AT the age of 16 Tommy Lynch was selected as Correnshigo club delegate to the South Armagh convention.
A native of the small rural club west of Newry, he was largely brought into the GAA arena by a neighbouring farmer, Eugene Clarke, one of those inspirational figures for whom the GAA was a mission in life, a cultural responsibility and the actual playing of football was as much a ritual as a game.
When Correnshigo folded in 1951 because of emigration, Tommy went to nearby Carrickcruppen and quickly established himself by running dances and carnivals and staging plays to help with the running costs of his adopted club.
So, the man who would become one of Armagh’s all-time GAA greats was growing into his role from an early age and he was soon elected a delegate to the county board.
With his considerable wit, warmth and intelligence, he had the presence of a natural leader and persuader.
Tommy’s enthusiasm for all things Gaelic included the creation of the highly successful Ciste Gael, a nationwide pools-based fundraiser for the GAA body.
Then in 1972 he succeeded Joe French as chairman of the Armagh County Board.
It was in this position that he was confronted with his greatest challenge and produced his greatest achievement.
There had been a huge slump in the Armagh senior team since last contesting an Ulster final in 1961 and by 1973, only Kilkenny footballers were rated lower. Things totally crashed in a national league match in Carrick-on-Shannon when Armagh could barely field a team.
The entire county board and management resigned except for Tommy, who called a meeting of clubs to analyse what was wrong and persuaded the officials to take up their posts again.
He was relentless in his quest to change Armagh’s fortunes and he and I had a long discussion on the subject in Camlough. We agreed there were plenty of outstanding footballers in the county and that the key was in personally convincing 25 potential players to form a new beginning.
Tommy said: “That’s it. We’ll make a list and get cracking. We can only go up.”
In September 1974, 25 players arrived for training and that never changed to the present day.
Under the advice of Jimmy Smyth, Gerry O’Neill was approached to manage the new system and three years later he had won two Ulster titles and brought Armagh to the All-Ireland final.
In fact, through Tommy’s initiative, the new system generated by O’Neill and trainer Charlie Sweeney ensured the county was a constant force, eventually leading to All-Ireland success in 2002.
As life went on Tommy began to promote the wider elements of the Irish cultural renaissance of the 19th century – the Gaelic League, the collections of Irish music, the gathering of the legends and mythology of Ireland, a national theatre, and the rise of great literature.
He was the founder and major organiser of the GAA-backed Scór in Armagh and Ulster in the early eighties and was Armagh chairman for 15 years, helping to establish it as a core cultural dynamic and major success story.
A builder by trade, this man of culture also married into culture as his wife Mary is the daughter of Harry Davidson from Ballymoyer, the well-known traditional singer, accordion player and founder of the Harry Davidson céilí band.
Tommy and Mary’s daughters in this very close family followed the traditions of their parents and were All-Ireland Scór champions in music and dancing and represented Ireland in athletics in Europe.
In 1998, Tommy founded the Camlough Heritage Committee and served as chairman with a view to commemorating the original townland names with special plaques, 30 in all.
Well accustomed to the staging of plays and concerts, he never failed in his annual pilgrimage to the two major drama festivals in the district, Newry and Lislea, a familiar figure in the back row.
More and more Tommy became fascinated with all cultures, how the different peoples of the world responded to life through their games and customs, their music and song, a natural flowering of their particular roots.
Everybody was articulating the same deep hopes, fears and aspirations, and to him a particular culture was the living-out of these aspirations in a specific manner. The notion of community relations was no longer a celebration of difference, but of what deeply unites.
Ever approachable and warm-hearted, Tommy was famous for his pearls of wisdom and his speech was adorned with witty sayings.
He had a fabulous memory until the end, ever alert to the world around him, full of opinions and insights on the modern game and on national and international events.
As this enlightened man reflected on his long and active life, he felt, like his teacher of old Eugene Clarke, that he had a mission to help open up the cultural inheritance of the people where they could most authentically express themselves, and to see all cultures in that same light.
Tommy Lynch died on February 8 and his Requiem Mass will be celebrated today in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Cloughreagh, Bessbrook.
Predeceased by his brother Paddy and infant grandson Gareth, he is survived by his wife Mary, children Rosemary, Christine, Catherine, Rita, Anna and Geraldine, grandchildren Thomas, Aisling, Caoimhe, Seán, Sinéad, Eimear, Caitriona and Caolán, great-grandchild Isla, brother Finn and sister Mary.
Peter Makem
