Tipperary's Tom O'Donnell is honoured for his 'tireless work'

“Cad a dheánfaimid feasta gan adhmad,

Tá deireadh na gcoillte ar lár,

Níl trácht ar Chill Chais ná a theaghlach,

Is ní cluinfear a clainn go brách”

These are the first four lines of a poem about Cill Cais that some of you may have learned in school. Kilcash is a place in Co Tipperary, near Kilsheelan, on the road between Clonmel and Carrick on Suir and is the home place of the 2018 Friends of Dublin Hurling  “Hall of Fame” recipient.

"Our Hall of Fame award has, for the past fourteen years, been presented to people that have contributed significantly to the promotion of the game of hurling in Dublin—the likes of the late great Jimmy Boggan, Damien Byrne, Jimmy Gray and Fintan Walshe, both of whom are present tonight. All are special hurling people who left their mark in coaching, managing or administration".

However, this year’s recipient is someone who started a revolution in Dublin hurling. He presided over the positive transformation of Dublin colleges’ hurling into the second millennium. Over the past twenty years, the stock of Dublin hurling has steadily risen. It now sits at the top table with the leading teams in the country. One of the clubs, Cuala, is at the pinnacle and hopefully Ballyboden St Endas will join them shortly.

"This success did not just happen. It was made happen through the tireless work of people like our recipient tonight whom you all know by now is the one and only Tom O Donnell. In your booklet you can see the success of Dublin hurling since 2000. These are the outcomes of the work done in schools and colleges by Tom and his fellow teachers and coaches.

Friends of Dublin Hurling state "Tom is a visionary and he knew that if young Dublin hurlers were unable to compete against young Kilkenny, Cork, Tipp or Wexford hurlers then it was likely that they would not be able to do so at senior level. He saw that young players from Dublin somewhat lacked the confidence and belief when they came up against more successful counties. Tom didn’t sit around. Tom decided to do something about it and in the mid 90’s he single handedly persuaded the powers that be to allow a combined colleges’ team from Dublin to participate in the Leinster Colleges’ SH “A” championship. And, primarily because of this move, together with top class coaching, after a few years the standards of colleges’ hurling rose significantly and soon manifested itself in provincial success for Dublin at minor and u-21 level. Ultimately, the fruits of this work led to a senior national league title in 2011 and a senior provincial title two years later. Thanks to Tom’s initiative, Dublin now has three teams competing at the top level in the Leinster colleges’ competition – Dublin North, Dublin South and Col Eoin – with Dublin North being the current Leinster champions.

"The Friends of Dublin Hurling committee was formed fifteen years ago in 2003. In 2006 Tom came on board and I must say he made an immediate impact. He computerised our systems, and introduced the committee to modern technology.  He soon got the job of secretary and treasurer and held onto those two positions for over ten years. Since he stepped down from these two important roles last year, neither of them has been adequately filled since.

"Tom O Donnell is a man of many talents. One of his greatest strengths is his humility and modesty. He does not seek publicity or the limelight. He just wants to get the job done without any bells or whistles.  He will retire form his role with Leinster Council GAA shortly and head back to his native Co.Tipperary. There is absolutely no doubt that he leaves Dublin hurling in a far better place than he found it. Tom’s legacy will forever be remembered as a man who made a real difference in whatever role he played.

"Today I received an e-mail and it was Suzi who is Tom and Catherine’s daughter  and she asked if we could read it out tonight and so I’m going to do so now.

“ Dad, we could not be more proud and delighted for you. We so wish we could be there to see all your years of hard work, dedication and enthusiasm be recognised. It is lovely to know that a man that spent so much time quietly working away on the sidelines get centre stage for a change. The GAA and Dublin hurling were extremely fortunate to have a man of your caliber in their corner. Have a great night. You may be retiring but I expect we will have many more years watching the Dubs ahead of us. No doubt you will pass the passion onto the next generation. Lots of love Suzi, Graeme, Layla and the Bump “

"We wish Tom and Catherine a long and happy retirement and I have no doubt that the visits to Suzi and Layla in the UK will be a lot more frequent".

The Chairman of Dublin Co Board, Sean Shanley, presented the Lar Foley Memorial Trophy to the 2018 recipient of the FODH Hall of Fame Award, Tom O Donnell.