Walsh, Tom
June 26, 2012For more years than I would ever care to remember genial Tom Walsh of Ballymacarby- and by addendum the Fourmile GAA club- was the very present man in charge of the "kitty" for the Western Board.
His lengthy term as treasurer was highlighted by his extraordinary efficiency that was matched only by his unwaveringly total commitment. A man who in every sense earned legendary status for himself in his own lifetime. It was a sense of deep sadness then that I learned of Tom's death in his 87th year at the South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel last Thursday. He had been ill for only a short period of time, but that of itself made it all the more difficult to come to terms with his regretted passing. I can't say for certain how long Tom held the Western Board treasurership, but I wouldn't be too wide of the mark in saying that he was there for the best part of two decades. Virtually every hour of every day was given over by him to GAA matters and never in all its years has that Divisional Board had a more loyal or faithful official than he proved himself to be.
As a person too he was utterly flawless and I would categorise him as one of the finest and most honourable persons it has ever been my pleasure to know. My friendship with him stretched for over half a century and long after he had brought his GAA officialdom career to a close we retained the closest personal links. Apart from the GAA the FCA had also been an integral part of Tom's life for more than forty years and as a member of the 13th Battalion (Dungarvan) he gave to that organisation the same level of committed service that the GAA was entrusted with.
As a pensman too he was very gifted individual, serving as the local Ballymacarby area correspondent over many years for several weekly newspapers (this one included) circulating in the area. And let it be said too that his tried and trusted camera forever accompanied him on whatever journalistic mission he undertook. It was entirely as it should have been when GAA officers from both the Western and County Boards thronged Fourmilewater Church last Saturday for Tom's funeral Mass at which his old work colleague and lifelong friend Tomas Crotty delivered such touching remembrances of him.
At the graveside too the Fourmilewater club chairman Paddy Joe Ryan delivered equally eloquent tributes, reminding us too that Tom was born in 1926, which, coincidentally, was the same year the local GAA club was founded. So many of us have truly lost a tried, trusted and deeply valued friend through Tom Walsh's passing. Long will his memory live on however among those of us privileged enough to have known him. To his wife and forever best friend Mary, his sons Paddy (Tyler) and Billy, his brother John, sister Alice (Kiely) and his many other relativities including his nephews, nieces, his beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the column extends its deepest sympathy. Go ndeine Dia trocaire at a anam dílis.
(Text courtesy of Waterford News & Sport 26/06/12) Tweet
