It was once said that he would push water up a hill if he thought it would stay there.<\/p>\n
And that his powers of persuasion were so great that he could sell ice-cream in Alaska.<\/p>\n
A remark was also made to the effect that, such is his devotion to Derry GAA, you can almost tell the time of year just by looking at Tommy Donnelly.<\/p>\n
Apparently Tommy doesn\u2019t winter well. \u201cHe actually looks greyer around December,\u201d a close friend observed. \u201cWith no club or county football, it really takes its toll on him. But even the McKenna Cup puts a bit of colour in his cheeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the National League, he\u2019s nearly back to himself. By St Patrick\u2019s Day, he has Cheltenham too \u2013 and he\u2019ll be flying – you would swear his hair is almost black again.\u201d<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/20180313_095119.jpg” imgwidth=”830″ caption=”Tommy and Mary Donnelly” align=”center” captionposition=”center” lightbox=”off”]\n
Living and breathing the GAA, Tommy Donnelly is originally a native of Lissan. He was integral to the reformation of the St Michael\u2019s club and their re-entry to the competitive action of the south Derry league in 1962.<\/p>\n
No job was too big or too small for Tommy. Barack Obama may have first used the phrase \u2018Yes, we can!\u2019 but Tommy Donnelly has been living \u2018Is f\u00e9idir linn\u2019 his entire life. It\u2019s not in his nature to use words like \u2018can\u2019t\u2019, \u2018maybe\u2019 or \u2018don\u2019t\u2019. He just gets the job done without fanfare or fuss.<\/p>\n
A tough and dedicated competitor, Tommy usually wore the No.7 jersey for Lissan. The late Tommy McGuckin played at corner-back. When recalling his adventures with Tommy Donnelly in the Lissan defence, McGuckin used to say: \u201cOur motto was \u2018thou shalt not pass\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n
Alongside Joe McGreevey, a future well known Lissan referee, the trio would take it upon themselves, when not playing for their club, to ensure that the young people of the area were transported to any nearby Derry matches. Experiences in 1958 had filled the men\u2019s imaginations and fuelled their ambitions.<\/p>\n
To this day, Tommy Donnelly has only missed one Ulster championship game in 50 years in which Derry was involved. A prearranged trip to Lourdes one summer is said to have caused much angst. It was reported that Tommy prayed for Derry\u2019s safe passage to the next round. He really doesn\u2019t like to miss matches.<\/p>\n
Following his marriage to Mary Gallagher (of Hillhead), with whom he had 13 children, Tommy Donnelly moved to Bellaghy – where he still resides – via Portglenone.<\/p>\n
Publican at the Blue Lagoon Bar in the Bann-side town for over a decade, events caused temporary upheaval for his family, as his son Jude explains:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a fire and the bar where we lived was burnt to the ground\u201d says Jude Donnelly, who was only four-years-old at the time of the blaze.<\/p>\n
A former county minor who coached the Derry U21 and Lavey senior football team, Jude currently manages Portglenone, the town from where he was forced to relocate 36 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family was scattered, living with different relatives for a short period before we all moved to Bellaghy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG-20180313-WA0014-e1521102964884.jpg” imgwidth=”640″ caption=”Remains of The Blue Lagoon in Portglenone” align=”center” captionposition=”center” lightbox=”off”]\n
Now resident in the south Derry village for 40 years, Tommy Donnelly\u2019s contribution to Bellaghy Wolfe Tones has been remarkable. He was a close friend to Se\u00e1n Brown, the former club chairman who was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in May 1997.<\/p>\n
\u201cNine times out of 10 Tommy would have been with Se\u00e1n locking that gate,\u201d recalls a friend.<\/p>\n
Tommy was with Se\u00e1n only hours earlier to collect a part for his van. He spent the evening getting his van fixed. The following morning he learned about the horrors of the night before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a lot out of him, as it did everyone,\u201d the man recalls.<\/p>\n
Kevin Doherty, the current chairman of the Wolfe Tones club, whose grounds are now named after Se\u00e1n Brown, is glowing in his praise for the service Tommy Donnelly has given to the town, community and club:<\/p>\n
“The effort put into building and sustaining a club is always shared among its volunteers,\u201d said Doherty.<\/p>\n
\u201cBellaghy has been lucky over many years to have a man of the calibre of Tommy Donnelly. He has made a massive contribution to that collective effort. His dependability, selflessness and resourcefulness have been indispensable to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver four decades, he has been involved in fundraising for our club in many ways; not least in his longstanding role as chief lotto officer. His organisation and management of countless \u2018Nights at the Races,\u2019 and the very many \u2018half- time draws\u2019 could not have happened without Tommy’s organisational talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is known in every home and business in Bellaghy and beyond, and his efforts on behalf of both club and county have marked him as the epitome of a true Gael. We are proud to have Tommy as a member and he represents us with distinction wherever he goes,\u201d concluded the Wolfe Tones chairman.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/FB_IMG_1520752771191.jpg” imgwidth=”800″ align=”center” caption=”Tommy (left) with\u00a0Bellaghy Wolfe Tones’ All-Ireland Sc\u00f3r Sinsir champions of 2012″\u00a0captionposition=”center” credit=”Mary K Burke” lightbox=”off”]\n
If \u2018selfless\u2019, \u2018resourceful\u2019, \u2018quiet\u2019 and \u2018unassuming\u2019 are words which shine some light on the character of Tommy Donnelly, they are all overshadowed by \u2018generosity\u2019. Never known to call with a friend or neighbour without bearing some token of appreciation, it\u2019s perhaps the gift of his time which registers most profoundly.<\/p>\n
Tommy, along with his brothers Joe and Se\u00e1n, are still remembered among sections of the Lissan community as people who went to the aid of their neighbour, working hayfields or gathering potatoes once their own tasks were complete. Real and meaningful community was a habit their parents had instilled early.<\/p>\n
It was still evident in November 2013 when Tommy and his other great friend, Eamon Scullion, took it upon themselves to conceive and run a Club Derry \u2018Fight Night\u2019 at the Elk, raising over \u00a325k in the process.<\/p>\n
And in 2014, 2015 and 2016 when he would regularly run out of books of tickets, travelling the county selling on behalf of Derry\u2019s youth teams.<\/p>\n
And again in September 2017 when he personally collected thousands of pounds in support of the Derry minor football team before the All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n
Two Ulster minor titles in three years are the fruits of unseen labour by men like Tommy Donnelly.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, although not surprisingly, Tommy was perhaps the only man in Ireland who was happy that the recent heavy snow caused chaos to national GAA fixtures. Having been hospitalised with a minor ailment, from which he has now happily recovered, the postponements meant Tommy would miss less football, as he would cheerily inform his legions of visitors. He really doesn\u2019t like to miss matches\u2026<\/p>\n
With lambing season underway and the daffodils about to flower, those around Tommy Donnelly can sense that his seasonal optimism is ready to blossom once again.<\/p>\n
“So, Derry lost a league game to Fermanagh?” a friend remarked to Tommy as he lay in his hospital bed.<\/p>\n
“Aye, but I heard they were very good in the second half,” he shot back instantly.<\/p>\n
They say where there\u2019s a will, there’s a way.<\/p>\n
For as long as Derry has supporters like Tommy Donnelly, the county can be optimistic that it will find a way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was once said that he would push water up a hill if he thought it would stay there. And that his powers of persuasion were so great that he could sell ice-cream in Alaska. A remark was also made to the effect that, such is his devotion to Derry GAA, you can almost tell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n