Famous son of Ballinagh

Ballinagh town and the area around it has had many great characters over the years, a lot of them have passed on and sadly on Monday of last week yet another of that dear old generation has joined them with the death of Thomas Gaynor which occurred peacefully at Cavan General Hospital.

One of a family of 11, three boys and eight girls, he was born in the townland of Garrymore to parents Michael and Mary in 1930 in an Ireland that was very poor to put it mildly. As a 22-year-old, like many of his comrades he took the boat for England and London became his abode where he worked for a company, Walls Sausages but every summer he returned for his holidays. It was during those visits that he met with the woman who he would one day marry Clare McMahon from the local community. Then in 1959 when his father Michael, who was carrying out a very successful business in the town passed away and Thomas returned to take up the mantle which included a meat run in Gowna, Mullahoran area, which he provided in a Ford Anglia van. One year later he married Clare and they went on to have a family of four to which they were devoted, always providing them with the best of everything while running a thriving business.

My very first memory of Thomas goes way back to around 1961 when I made the journey in to his stall in Ballinagh by bike. It was my maiden voyage to Ballinagh, one filled with a certain amount of fear yet joyous at the sight of the big town.

Thomas was a great business man so skilled at his work as he chopped, sliced and cut those lovely pieces that graced so many dinner tables over the years, and while he was doing all that he would keep chat to a multitude. He took a real pride in the produce he sold, always top quality and sourced from the local farmers whenever possible, including the marts where many a day you would see him eyeing up a choice animal. Farming was so much a part of his life and many a trip he took on the Dexta tractor to the Farm in Bellville where he spent many happy times doing what he loved, like hay-making and gathering the bales. A story often recalled from those days is of Thomas bringing a gang of young lads who had assembled for football training under Father Cooke, instead it was training in Bellville.

As for football it was a deep passion and many a verbal battle he had on the sidelines and in the stands as games unfolded, never one to run away from an argument and usually having the last word. But it was the footballing skills of his grandson Anthony that was so embedded in his heart watching him turning in so many great displays with Ballinagh, which included a senior Championship and seeing him pull on the blue of Cavan made him really proud. He often told of his days spent at the fairs which were held in towns, mostly on the main street and of buying sheep which had to be walked home from places like Granard, no easy task, but it had to be done back in the day.

Many times in conversation he expressed his deep appreciated for the support and custom his business received from his community and the surrounding parishes including Ballintemple.

Faith was very important to him and that was put to the test when in 1981 he lost his young wife Clare after a short illness, but life had to go on and that’s what he did. A great man to attend funerals and removals, he travelled far and near and made lots of friends in the process. You were always guaranteed a it of banter when your paths crossed - I had many of those with him over time, one that springs to mind is an obituary I penned where he said, ‘Be God you wrote an awful lot of nice things about him - I wonder what will you write about me? I replied ‘I have it written already, all I am waiting for is for you to throw up your heels’. The answer I got is best left out of these lines.

Thomas lived a great long and healthy life, hardly ever sick, it was just in the last couple of years his memory was fading, but he was lovingly and devotedly cared for by his daughter in law, Noreen, son Michael and family. They can be proud and happy of their work in having him at the family home that he loved right up to the end. His extended family are the ones who will miss him most, so too will all those who came to know him over the years. Ballinagh has lost a dear old resident, whose memory will last for years to come and he will rest easy in the knowledge that the business he built is in safe hands and will hopefully go on for generations to come. God be good to his soul.

His remains reposed at McMahon’s Funeral Home where large numbers came to pay their respects, and then on Thursday morning he made his last trip from his home through the town he loved so well to St Feilim’s Church where his funeral Mass was celebrated by Rev Peter Casey and where a guard of honour from the football club paid their respects to their loyal fan. After graveside prayers, he was laid to rest in the family plot close to the roadside where he oft times chatted. To his sons Michael, Martin daughters Caroline and Rosemarie, daughters in law, Noreen, Catherine, son in law Jim, sister Sue in London, grandchildren and all the extended family we extend our sympathies.

- Obituary kindly supplied by Danny Brady -