By Cian O’Connell

Anybody associated with St Patrick’s Drumcondra has a positive story about Tom Fitzpatrick.

So his death last week meant distinguished figures in the GAA were left to reflect on Fitzpatrick’s sterling service. The most accomplished footballers and hurlers operated alongside Fitzpatrick during his successful stint as Games Development Officer in St Pat’s.

Assisting others was simply Fitzpatrick’s way. As a teacher and deputy principal at St Joseph’s Terenure, Clare native Fitzpatrick became a leading figure in a vibrant Cumann na mBunscol operation in the capital.

Connecting with people mattered deeply. David Gough speaks with warmth and affection when recalling Fitzpatrick’s impact on the campus. “Tom used to sum it up lovely when he would talk about Pat's,” Gough remarks. “He would say to anyone that never went to Pat's you could never explain it, and to anyone that did go to Pat's, it never needed explaining.

“I thought that was a lovely way of acknowledging how special the college was. There was a spirit in the college that wouldn't be found anywhere else. It was unique. We were all going to be primary teachers, we just loved Gaelic Games, it was a very unique experience that you went through the halls of St Pat's.

“It was the one where the graduates had a direct link to promoting Gaelic Games immediately when they left the college. Tom was so conscious of that, he was so conscious of making sure that the graduates when they went on would be promoting a love of Gaelic Games in the primary schools.”

That mission was most certainly accomplished.

**

Working in Dublin, Fitzpatrick forged a friendship with Jerry Grogan, the Croke Park stadium announcer.

“He had time for everybody, he just was a real gent,” Grogan says. “He had a rare ability with people and one of his biggest strengths was the ability to bring out the best in people. He certainly did that with students in the training college, with players in the field, starting at primary school level in St Joseph's Terenure where he taught.

“He was deputy principal in St Joseph's Terenure and he brought a lot of successful teams to Croke Park.”

The matches and fun at GAA headquarters and elsewhere helped to inspire emerging players. “He dealt with a lot of children through Cumann na mBunscol with the finals in Croke Park and going on trips,” Grogan adds.

“Then he took that ability to the training college, he did phenomenal work with the students. Nominally he was games promotion officer, but he was counsellor, advisor, he helped them with jobs and writing CVs, he gave Irish grinds, he helped people with personal problems. That is coming back in the reaction from everybody that dealt with him.”

Dublin teams benefited too from Fitzpatrick’s involvement. The 2005 Leinster Minor Hurling Championship triumph was a critical moment in the development of the sport in Dublin. “Of course, he was in charge of the Dublin minor hurling team that won the Leinster title in 2005, it was the first time since 1983 when Niall Quinn was on the Dublin minor team,” Grogan adds.

“There was a 22 year wait to win a Leinster, he was involved with a couple of other Cumann na mBunscol colleagues in that.

“He had a marvellous CV. As a tutor with the training college, tutoring students in the classes on teaching practice, he had a great love of the Irish language, and he was a great singer.”

That sense of fun is something David Herity vividly remembers. Before establishing himself as Kilkenny goalkeeper, Herity recalls his stint in Drumcondra. “He was the person everyone wanted to be around when it came to learning from by being in his presence,” Herity says.

“He had this incredible way, when you spoke to him in the morning time or throughout the day, he had a unique or quirky way of saying 'good morning'. You never knew what level of quirkiness you were going to get with him. He instantly would put you into a good mood.”

Fitzpatrick’s office was busy. There was always somebody looking to have a word or a bit of advice. “I'd say he rarely sat in there for a minute by himself for a bit of peace and quiet,” Herity laughs.

“Everyone would want to go into him to have a chat. It was the epicentre of the GAA within St Pat's. Tom was right, smack, bang in the middle of that.

“He never managed there, but yet he was a mentor of every single team and manager. If something went wrong or something happened and you needed advice, Tom was the person you rang.

“He was the one always driving standards in the background. He was the person in the background trying to drive standards within Pat's, but it wasn't just the St Pat's side of things.”

A couple of decades on, when reflecting back, that is what Herity stresses. The way in which Fitzpatrick wanted to help. “He was constantly trying to build characters and trying to add to the students' lives outside,” Herity continues.

“He was the one trying to get lads subbing, he'd do whatever he could as far as scholarships were concerned, he'd be trying to set people up in jobs, getting them jobs.

“The amount of work he did outside of his actual job description, that is what made him special. He was that kind of father figure to everyone within St Pat's.

“It is hard to imagine one person touching so many lives within the college, but any time you mention his name since - past, present, and future - everyone still has incredible admiration for what he did for everyone, on and off the field, in and out of the college.

“Just as a human he couldn't do enough for you. Even when your time was up in the college he'd still stay in contact, he'd send you a quirky message or a funny text, something. You'd have a chat with him. He was just an absolutely incredible man.

”It wasn't just yourself, everyone, that whole Pat's community was touched so much by the work he did. The influence he had on so many lives is just incredible.”

**

One day David Gough was sitting in the St Pat’s canteen between lectures. Tom Fitzpatrick landed in, needing a referee for a primary schools match outside. “He would have given me the whistle first in about 2005,” Gough remembers.

“The referee didn't arrive, he threw me the whistle and said go out to make yourself 40 euro. That is what I did, but what I didn't know at the time was that Tom was on the national referees committee. “He was tutoring the likes of Pat McEnaney and Brian Gavin. He stayed at the side of the pitch, he watched the match and approached me afterwards.

“I was tennis umpiring at the time, I was looking at that as a career, he asked me would I referee a few more matches if he got me games. I said I would, it was 40 euro per match.

“I used to go to Whitehall Park, to Fairview Park, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. He helped me with my knowledge of the rules. He invited me to sit in the screen room in Croke Park on Sundays to volunteer with him on big match days with CBS Outdoors.

“From the very earliest days of me refereeing, I was getting the top level tutoring in the country. His knowledge of the rules, the language of the rules, the meaning and understanding was greater, and probably still is greater, than anyone I've ever met. I was so fortunate to have had that education.”

Fitzpatrick had an effective way of steering people in the right direction. “He was always looking out for everyone, he could see where they might fit in somewhere in the GAA,” Gough replies.

“It wasn't just playing they were going to be involved in, he would always encourage us to take on management roles within college football teams, maybe it might be secretary of the club or PRO, depending on what skill set he thought you had.

“He was very good at looking out for other students that might have been marginalised in the college. He'd always make sure everyone would fit in, he had a kind word for everyone, his door was always open.

“There was always an encouragement, he had such a knowledge about how the GAA worked, the different pathways people could walk in the GAA.”

**

St Pat’s captain took charge of the senior football and hurling outfit. That was the tradition. “Pat's is a very unique college, everywhere else there is an outside influence with somebody coming in to train the team,” Herity says.

“In Pat's the captain and vice-captain are the manager and assistant manager of the whole team - you take over. There was something so character building about that, you got a chance to coach or manage Fitzgibbon teams or Ryan Cup teams when you were in the college.

“Tom promoted that, but he also made sure he was there. His vast years of experience was there to tap into on the sideline. He was that silent selector, he wouldn't come forward with his opinions, but he was somebody you'd be constantly asking.”

People craved Fitzpatrick’s views. “You'd always want to know what his own thoughts were on different things,” Herity says. “He just had so much knowledge from everything - his own days and involvement with teams.

“Even getting lads into the refereeing side of things, he just was always trying to make sure that you were immersing yourself in the GAA.

“He had so many contacts, he was trying to get you money as a substitute teacher and a student teacher, looking after you that way, to make sure you had money for college.”

In the canteen Fitzpatrick forged friendships. There was trust and understanding. “He had the ability to relate to all ages, that is exactly it, he had a phenomenal ability to do that,” Grogan says.

“He was always in good humour. Somebody said to me, I got loads of texts, but somebody said he sat with the students when they were eating in the college. I thought to myself initially that is not a very significant thing compared to all of the great things he did, but then I was thinking about it, and that exactly sums Tom up.

“He was the boss down in St Pat's in terms of being the games promotion officer, but he was one of the lads. He sat with the students, he had time for them, he talked to them, he had so much knowledge about where they came from, what their parents did.

“A lot of parents contacted Tom over the years to say thanks for what he did for their son or daughter when they were going through a rough patch. He picked up all of that stuff by sitting down and chatting with them. It is such a lovely characteristic really.”

Empathetic and caring, Fitzpatrick’s contribution is acknowledged by Gough. “Everyone loved Tom Fitz, his door was always open,” he says. “The minute you walked into the Java canteen Tom would be standing there, he'd have something funny to say, a joke, he'd let a shout at you and you always just felt safe and welcome there.

“For people from the country, particularly when you had moved away for the first time, it can be a lonely time and a scary time. Tom was almost like that father figure or grandfather figure for us in St Pat's. No matter what issue you had or trouble you had in life, you could always talk to Tom.

“He was a magnificent listener, he had incredible empathy, he was able to listen to students, to understand them, and guide them in the best way possible. He mentored them, he never judged anybody, he just helped out in whatever way possible. An incredible man.”

Tom Fitzpatrick won’t be forgotten.