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06 Sept 2025

Tom’s birthday

17 Jul 2007 4:15 PM

Commins Calling When it comes to sporting matters, Tom Lally from Garrafrauns is in a league of his own.
tom-lally-friends
HIGH FIVE Tom Lally (left) is joined by Jim Carr (Carrentryla and Limerick), John Gleeson (Carrowkeel, Dunmore), Eddie Birmingham (Ballinross) and Liam Corless (Mountdelvin) for his party night.

Sporting friends raise a glass to Tom

Commins Calling
Michael Commins

WHEN it comes to sporting matters, Tom Lally from Garrafrauns is in a league of his own. And friends and neighbours gathered recently in the Lally family hostelry in the village which lies between Irishtown and Dunmore to join Tom for his 60th birthday celebrations.
Tom has been attending sporting events since the 1950s. He has a fabulous collection of match programmes from the Connacht and All-Ireland championships over the decades and also numerous books relating to sports. He has attended every single Connacht Final since 1961 and still takes as active an interest in the games today as he did back the years. Many famous sporting photos adorn the walls of the pub.
He has been present in Hyde Park to see all five Connacht counties win titles there, including Leitrim in 1994 and Sligo last Sunday week. This is the only venue in Connacht that has played host to wins for all five in the province.
Soccer and rugby are also close to his heart and he has made numerous trips to venues all over England as well as Scotland and Wales. There’s not a year goes by that he’s not across the Irish Sea taking in a series of occasions such as soccer, rugby union and rugby league encounters. He has even been to two or three Scottish Shinty finals in the Highlands, events which he enjoyed in a very special way.
Whether it’s Tuam, Castlebar, Roscommon, Croke Park, Thurles, Lansdowne Road, Dalymount Park, Old Trafford, Cardiff, Twickenham or Murrayfield, it’s all a matter of sport and enjoyment for the bould Tom.
Anyway, it was decided that the occasion could not pass without some get-together and there was a full house present for the party night in Lally’s pub. Galway, Mayo and Roscommon were nicely represented while Dublin, Limerick and a few other places also had ‘ambassadors’ present for the celebrations. All raised a glass in honour of the man from Garrafrauns.

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