss of this man from the loving family circle which prospered out of the mutual respect which they started with one another. The beautiful magnificent way the family cared for Joe throughout his illness reflects the goodness of the man himself and gave him the inner peace which he deserved at the final moments. I know only too well the value a sick person gets from being able to live out their final days in their own home. It is a tribute to you Biddy that you achieved this despite the huge effort and sacrifice it took but I think you will be the first to admit that this would not have been humanely possible were it not for the excellent help you received from so many, in particular Joe's sister Mary and her husband Sean who took up permanent residence with you for the last three months. Having no regrets is part of the healing process of bereavement and in this respect Biddy you will have no problem as everything possible was done for Joe.
On such a very sad occasion we are lost for words but I want to express my sincere sympathy to the Giles family, a family who have suffered more than they deserved by bereavements. I offer the sympathy of the GAA clubs in the parish and the Gales of Tipperary to his wife and family, sister and brothers, nephews and nieces and his extended family.
In one way or another we were all made better by having Joe Giles walk among us and by sharing his friendship and his gentleness of heart. We will miss this special friend, a loyal and true colleague. We will miss his companionship, his hearty laugh, his humour and wit, his generous spirit. As we salute the memory of Joe Giles we bid him a fond and final farewell and look forward to the day when through the grace of God we will be reunited with him in the peace and joy of Heaven.
Joe your life was full of kindly deeds
A helping hand for all in need
God save our friend Joe
A solid heart of gold
So rest in peace dear loved one
And thanks for all you've done
We pray that God will give you
The Crown you've truly won
Guimis ar son a ainm agus I bhFlaithead De i measc na haingeal naofa of raibh anam uasal Seosamh O Glaisne.
Courtesy of the Tipperary Star
5 November 2005
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