Headford News and Community Spotlight - Doing What Comes Naturally

Tomorrow night, Thursday, 16 October at 7:30 pm, don't miss Maev Creaven, registered Nutritional Therapist and Functional Medicine Practitioner. She'll be at the Headford Parish Hall giving a talk on natural health and wellness through nutrition. The evening's topic, The Truth and Myth About Thyroid Health is free and will contain loads of valuable information.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

This Sunday, 19^th October 2014, marks the end of an era. No, it’s not the end of an ice age, and Queen Elizabeth has not yet handed the crown over to Charlie. It’s not even the last day of the semi-annual Brown Thomas sale. Nonetheless, it is the end of an epoch, for both Headford and County Galway. On October 19^th at 6 pm, Headford resident, Tom Geraghty will perform his last ‘TG on Sunday’ show, to be broadcast live on Galway Bay FM.

Tom Geraghty, TG on Sunday

After sixteen years of playing old favourites and classics peppered with information and chat, Tom will be retiring. Always a modest fellow, Tom, who is father to four and grandfather to seven, beams when he says, ‘The whole family are comin’ in for the last show.’ Then, he immediately gets shy. So when someone asks, ‘Will you miss it, Tom, doing the show?’ A lopsided grin touches Tom’s face, and a twinkle dances in his eye before he quips, ‘Oh, I can’t get out of there quick enough.’

But Tom’s a veteran performer—a ‘natural,’ so they say—and one might rightly suspect that it’s not so easy to give up a career in the spotlight and ‘go gentle into that good night.’

The first act of Tom’s career started with the Galway Post Office, where he worked delivering the post. ‘It was one of the most enjoyable times in my life,’ Tom says, ‘Because that’s when I met Lily.’

Lily, Tom’s wife of 52 years, helps him tell this story in a charming way. They take turns, like two good actors. Back in 1960, Lily was working as a telephonist at the post office. Tom had noticed her at work but didn’t have the courage to ask her out. Then, one Sunday, Tom and a bunch of other lads were sitting on O’Brien’s bridge watching the girls go by, as they did every Sunday after mass. When Lily walked by, Tom did what came naturally, and asked her out.

‘I said “No,” of course,’ Lily remembers, ‘but he was very persistent.’

‘Finally,’ Tom says, ‘I told her I had tickets to a social (a dinner and dance).’

Lily continues, ‘Then I couldn’t say no because he’d already bought the tickets.’

They were married in 1962, and because of that bizarre archaic law, Lily had to give up her job at the post office. But Tom kept going, delivering the post in Galway, Headford and Dublin for a total of 39 years. That included getting dog bites that required stiches and driving the mail van all the way to Clifden each day.

During the second act of Tom’s life, he headed up the local St. Vincent de Paul Society and was Chairman of the Headford GAA. But it was his involvement in theatre that propelled him to local stardom. In the 1970s, he’d moved back to Headford (he’s now living next door to where he grew up), and became passionate about the stage. ‘We had a terrific drama group,’ Tom says. The Headford Drama Group eventually morphed into ‘Pegasus.’ Tom shows me a photo taken in 1915 (well before his time) of the Headford Drama Society in full costume for a production of ‘Colleen Bawn.' Clearly, there was a time when theatre was taken seriously in Headford.

Headford Drama Group's production of Colleen Bawn (1915)

‘We won three All Irelands in the 1970’s,’ Tom says. He was also in national productions for the Irish Drama Festival. So when Lily says, ‘He was very good. Everybody said he was very natural on stage,’ it seems like an understatement. Especially when you consider the way the third act in Tom’s life began . . .

Tom circa 1970s production of I Do Not Like Thee Dr. Fell

It was during one of those award-winning Irish Drama Festival productions that Tom was approached by a CEO from Galway Bay FM. He was chosen to take over a country/western show from John Francis King, and eventually given his own programme.

‘I didn’t even know what a cd was,’ Tom remembers, ‘but the station rep told me, “You won’t be too long here before you figure it out.”’ A friend gave him some cds to get him started and Tom says he still has the same cd player he had when he started this gig back in 1998.

‘Oh, it scared the life outa me,’ Tom says.

‘It scared me even more,’ Lily deadpans. ‘I was always afraid of what he might say next.’

But Tom says, he did ‘whatever came naturally’ on air during his shows, and since he’s still at it 16 years later, Lily must be right. He’s a natural.

Though the curtain will come down on TG on Sunday this week, Tom’s still active in the community. When asked if he has any words of wisdom to offer, Tom thinks about it for a while before saying, ‘I’d advise people to get involved.’ His own life is a testament to the fact that getting involved keeps you going strong.

Don’t miss TG on Sunday, Galway Bay FM (95.8), 6 to 8 pm this Sunday, October 19, 2014 for the last time!