The late Tom Walsh from Carrick-on-Suir was a local historian and leading figure in Carrick United AFC

The late Thomas (Tom) Walsh opened a door to the fascinating history of Carrick-on-Suir to many visiting tourists and locals through his enjoyable and informative walking history tours of his hometown.

Mr Walsh from 18 Pearse Square, Carrick-on-Suir passed away on November 15 at the age of 79.

He is fondly remembered for his summertime Wednesday walking history tours where he shared his vast knowledge of Carrick-on-Suir’s social, political and economic history.

He was also a founding member and leading figure in Carrick United AFC. A guard of honour of Carrick United members was formed outside St Nicholas Church for his Requiem Mass on Sunday, November 20 and accompanied the funeral cortege as it passed through the town centre and by his home.

He served as Carrick United’s Chairman, treasurer, secretary, team manager and later honorary life president during his more than 50 years involvement in the club since its foundation in 1968.

He worked in the grocery business for most of his life and his interest in local history developed after his shop, Walsh’s on Carrick’s Main Street, closed, and he started working at Carrick-on-Suir Heritage Centre as part of its Community Employment Scheme.

He read anything he could on local history and spent years researching Carrick-on-Suir’s past. He had a room full of books, articles and research on the town’s history at his home

His main sources were the works of local historians and collectors like Dr PC Power and JJ Healy, whose son’s wife gave him a box full of his research after her husband died.

In his spare time, he did genealogy research for people from as far afield as Australia, America and New Zealand searching for their roots in Carrick-on-Suir.

He began doing the walking tours for the Clancy Brothers Music & Arts Festival and also did tours for some school and ICA groups and others who approached him.

In 2012, his walking tours became a new tourism initiative for the summer months with the help and support of Carrick-on-Suir Tourism and Economic Development Committee and Carrick-on-Suir Development Association.

The full walking tour took about two hours. It started from Carrick-on-Suir Heritage Centre took people through the town centre’s historic streets and lanes, the two bridges, Carrickbeg and to the former workhouse site on the Clonmel Road.

Tom Walsh’s potted history lesson of the town from its medieval origins in the 12th century to the present day was interspersed with interesting anecdotes and nuggets of social history, some based on his own memories and experiences growing up in the town.

“There is 800 years of history of the town covered in the tour and I feel you just can’t cover it without going through a certain amount of that local stuff as well.

“I like to throw in a bit of anecdote, a little story here and there,” he told The Nationalist back in 2012.
Patsy Fitzgerald of Carrick-on-Suir Development Association said Tom Walsh was a lovely man, who will be very much missed in Carrick-on-Suir in terms of the depth of knowledge he had about the town’s history. “His knowledge of local history was just a marvellous resource,” he said.

Tom also researched, wrote and published the Carrick-on-Suir History Book, a magazine full of articles on an eclectic range of historical subjects about the town and district.

And for over a decade, he wrote a monthly local history column in the Carrick-on-Suir-based Three Counties Newspaper, which printed his history magazine.

His love of history crossed over to his other great passion, Carrick United AFC.

He avidly collected the club’s history and memorabilia ranging from photos and club membership cards to programmes and other items of interest.

In a heartfelt tribute following his death, Carrick United AFC said it had “lost one of its pioneers” and described Tom Walsh as the “body and soul of Carrick United for many years”.

“He was the club’s DNA, its guidance counsellor, a man who epitomised the values and standards that define the club. He had left an indelible legacy,” said the club.

The tribute recounted how Tom Walsh was among those who gathered in Carrick Town Hall in the 1960s with the aim of forming a soccer club in the town that was to become Carrick United.

He co-authored a book called The Carrick United Campaigns about the club’s first 25 years. The Carrick United tribute also praised his gift as a speaker and storyteller and described how he was “admired by players and committees alike because of his gentle, witty nature.

“Tom commanded respect and affection. He was essential to all the major moves and developments of the club in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

“He was approachable, ever ready to listen with help and advice. He was appreciative, kind, good humoured and very popular.”

The tribute pointed out that Tom simply wanted to offer the boys and girls of Carrick the opportunity to play football.

“He delighted that his own son ‘Young Tom’ played schoolboys, youth and junior football with the club. Like his dad he went on to manage teams and sit on the schoolboy committee.”

It also noted that Tom was a loyal Manchester United fan as well as a devoted member of Carrick United. And one of his regrets was that Carrick United failed to maintain a set of jerseys acquired from Manchester United in 1969.

Tom Walsh was predeceased by his parents Nellie and Tom, brother Leo and granddaughter Aoife.

He is survived by his loving wife Eileen, daughters Barbara and Alison, son Tom, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, sons-in-law Aidan and Tony, grandchildren Kevin, Brian and Sasha, great grandchildren James, Leya and Kornelija, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

His remains reposed at Walsh’s Funeral Home in Carrick-on-Suir on Saturday evening, November 19. Requiem Mass was celebrated the following morning at St Nicholas Church in Carrick-on-Suir

Burial took place after the ceremony in St Mary’s Cemetery, Carrick-on-Suir. May he Rest in Peace.