Ladies Gaelic Football

40 | SPRING 2021 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie By Kevin Egan O rganisations that are still in their infancy tend to need a steady supply of two different types of people; those that are naturally inclined towards leadership and who are heavily-endowed with drive, innovation and charisma, and those dedicated hard-working people who work away in the background, turning dreams into reality with their ability to work through or around whatever obstacles might present themselves. Most of those who met him would argue that Tommy Kenny was very much in the latter category. The softly-spoken Offaly man was never afraid to put the effort or the hours into any project he had taken on, and as he did this, he invariably brought people with him thanks to his affable and likeable demeanour. Yet a quick look at his lengthy CV across a variety of sports would tell you that Kenny had more than his fair share of vision and drive too. In his younger days he was an accomplished cyclist and founded an Athletic Club named 'The Happy Wanderers', before going on to launch St. Saran's hurling club in 1965, the club that evolved into Belmont hurling club, which fields very strong senior teams and underage teams today. Much of that modern-day strength comes from the solid base that the club established in Moystown, where the €60,000 project of TOM KENNY - A FOUNDING FATHER renovating of the pitch and dressing rooms in 1990, overseen by Fr. Michael Campbell, was completed in no small part due to Tommy's momentous and diligent fundraising work. Perhaps his greatest legacy however is the current well-being of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the nationwide reach of the sport, something that was far from the case when it was founded in 1974 with Tommy as an Offaly delegate, or when he took over as Association President in 1977. Marie McAleer of Roscommon was vice- President and secretary while Tommy served as President from 1977 to 1979. Offaly and Roscommon were early adopters of the sport, alongside Laois, Galway and four counties in Munster, but this was a time when there was a huge amount of effort involved in spreading the gospel outside of the original heartlands. "Tommy put huge time into ladies football back then, he sat in on all our own meetings and travelled all around the country trying to help get more clubs and county boards set up," Marie recalls. "We also had a lot of meetings with the GAA trying to establish a working relationship there and regularly had to sit down with Seán Ó Siocháin to iron out different things, and he was always at the heart of that work. Top image: The 1974 committee members, back row, from left, Tom Kenny, Offaly, Frank Kearney, Galway, Brendann Martin, Offaly, Mick Fitzgerald, Kerry, Liz Gorman, Offaly. Front row, from left, Sally Duggan, Tipperary, Anne Slattery, Tipperary, Biddy Ryan, Tipperary, Marie McAleer, Roscommon and Anne Kearney, Galway, in attendance at the Ladies Football Association 40th Anniversary. Hayes Hotel, Thurles, Co. Tipperary

• Cover