SEVENTY ONE years after presenting the cup to Meath GAA for the county senior football championship Syddan GFC will further mark the memory of Tom Keegan with the opening of a memorial garden at their Ludlow Park grounds.

The garden, which will be officially opened at 6.30pm this Friday, September 20th, will be a lasting memorial to their player who lost his life after sustaining a serious head injury in an intermediate championship semi-final against Castletown in Rathkenny in August 1940.

The centre-piece of the garden is in the shape of a horseshoe to signify Tom’s trade as a blacksmith. The official opening will be performed by the three surviving members of the Syddan team that brought the Keegan Cup back to the parish for the first and only time, Myles Clare, Sean McKenna and Teddy Moore, following their 1956 final win over Skryne.

The Keegan Cup will also be present for the official opening with country music legend Mary Duff providing the music. There will be poetry by Gerard Meegan while the life of Tom Keegan will be recalled as well as the history of the cup itself. The blessing of the garden will be performed by Fr Gerry Boyle and Fr Timothy Mejida.

Tom Keegan lived in Lobinstown and was just 26-years-of-age when his life was tragically cut short. He was one of the stars of an emerging Syddan team in the late 1930s and was playing at midfield on that fateful day on August 25th 1940. After receiving the injury he was initially moved to Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan before being transferred to the then Richmond Hospital where he passed away two days later.

He is buried in Killary cemetery where the Syddan club held a 75th anniversary commemoration in 2015. Among the attendance at that commemoration were several captains of Keegan Cup winning teams over the years.

Tom was a quiet unassuming man and in 1953 the Syddan club decided to honour his memory by presenting a cup which bears his name for the Meath senior championship. Previous to that there was no trophy for the Meath senior championship.

The cup was purchased in Millar and Millar, The Gold and Silversmith, Dublin, for the princely sum of £250 which had been raised following a parish collection. Paddy Meegan on behalf of the organising committee presented the Keegan Cup to Meath Co Board chairman Fr Packie Tully at a function in Lobinstown Hall in later that year.

Tony McCormack (Navan O’Mahonys) became the first recipient of the Keegan Cup after their 3-7 to 2-4 win over Trim in the 1953 SFC final. Three years later Tommy Farrelly captained Syddan to the title.

Local dignitaries as well as county board officials will be present for the official opening of the memorial this Friday evening at 6.30pm. Following the official opening and blessing, refreshments will be served in the clubhouse and there is an open invitation for everyone to attend.

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