Death of renowned photographer Tommy Eibrand

FONDLY REMEMBERED?The late Tommy Eibrand is pictured with two of his greyhounds at his home in Glensaul, Tourmakeady.?Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin

Death of award-winning photographer Tommy Eibrand


Michael Duffy

The death has taken place of renowned photographer Tommy Eibrand at the age of 74. The Swedish native died last Friday in Mayo General Hospital after a short illness.
Tommy lived in Glensaul in Tourmakeady for the last thirty years and during his time in Mayo he worked as a photographer, in the main for the The Mayo News Sports Department, covering games the length and breath of the country.
Tommy was extremely popular in his adopted Tourmakeady where he enjoyed the peace and solitude of his Glensaul cottage, which he first purchased in 1978. He also became very well known in the region as a talented breeder and trainer of greyhounds. He lived in Tourmakeady with his French partner Caroline and he is survived by two children, Sophia and Richard.

Early career
Tommy lived a colourful life and his first love was photography, after training in his native Sweden during his teenage years. He left Sweden in the late 1950s to move to Paris to try and find full-time work in photography and after some tough years living on the breadline, he eventually found work with a Swedish television crew, making short feature films.
He then moved into news coverage and so began a hectic number of years covering all the major war stories on the frontline, including civil wars in Rhodesia and Angola, the crisis in Lebanon and the Franco conflicts leading to Spanish democracy.
However, when the opportunity arrived in the early 1980s to take redundancy from his job in Paris, after close on twenty years of work under much stress and strain, Tommy decided to settle in the west of Ireland in a cottage he had used as a holiday home in 1978.
Taking a break from the world of photography, he purchased the iconic West Bar in Westport, which he ran for a number of years, while bringing up his children Sophia and Richard after divorcing from his wife.
He ran The West before deciding he would return to his first love of photography and he became an intrinsic part of The Mayo News Sports Department after initially sending in some pictures to then Sports Editor Padraig Burns. Tommy went on to win many awards for his photography on the sporting circuit in Mayo, the highlight being when he won the National Sports Photographer of the Year in 1999 for shots he took at a colleges game in Ballina.
Tommy spent most of his spare time in his later life training and breeding greyhounds after getting a bitch from Peter Murray, who worked in the production department of The Mayo News. At one stage Tommy travelled to greyhound meetings two or three times a week, in Galway, Longford or even Harold’s Cross, packing up his dogs in the back of his Peugeot estate for return journeys, that on some days would take eight or nine hours.  One of Tommy’s best greyhound’s was a bitch named after his adopted home called ‘Glensaul Solo’.

Local tribute
Tommy and his partner Caroline Chenoli enjoyed many happy years in Tourmakeady and Tommy Heverin, a close neighbour and friend, said Tommy will be sorely missed.
“Tommy was one hell of a character and I for one will miss him greatly. I got to know him really well over the last number of years and enjoyed listening to him tell some great stories from his time working aboard in his youth. He told me the story about the time he met the infamous Cambodian dictator Pol Pot; or the time Abba stayed with him in his house in Paris when they were trying to make it big. Tommy really enjoyed his retirement, if you want to call it that, in Tourmakeady. Throughout his life here, he documented many community events with his camera and I know he will be sorely missed by many people here in Tourmakeady,” said Mr Heverin.
Tommy’s remains reposed at the Mayo General Hospital mortuary in Castlebar yesterday (Monday) and his Funeral Service will take place today at Mount Jerome Crematorium in Dublin.
Tommy is survived by his partner Caroline, his son Richard and his daughter Sophia. May he rest in peace.

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