Ballintubber bids farewell to a true great

I’ve sailed all round Lough Carra’s shore so peaceful and serene.

And Ballintubber Abbey, fine it dominates the scene.

The shady woods around Castleburke, where once I used to play, 

And the fertile hills and valleys of my old home far away.

The closing stretch of October 2024 will be remembered in the community of Ballintubber and across the parish for the passing of Liam O’Toole, of Glasgort. 

Aged 96, Liam passed away to his eternal reward on October 22nd, having spent his final days in his beloved Glasgort home, in the company of his wife Teresa, his children and grandchildren who cherished him deeply.

Liam enjoyed a really remarkable life. He was a man who had a great appreciation of history and heritage. He could throw his head back and deliver a song in Irish or English and indeed he could write a song himself to commemorate any occasion.

He was one of Ballintubber club’s all-time great personalities. Liam lined out for Ballintubber in the 1950s and he followed the club’s fortunes long after he hung up his boots. Ballintubber GAA mattered to him and it was ingrained in his bone marrow. 

Liam’s loyalty to his club was unquestionable! He was the solitary civilian warrior from Ballintubber who had made a spectacular one-man pitch invasion in MacHale Park and felled Billy Fitzpatrick of Garrymore as he was about to score in the 1965 County Intermediate Final. That comic episode has gone down in GAA folklore!

He took great pride recently in seeing his grandson Tiernan (Under-15 title-winning captain) wear the red and white that he wore with such passion. Liam never failed to wear his treasured red tie with the Abbey crest to all club occasions.

Ballintubber Club were proud to honour him with a Hall of Fame Award some years ago as indeed did the Green and Red Trust of Mayo.

Liam won a West Mayo junior title with Ballintubber in 1960 and was also a valued member of the West Mayo panel that won the county senior title in that same year. Though he played wing-back in Gaelic football, Liam also proved skilful with the oval ball when he togged with Ballinrobe rugby club for a period. Accounts of how he evaded “the ban” and its enforcers, lying belly down on the body of a trailer, have lived on in local legend.

Liam could instantly recite Brian Boru’s oration on the eve of the Battle of Clontarf or The Bridge of Athlone and many other patriotic pieces that would leave the hairs standing on the nape of the listener’s neck. An accomplished card player, he knew how to use a fistful of trumps with aplomb and style. He was a great servant of the Church and community and recorded a successful CD to raise money for charity. He was a staunch member of the Ballintubber Abbey Choir, with whom he regularly performed until quite recently.

During a highly active lifetime, he had more pickles than Evil Knieval, having been bedded in intensive care units in Dun Laoghaire, Galway and Castlebar, and thanks be to God, he always walked away beaming. He had crutches, sticks, collars, plasters and pins and none ever unduly worried him.

Liam was also a keen farmer and an expert in stonework skills being an employee of the Office of Public Works for many years. During the 1960s, he was involved in the restoration of Ballintubber Abbey, carving its native stone altar and erecting its hanging cross. 

He was also a great lover of horse racing and loved the odd flutter at Ballinrobe racecourse or on big National Hunt race days. 

Liam and his wife Teresa were also synonymous with the Barney Set Dancers and Strawboys, performing splendidly at weddings and social occasions. His innate warmth of personality, humour, ability to entertain, abundant skills and passion for all things Irish and patriotic endeared him to all he met on the path of life. Though firmly perceived as being of the Fine Gael persuasion, his friendships were deep across the political divide.

Liam will be immensely missed by his family, Ballintubber community, the GAA Club and the wider Mayo public who held him in the highest regard.

Liam is deeply regretted by his wife Teresa, his family, Maura Cuffe (Castlebar), Tommie O’Toole (Ballintubber), Margaret Rowan (Dunboyne), Noel O’Toole (Castlebar), Helen O’Toole (Seattle, USA), Ann Morley (Claremorris), Colm O’Toole (Portlaoise), Jim O’Toole (Ballintubber), Carmel Staunton (Carraholly), Monica O’Toole (Ballintubber) and Roisin Deehan (Limavady), sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, partners, 26 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family, neighbours and many friends to whom sincere sympathy is tendered. 

Huge crowds attended as his remains reposed at Ballintubber Resource Centre with removal to Ballintubber Abbey. Ballintubber GAA Club held a Guard of Honour in tribute to one of its finest sons. Liam’s Funeral Mass was concelebrated in his beloved Ballintubber Abbey by Fr parish priest Michael Farragher, Fr Frank Fahey, Fr Ulick Burke and Right Rev Dom Laurence Walsh, OCSO, Roscrea.

Burial ceremonies took place afterwards in the adjoining cemetery followed by evocative and moving traditional music tributes by family members.

And often in the good old days, those hills I roamed with glee, 

From the high hills of Dromore, to the glens of Partee, 

 And often as my thoughts go back across the raging sea, 

My heart is in old Ireland and my old home far away.

(Adapted by Liam O’Toole) 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a nAinm dilis.

- Sean H.